St John XX111 medal
2.5cm x 1.5cm
Saint John XXIII
Saint of the Day for October 11
(November 25, 1881 June 3, 1963)
Saint John XXIII's Story
Although few people had as great an impact on the 20th century as
Pope John XXIII, he avoided the limelight as much as possible. Indeed,
one writer has noted that his "ordinariness" seems one of his most
remarkable qualities.
The firstborn son of a farming family in Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo
in northern Italy, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was always proud of his
down-to-earth roots. In Bergamo's diocesan seminary, he joined the
Secular Franciscan Order.
After his ordination in 1904, Fr. Roncalli returned to Rome for canon
law studies. He soon worked as his bishop's secretary, Church history
teacher in the seminary, and as publisher of the diocesan paper.
His service as a stretcher-bearer for the Italian army during World
War I gave him a firsthand knowledge of war. In 1921, Fr. Roncalli was
made national director in Italy of the Society for the Propagation of
the Faith. He also found time to teach patristics at a seminary in the
Eternal City.
In 1925, he became a papal diplomat, serving first in Bulgaria, then
in Turkey, and finally in France. During World War II, he became well
acquainted with Orthodox Church leaders. With the help of Germany's
ambassador to Turkey, Archbishop Roncalli helped save an estimated
24,000 Jewish people.
Named a cardinal and appointed patriarch of Venice in 1953, he was
finally a residential bishop. A month short of entering his 78th year,
Cardinal Roncalli was elected pope, taking the name John after his
father and the two patrons of Rome's cathedral, St. John Lateran. Pope
John took his work very seriously but not himself. His wit soon became
proverbial, and he began meeting with political and religious leaders
from around the world. In 1962, he was deeply involved in efforts to
resolve the Cuban missile crisis.
His most famous encyclicals were
Mother and Teacher
(1961) and
Peace on Earth
(1963). Pope John XXIII enlarged the membership in the College of
Cardinals and made it more international. At his address at the opening
of the Second Vatican Council, he criticized the "prophets of doom" who
"in these modern times see nothing but prevarication and ruin." Pope
John XXIII set a tone for the Council when he said, "The Church has
always opposed errors. Nowadays, however, the Spouse of Christ prefers
to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that of severity."
On his deathbed, Pope John said: "It is not that the gospel has
changed; it is that we have begun to understand it better. Those who
have lived as long as I havewere enabled to compare different cultures
and traditions, and know that the moment has come to discern the signs
of the times, to seize the opportunity and to look far ahead."
"Good Pope John" died on June 3, 1963. Saint John Paul II beatified him in 2000, and Pope Francis canonized him in 2014.
