Blessed John XXIII:' Johnny Walker' and his sacristan

(Vatican Radio) It seems that Blessed John XXIII who had an outgoing personality and loved walking was soon rather irreverently referred to by many, because of this love for walking, as 'Johnny Walker'.

It seems too that John XXIII who felt boxed in within Vatican walls soon discovered that even there he could speak with someone in his own dialect. In fact one of the Augustinians who worked in the Apostolic Palace was from his hometown of 'Sotto il Monte'.

As a fellow Augustinian Father Martin Nolan tells Veronica Scarisbrick in this archive interview, the name of this man who worked in the sacristy. It was Fra Federico, a man who was to become a close friend of John XXIII.

In this interview you can discover how Fra Federico highlighted John XXIII's extraordinary gentleness, his sense of humour, his ability to look at the bright side of things. But also Fra Federico's account of the final days of Blessed John XXIII.

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