Pope John XXIII

:This article deals with the 20th-century pope. For the 14th-century antipope, see Antipope John XXIII

Earlier life

Angelo Roncalli was born in Sotto il Monte (Province of Bergamo), Italy, on November 25, 1881. The fourth in a family of 14, his family worked as sharecroppers, a striking contrast to his predecessor, Eugenio Pacelli, who came from an ancient aristocratic family, long connected to the Papacy.

Related Topics:
Province of Bergamo - Italy - November 25 - 1881 - Sharecropper - Eugenio Pacelli - Aristocrat - Papacy

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In 1904, Roncalli was ordained a priest in the Roman Church of Santa Maria in Monte Santo. Ten years later, during World War I, he was drafted into the Royal Italian Army as a sergeant, serving in the medical corps and as a chaplain.

Related Topics:
1904 - Ordained - Priest - Roman - Church - World War I - Sergeant - Chaplain

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In 1921, Pope Benedict XV appointed him as the Italian president of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. In 1925 Pope Pius XI appointed him as Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria, also naming him for consecration as titular bishop of Areopolis. He chose as his episcopal motto Obedientia et Pax ("Obedience and Peace"), which became his guiding motto.

Related Topics:
1921 - Pope Benedict XV - Society for the Propagation of the Faith - 1925 - Pope Pius XI - Apostolic Visitor - Bulgaria - Consecration - Titular bishop - Areopoli - Episcopal - Motto

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In 1935 he was made Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece. Roncalli used this office to help the Jewish underground in saving thousands of refugees in Europe, leading some to consider him to be a Righteous Gentile. In 1944, during World War II, Pope Pius XII named him Apostolic Nuncio to Paris, France.

Related Topics:
1935 - Apostolic Delegate - Turkey - Greece - Jew - Europe - Righteous Gentile - 1944 - World War II - Pope Pius XII - Apostolic Nuncio - Paris - France

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In 1953, he was named the Patriarch of Venice, and, accordingly, raised to the rank of cardinal. As a sign of his esteem, President Vincent Auriol of France claimed the ancient privilege possessed by French monarchs and bestowed the red hat on the now-Cardinal Roncalli at a ceremony in the Elysee Palace. Of his time in France, John later related in a humorous account that, when a woman wearing a daringly low-cut dress arrived at a reception which he was attending, the people assembled in the room did not watch the woman, but, rather, him to see if he was watching the woman.

Related Topics:
1953 - Patriarch of Venice - Cardinal - Vincent Auriol - France - Monarch - Red hat - Elysee Palace

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