Wikipedia founder praises John XXIII encyclical

(April 30, 3012) The founder of Wikipedia, the giant free on-line encyclopaedia, has praised Pope John XXIII’s historic encyclical “Pacem in Terris” as “a great thing.” “I would say what struck me about it was how modern it is and how in tune it is with modern thinking,” Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales told CNA news agency in Rome on Friday. Wales is in Rome as a guest of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council of Social Sciences that is holding its plenary session, April 27 to May 1. The plenary is exploring the legacy of the 1963 encyclical on global peace, which will mark its 50th anniversary next year. Wales, who is not Catholic, read the papal document for the first time last week and said, “I thought I better do my homework.” Wales said that some of the Church’s thinking in the encyclical is quite up-to-date and quite modern. The overarching theme of Pope John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical “Pacem in Terris,” the Latin for “Peace on Earth,” is the “tranquillity of order” in society as a foundation for global peace. It was released when the Pope was terminally ill, and it is often described as his “last will and testament.” He died two months after its release.