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The popes · No. 261 of 267

St John XXIII

A caretaker pope who called a council and changed the century.

Pope 1958 to 63

Read the story 1 min read
A colour photograph of Pope St John XXIII smiling, in red mozzetta and stole.

De Agostini Editore, 1958. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The popes / St John XXIII

Rome, October 1958

After the death of Pius XII, the cardinals elect the 76-year-old patriarch of Venice, born near Bergamo.1

Within three months, Angelo Roncalli announces an ecumenical council.1

He had been an army medic, a diplomat in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and France, and a parish-minded bishop. Nothing about him turned out to be quiet.

01St John XXIII

A long road to Rome

Born in 1881 at Sotto il Monte, Roncalli was called up in 1915 as a sergeant medic, and later served as the pope’s representative in Bulgaria, then in Turkey and Greece.1

He was elected pope on 28 October 1958.1

02St John XXIII

Opening the windows

He opened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962.1

He died on 3 June 1963, before the council ended.1

Pope Francis canonized him together with John Paul II in 2014.2

Romans called him “the good pope”. It was not a small compliment.

The man who finished his council would carry it like a cross.

Notes

  1. Biography of Pope St John XXIII. Holy See, official English text. vatican.va
  2. Pope Francis, Homily for the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II, 27 April 2014. Holy See, official English text. vatican.va

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision (public domain). Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an error.