Holy See / Papa Ioannes XXIII (Pope John XXIII)

Holy See - Papa Ioannes XXIII (Pope John XXIII) (28 October 1958 - 3 June 1963)

Pope Saint John XXIII (Latin: Ioannes; Italian: Giovanni; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 to his death in 1963 and was canonized on 27 April 2014. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was the fourth of fourteen children born to a family of sharecroppers who lived in a village in Lombardy. He was ordained to the priesthood on 10 August 1904 and served in a number of posts, as nuncio in France and a delegate to Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. In a consistory on 12 January 1953 Pope Pius XII made Roncalli a cardinal as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca in addition to naming him as the Patriarch of Venice.

Roncalli was elected pope on 28 October 1958 at age 76 after 11 ballots. His selection was unexpected, and Roncalli himself had come to Rome with a return train ticket to Venice. He was the first pope to take the pontifical name of "John" upon election in more than 500 years, and his choice settled the complicated question of official numbering attached to this papal name.

Pope John XXIII surprised those who expected him to be a caretaker pope by calling the historic Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the first session opening on 11 October 1962. His passionate views on equality were summed up in his famous statement, "We were all made in God's image, and thus, we are all Godly alike."

Pope John XXIII did not live to see the Vatican Council to completion. He died of stomach cancer on 3 June 1963, four and a half years after his election and two months after the completion of his final and famed encyclical, Pacem in terris. He was buried in the Vatican grottoes beneath Saint Peter's Basilica on 6 June 1963 and his cause for canonization was opened on 18 November 1965 by his successor, Pope Paul VI, who declared him a Servant of God. He was canonised alongside Pope Saint John Paul II on 27 April 2014. John XXIII today is affectionately known as the "Good Pope" and in Italian, "il Papa buono".

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Papa Ioannes XXIII (Pope John XXIII): Details
CountryHoly See
From28 October 1958
To3 June 1963
Personal Information Pope John XXIII
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