Stretcher-bearer
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born in the Italian village of Sotto il Monte on November 25, 1881.
He graduated in 1904 with a doctorate in theology and was ordained priest. A year later, he was appointed secretary to his bishop.
In 1914, as World War I broke out, he was drafted into the Italian army as a chaplain and stretcher-bearer.
After the war, Roncalli was appointed president of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
In 1925 he was named apostolic visitor to Bulgaria and for the next few decades took on a number of diplomatic roles.
When the rise of Hitler and the outbreak of war unleashed a wave of anti-Semitism across the continent, Roncalli helped save thousands of Jews.
In 1952 he became Patriarch of Venice and travelled to Rome six years later to elect a new pope. The conclave chose Roncalli and he took the name Pope John XXIII.
Quick-witted
He quickly became known for his impatience with Vatican bureaucracy as well as his quick wit. These two traits combined in his famous reply to a reporter who asked how many people worked in the Vatican. “About half of them,” he said.
When he proposed a second Vatican Council an official told him it would be absolutely impossible to open it by 1963. “Fine, we’ll open it in 1962,” he answered. And he did.
Along with launching one of the most momentous Catholic events of the 20th century, he also used his diplomatic skills to avoid nuclear war between the two superpowers at the height of the Cold War.
Miracles
He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1962 and died the following year on June 3.
Miracles were soon attributed to his intercession and his body was found to be in an uncorrupted state. On September 3, 2000, Pope John Paul beatified him. Pope Francis canonised him on April 27, 2014.
