When Pope Francis announced his initial group of new cardinals on 12 January, the first name on the list of the three men over the age of 80 was Archbishop Loris Francesco Capovilla. The 98-year-old Venetian priest served as personal secretary to John XXIII, even in the days when Papa Roncalli was still Patriarch of Venice. In the five decades since John’s death he has been the living memory of the beloved Pope that called the Second Vatican Council. “To speak of Capovilla is to speak of Pope John, and to speak of them both is to speak of the council – with no ifs, ands or buts,” wrote Carlo Di Cicco, assistant editor of L’Osservatore Romano.In an article last Sunday, he praised a new book containing the Sunday homilies that the young Fr Capovilla preached ov