Pope Saint John XXIII 12 Interesting Facts

Pope John XXIII whose Latin name is Ioannes XXIII, was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli on 25 Nov 1881 in the village of Sotto il Monte in the provice of Bergamo, Italy and was Pope from 28 October 1958 until his death at the age of 81 on 3 June 1963 in Italy. Nicknamed "Good Pope John".

Pope Francis canonized Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII on April 27, 2014.

1. He was the last pope to used a full papal ceremony which lasted for five hours.
2. He was the first pope to take the pontifical name of "John" after more than 500 years.
3. He is commemorated every 11 October which was the first session day of the Second Vatican Council and not on the date of his death and also commemorated every 4 June in the Anglican Church of Canada.
4. He was the pope who, as part of his first acts as pope, eliminated the description of Jews as "perfidious" in the Good Friday liturgy and also confessed the sin of anti-semitism.
5. He became the first pope since 1870 to visit the Diocese of Rome by visiting children infected with polio at the Bambino Gesù Hospital and Santo Spirito Hospital and also visited prisoners at the ironically named “Queen of Heaven Prison” in Rome on 25 December 1958.
6. He was the first Pope to become Time magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1963.
7. He was the first pope since Pope Pius X to be declared "Blessed" alongside Pope Pius IX on 3 September 2000 by Pope John Paul II who later became "Saints" alongside Pope John Paul II when they were canonized on 27 April 2014 by Pope Francis.
8. He was assumed to be a transitional or caretaker pope because of his age, 76, but his reign was regarded as the most important pontificate since the Middle Ages because of his decision to call an ecumenical council which was the first since 1870 and only the 21st in the Church's history and he delivered a speech at the conclusion of the first session which became known as the "Speech of the Moon".
9. He addressed "all men of good will”, not only Catholics, in his encyclical letter, "Pacem in terris” for the first time in history.
10. He also established the first Vatican department to promote unity amongst Christians.
11. He opened the Second Vatican Council in the 4th year of his reign, 1962. The first Antipope John XXIII opened the Council of Constance in the 4th year of his reign, 1414.
12. He died shortly before the 3rd Session of Vatican Council II, in 1963. The first Antipope John XXIII's reign ended shortly before the 3rd Session of the Council of Constance, in 1415.

Pope Saint John XXIII 1963 TIME Man of the Year

References:

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