On the occasion of October 4, 1962, the date of the passage of Pope XXIII in Spoleto, the City administration has organized a tribute to commemorate the event: “RONCALLI reads RONCALLI” is scheduled for Thursday, October 4 at the Library in Palazzo Mauri (17:30).

Guido Roncalli and Diego Roncalli, descendants of the Roncalli family, have decided to celebrate San Giovanni XXIII, the “Good Pope” with a recital for voice and cello.

The show is a single act consisting of the reading by Guido Roncalli of the most famous speeches by Pope John XXIII and unpublished letters from the family archives, accompanied by the Suite of J. S. Bach for solo cello, performed live by his brother Diego, a professional cellist.

“This is an important event – explained Councillor for Culture Ada Urbani – a devout memory of the Good Pope and the great honour he granted to Spoleto in accepting to stay in the city and bless the many faithful who came to the station at the news of his passage.

On October 4, 1962, Pope John XXIII made a pilgrimage to Loreto and then to Assisi in one day. It was the first journey of a pope since the birth of the kingdom of Italy and the end of the States of The Church. Therefore, in October 1962, the news of the journey of John XXIII, who had already visited the slums of Rome and the prisons of Regina Coeli, caused great resonance.

It was a historic event. It was one of the first major media events, with hundreds of chroniclers following. It was an exhausting pilgrimage, made of hundreds of stops, with the Pope looking out the window, 600 kilometers long, to greet and bless the people. An impressive crowd attended the Pope’s passage. Orte, Terni, Spoleto, Foligno, Fabriano, Jesi, Falconara, Ancona: a series of stations that with many other small stations became the stages of an endless pilgrimage, before the Pope came to Loreto, to ask the Madonna for the blessing on the Council, and then to Assisi on the tomb of St. Francis.