Good question hengesthorsa.
My reply is only my opinion.
In the world of Traditionalist Catholicism, John XXIII is portrayed as having been a mason. The story is he was initiated as a mason and after the death of Pope Pius XII, the conclave actually elected Cardinal Siri.
You can read about Cardinal Siri and this Theory here...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siri_thesis
Now, was the good Pope John a mason before he was elected ? I have no opinion on that other than if he was, I believe he surely must have seen the error in this.
Before I explain why I say that allow me to relate what I have read on traditional catholic forums. John XXIII has been painted as the pope who called II Vatican Council in order to open the door to the modernist worldview that had been brewing in the church for quite some time. Communists and Masons had been infiltrating the seminaries during this period.
I believe that these groups of hardcore traditionalists may be correct about the infiltration.
I say this because of a document titled the Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita.
http://www.ourladyisgod.com/i-AltaVendita.php
All of that aside I will try to answer your specific question.
I do not subscribe to the view that Pope Saint John XXIII was an anti-pope. Nor do I believe that he opened the II Vatican Council with the intention of letting the modernists have their way. I say this for two reasons.
First of all I do not believe he had any hand in changing the Mass. If he did why would he approve of the 1962 Roman Catholic Missal ? Some say it was just a Smokescreen. I don't believe that. If he opened the council knowing what was the follow, no smoke screen would have been needed.
But the one thing that really has my attention and convinces me that Pope Saint John XXIII was indeed an orthodox Roman Catholic was his Apostolic Constitution
Veterum Sapientia
https://adoremus.org/2007/12/31/Veterum-Sapientia/
How any Roman Catholic can read that Apostolic Constitution and till blame Pope Saint John XXIII for the fruits of the II Vatican Council or hold him responsible for enabling it is beyond my definition of common sense.
Therefore it is my personal opinion, just a gut feeling, that those Cardinals who elected him did not see this coming. Read what he commanded and decreed in that AC.
I believe that Pope Saint John XXIII understood that the Tridentine Mass was the heart of the Roman Catholic church and not to be tampered with. The Tridentine Mass was codified for a reason. That reason being, before the Council of Trent, the Mass varied in it's form and rubrics in different regions and villages. The codification of the Mass was needed and essential as part of the purpose of the Council of Trent. In my opinion the Council of Trent defined Roman Catholicism and is indeed the measuring stick. It was needed in response of the Reformation.
Again, I feel that Pope Saint John XXIII realized this. And I also feel that he stood in the way of the modernists who hijacked the council.
I also hold an opinion that is not popular with neither champions of the II Vatican Council nor hardcore traditionalist sects. I believe he was poisoned. It is claimed by some that on his Deathbed he said "stop the Council". Did he say that ? I don't know I wasn't there.
I look at his Apostolic Constitution VT as the final AC penned by a pope to safeguard the Gregorian Rite.
Pope St John Paul XXIII became Pope the year I was born and due to his short pontificate, I was far too young to know him or be influenced by him. But I do love him and often ask his intercession. I have a prayer card/remembrance card of him on my home altar.
I hope this post has helped you understand both the controversies and mindset of this man who devoted his life to the service of Holy Mother Church.
God Bless,
Charles
