Pope John XXIII

By Raymond7001

  • Birth of Pope John XXIII

  • Birth of Pope John XXIII

    Birth of Pope John XXIII
    The fourth of fourteen children born to a family of sharecroppers who lived in a village in Lombardy.

  • Ordained a Priest

    Ordained a Priest
    At the age of 23 he was ordained into Priesthood, later served as the secretary to the bishop of Bergamo.

  • Served in the Army

    Served as hospital orderly. With the entry of Italy into World War I in 1915 he was recalled to military service as a chaplain.

  • Opening a hostel for student in Bergamo

    On leaving the service in 1918 he was appointed spiritual director of the seminary, but found time to open a hostel for students in Bergamo.

  • Recalled to Rome

    In 1921 he was called to Rome to reorganize the Society for the Propagation of the Faith

  • Turkey and Greece

    Transferred in 1934 to Turkey and Greece as apostolic delegate, he set up an office in Istanbul for locating prisoners of war.

  • Transferred to Istanbul

    Transferred to Istanbul, from where, during the war years, he helped Jews in Hungary and other countries to get false certificates enabling them to escape the Holocaust.

  • Rising in the Church

    Pope Pius XII elevates him to the rank of cardinal and names him patriarch of Venice.

  • Elected Pope

    Elected pope after many ballots, a compromise candidate.

  • Changes in the Church

    Calls the Second Vatican Council to modernise the Church. This was the turning point of the Church.

  • Second Vatican Council starts.

    In 1962 John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, which lasted until 1965. It was to be one of the most significant councils in the history of the Catholic Church, and its influence extended across the whole Christian faith

  • Death of Pope John XXIII

    Dies after a battle with stomach cancer.

  • The Good Pope

    John XXIII is affectionately remembered as ‘the good pope’ and was beatified on 3 September 2000.

  • Canonisation

    He was canonised by Pope Francis on 27th April 2014 and his feast day is celebrated on June 3. John XXIII was not just a leader to the Roman Catholic Church – he is recognised as a ‘renewer of the church’ by both the Anglican and Lutheran churches.