Giovanni XXIII e l’età della misericordia

On giving the opening address to the Second Vatican Council, John XXIII solemnly declared that the Church would prefer from then on «to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than of severity». This apparently humble consideration actually broke with a long tradition where the ecclesiastical authority had always opposed errors through condemnations. The choice of pope Roncalli represented a great leap forward: the main point of the second Vatican Council was not to debate the articles of a magisterium that had already been solemnly expressed and repeatedly taught, but to find new tools and a language more suitable to the present age for the Church to continue its path of evangelization