Pope St. John XXIII was the Supreme Pontiff from 1958-1963 and he was the one who summoned the Second Vatican Council.

He was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in Sotto il Monte, Italy. He entered the seminary in Bergamo in 1912 and became a Franciscan Tertiary four years later. From 1901 – 1905, he studied at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood on August 10, 1904.

Following his ordination, he was appointed secretary to the bishop of Bergamo and taught and preached in the region. He was drafted into the Italian miliary in 1915 and served as a sergeant in the medical corps and as a chaplain. When World War I ended, he opened a house for students. He was then called to the Vatican by Pope Benedict XV and given the office of Italian President of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. In 1925, he was named Apostolic Visitator to Bulgaria, and was consecrated as a bishop on march 19, 1925.

In Bulgaria, Roncalli was well respected and served the people after the earthquake in 1928 and conducted Vatican affairs in Bulgaria with tact and warmth. In 1935, he became the Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece, again displaying sensitivity and diplomacy in dealing with Orthodox and Islamic matters.

During World War II, he saved countless Jews by providing them with “transit visas” from the Vatican. At the close of the war he became the Apostolic Nuncio to France, appointed to this post by Pope Pius XII. He aided in rebuilding of France, showing himself prudent and a visionary in dealing with ecclesiastical associations and personnel. In 1953, he was made the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice.

Upon the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Cardinal Roncalli was elected pope on October 28, 1958. He was welcomed by people all around the world and issued encyclicals that had an impact on the post-war affairs. He wrote Pacem in Terris and Mater et Magistra. His Journal of a Soul was one of the best-selling books of his era.

On January 25, 2959, he announced the start of the Second Vatican Council and brought the prelates of the world into session from 1962-1965. His motto clearly demonstrated his spiritual maturity, as he counseled “Patience and Peace.”

Pope John XXIII died in Rome, and his remains were unearthed and put on display in a crystal coffin in St. Peter’s Square on June 3, 2001. The body of John XXIII was found to be incorrupt. Pope John Paul II beatified John XXIII on September 3, 2001. He was canonized with Pope John Paul II by Pope Francis on April 27, 2014.