Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII
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Name	Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli
Honorific-prefix	Pope
Birth date	25 November 1881
Birth place	Sotto il Monte, Kingdom of Italy
Death date	3 June 1963
Death place	Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
Papacy begin	28 October 1958
Papacy end	3 June 1963
Predecessor	Pius XII
Successor	Paul VI

Pope John XXIII

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli served as head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 1958 until his death in 1963. Widely known for convening the Second Vatican Council, Roncalli engaged with figures and institutions across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, reshaping relations between the Holy See and states such as Italy, France, United States, and Soviet Union while interacting with leaders like Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nikita Khrushchev, Konrad Adenauer, and Charles de Gaulle.

Early life and priesthood

Angelo Roncalli was born in Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII in the Province of Bergamo to a peasant family linked to local parishes like Parish of Sotto il Monte. He studied at the Seminary of Bergamo, the Pontifical Lombard Seminary, and later at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he completed formation alongside seminarians who later served in dioceses such as Milan and Venice. Ordained a priest in 1904 by Giuseppe Ferrari (bishop), Roncalli ministered in parishes of Bergamo and taught at catechetical institutes that connected him with movements like the Catholic Action organization and figures including Giovanni Battista Montini and Achille Ratti.

During World War I, Roncalli served as a military chaplain attached to units influenced by the Italian Front and commanders who later shaped interwar Italy. Postwar, he worked in Bergamo's diocesan administration and engaged with charitable institutions such as Caritas and diocesan seminaries, which brought him into contact with clerical networks in Lombardy and the broader Holy Roman Church.

Diplomatic and curial career

In the 1920s and 1930s, Roncalli entered the Holy See diplomatic service and was appointed Apostolic Delegate to Bulgaria and later to Turkey. In Istanbul and Constantinople he engaged with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and leaders like Athenagoras I, while navigating relations involving the Ottoman Empire's successor states and the League of Nations era. As Apostolic Nuncio to France and representative in Greece and the Holy Land, he worked with governments including the Third French Republic and later the French Fourth Republic, and with institutions such as the Palestine Mandate authorities and the Greek Orthodox Church.

During World War II Roncalli's postings in Turkey and Bulgaria put him in contact with diplomats like Bernard Baruch, humanitarian networks including American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and Jewish leaders seeking visas during the Holocaust. After the war he joined the Roman Curia as Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and later served as Patriarch of Venice where he interacted with figures such as Pope Pius XII, Eugenio Pacelli, Giovanni Battista Montini, and secular leaders in Italy like Benito Mussolini's successors and postwar statesmen.

Election and papacy

Elected pope in the 1958 papal conclave following the death of Pius XII, Roncalli chose the name John XXIII. His election surprised cardinals from curial factions aligned with figures like Francesco Carta and diplomats who had advocated continuity with papal policies of the Holy See during the Cold War. Early in his pontificate he issued Apostolic Letters and encyclicals engaging with heads of state such as Harry S. Truman and Adlai Stevenson, and with international organizations including the United Nations and the Council of Europe.

His style combined traditional papal liturgy with pastoral visits, including audiences with leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and delegations from Poland and Hungary. He reformed the Roman Curia in consultation with cardinals like Benedetto Aloisi Masella and Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli's collaborators and sought to recalibrate relations with Eastern Bloc countries, negotiating contacts that involved diplomats from the USSR, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

Second Vatican Council

In 1959 Roncalli announced an ecumenical council, which convened as the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). He summoned bishops from global sees including Canterbury delegations, representatives of the Orthodox Church, and bishops from Lima, Beirut, Seoul, and Sydney. The council addressed liturgical reform under liturgists influenced by the Liturgical Movement, theological questions raised by scholars from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, the Pontifical Lateran University, and figures like Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, and Hans Urs von Balthasar.

Sessions confronted issues involving relations with Judaism, Islam, and Protestantism, producing schemas on Liturgy, Revelation, and Ecumenism that were later promulgated as constitutions, decrees, and declarations under successors like Pope Paul VI. The council also shaped Catholic responses to modern states, engaging with documents influenced by legal scholars from institutions such as the Hague Academy of International Law and social scholars from Harvard University and the University of Paris.

Social teaching and ecumenism

Roncalli promoted social teaching rooted in papal predecessors Leo XIII and Pius XI, issuing messages on peace that referenced actors like John F. Kennedy, Mikhail Gorbachev's later-era interlocutors, and institutions such as Caritas Internationalis and the International Red Cross. He advanced ecumenical outreach to the Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and the World Council of Churches, establishing dialogues with leaders like Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Patriarch Athenagoras I. His positions on development and poverty resonated with agencies like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Bank's early development programs, influencing later social encyclicals by Paul VI and John Paul II.

Death, legacy, and canonization

Roncalli died in 1963 in the Apostolic Palace and was succeeded by Pope Paul VI. His funeral drew statesmen including Konstantinos Karamanlis, Adolfo López Mateos, and delegations from United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and United States. The legacy of the council reshaped relations with Israel, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Conference of European Churches, and academic theology at institutions like Oxford University and Université catholique de Louvain.

Beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Francis, his sainthood involved posthumous investigations into alleged miracles and charitable acts connected to foundations such as Fondazione Angelo Roncalli and archival initiatives at the Vatican Secret Archives and the Archivio Segreto Vaticano. His image features in museums and biographies that discuss interactions with contemporaries such as Simone Weil, Dag Hammarskjöld, Pope Benedict XVI, and scholars at the Vatican Library.

Category:Popes Category:Italian saints