Pope John XXIII

He was a father figure for the world, described as a man with a wonderful sense of humour, being open-hearted, loving and caring.

This was Pope John XXlll, remembered as “Il Papa Buono,” the Good Pope, an ‘authentic image of the Good Shepherd.’

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born on November 25, 1881, in Sotto Monte, near Bergamo.  He came from a large, poor farming family. His father, Battista, was a farmer who worked for a very wealthy landowner.

When Angelo was 11 years old, he left home to study for priesthood at the Seminary in Bergamo, where he eventually professed vows as a Secular Franciscan. The passage of his life from his ordination to the priesthood (August 1904) to his election as Pope (October 1958) was marked with various roles he was asked to fulfil, which he did, in full obedience without question, with an openness of heart to all men.

During the First World War he served as a sergeant in the Italian Military and later as a Military Chaplain. In 1925 he was anointed Bishop. Between 1931 and 1944, he was appointed as an Apostolic Delegate (Nunzio Apostolico) to Bulgaria and later to Turkey, Greece and France. It was at this time that he was instrumental in helping thousands of Jews, who were being persecuted by the Nazis, to flee from Europe. In 1953 he was elevated to Cardinal and given Venice as his diocese. Five years later, 28th October 1958, he was elected Pope, taking the name John, becoming Pope John XXlll. He was one month short of turning 77. The general feeling of the Faithful was that this ‘grandfather figure’ was an interim Pope until another younger Pope would be elected to lead the Church.

His Pontificate lasted 5 years, after having left an imprint on the Catholic Church to the present day and beyond!

He will be remembered for:

• being the first Pope to leave the Vatican since 1870, presenting a father-figure to the world, visiting prisoners, orphanages, schools, hospitals,
• starting a new dialogue with Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims,
• his two Encyclicals (formal teaching documents), Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher), and Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), promoting social issues stressing the importance that all nations should hold truth and justice, love and freedom as ‘pillars of social justice,’
• his ‘key role in the Cuban Missile Crisis between Kennedy and Khruschev when a nuclear war seemed imminent until a message from Pope John halted the conflict and both powers stepped back from their political stance and war was avoided.

Pope John XXlll will continue to leave a significant mark in Church History when he called all the Church’s bishops and Cardinals to Rome to convene for the Second Vatican Council that lasted from 1962 to 1965. The aim of the Pope was to modernize the Church according to the changing needs of society.

Pope John XXlll died on the 3rd June 1963.  The continuation and closure of the Second Vatican Council was left in the hands of Pope Paul Vl who succeeded him.