Pope John XXIII, “good Pope John,” called the second Vatican Council on Oct. 11, 1962. He died a year later in June of 1963. Ancient history now, I suppose, but I remember exactly where I was on both days. I was in French III at Punahou when Maryknoll Brother Venard rang the parish bells to celebrate the opening of the Council. I was in study hall in the old Cooke Library at Punahou when Brother tolled the bells again so I knew the gravely ill John had died.
John has now been beatified and they chose October 11 as his feast day rather than the date of his death. So this Sunday is the anniversary of the Council and a celebration of this wonderful man. From the day he was buried in the crypt of St Peter’s there have always been people praying at his tomb, leaving candles and flowers. Today he has a shrine upstairs (John Paul II is now in his old grave) and there are always people there praying.
The month the council began, the Cuban missile crisis started and we in Hawaii, an A-1 target, did not know if we were going to be alive from one day to the next. By 6 AM every morning all during the crisis all the votive candles in my parish church had been lit.
John was a man of hope. His encyclical, Pacem in Terris, Peace on Earth, is still a classic and quite relevant. You might read it for what he has to say about health care if for no other reason.

Tags: Cuban Missile Crisis, Pacem in Terris, Pope John, Vatican II