Archbishop Loris Capovilla, the Blessed Roncalli’s historic
secretary, talks to Vatican Insider about the similarities between the
two pontificates in terms of thought and spiritual action.
Mgr. Capovilla, are you surprised by the fact Bergoglio insists on calling himself the “Bishop of Rome”? 
“John XXIII was the same. From the minute he was elected Pope, he insisted on getting one thing straight with the Cardinal Dean: he would not become a prisoner of the Vatican but would carry out his mission as bishop of Rome among the faithful. After the difficult seventy years that followed Italian unification, Roncalli resumed his pastoral activity in the city of Rome, he moved the Vicariate’s offices to San Giovanni and had two rooms prepared especially in the Lateran Palace, so that “the Pope could rest in his own house.”
Why did both decide to visit Assisi?
“It’s Saint Francis’ city and the Pope’s home. When John XXIII left Rome, he chose to go to Assisi, going past all old papal dominions by train, not as a deposed prince, but as a father. We would slow down as we came through stations but in the “red” working class town of Terni, where the steelworks were, schools and factories stayed open but pupils and workmen all flocked to the station and surrounded the train, giving the Pope the warmest greeting imaginable. There was a river of people all the way from Rome down to Ancona. There were people in the streets, on the roofs, in the trees. At one point during the journey, the Pope, who was overcome with excitement and happiness, said to me: “You see Loris? This is Italy, these are the Italians, who greet their elderly father who has nothing else to offer but a blessing.”
Francis called you to give you a very special greeting. Do you think he is following in Roncalli’s footsteps?
“They have the same passion for people. In his last month on Earth, John XXIII had the outskirts of Rome brimming with people. This is where the title “Good Pope” was invented. Members of the upper class turned their nose up at this, asking: “Why were other Popes bad exactly?” The people saw him as a child of theirs who had risen to the Throne of Peter. Francis was welcomed by everyone, like a living message of dialogue and fraternity. What Francis and John XXIII have in common is a thirst for sharing and the search for a solution for mankind. When he was on his deathbed, Roncalli kept on repeating: “I haven’t changed one thing. I say the same prayers and the same Creed as when I was a child, but now we are beginning to gain a better understanding of the Gospel.” Like John, Francis said: wherever they set their feet down, their heart’s there too. And people understand this.”
What is it about Bergoglio that reminds you of John XXIII the most?
“The example he is setting in terms of his contact with people. When he looks at someone he doesn’t ask himself whether they are Christian, a head of State or a humble person. The way he sees it, everyone has God stamped on their forehead, so they should be loved. If these people have embraced Jesus, even better. Francis is a bearer of the Gospel, he does not judge. Watching our fellow humans struggling goes against the principle of Christian civility. This is a message that is passed on to society... In Church and in politics there is a need for the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration, that places emphasis on the things that unite not the things that divide. This is the great lesson we learn from John and Francis.”