1. POPE JOHN XXIII
Born 25 November, 1881 at Sotto il Monte the 3rd child of 13
He was named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli
Went to a little village school at Bergamo
Attended 2 seminaries at Bergamo
Began to journal – and continued his whole life. He called his journal the Daily Decalogue (see p5)
Ordained a priest 1904 at Rome in the church of Santa Maria the same year he graduated with a Doctorate in Theology
In 1905, he was made a bishop of Bergamo
He served in WWI reaching the rank of sergeant
In 1921, he was appointed president of the Society for the Propagation of the faith
In 1925, Pius XI made him a bishop and appointed him to the post of Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria

2. In 1934, he was appointed to the post of Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece
During WWII between 1941 & 1944, he worked with the Jewish underground saving thousands of Jews.
In 1944, he was appointed as Apostolic (Papal) Nuncio to France
In 1953, he was made a Cardinal as the Patriarch of Venice
He was elected Pope at the 12th ballot on 28 October 1958, and consecrated on 4 November,1958 – the feast day of his patron saint, Charles Borromeo.
He chose the name John becoming the first Pope to do so for 500 years.
He called the second Vatican Council less than 90 years after the first Vatican Council (29 June, 1868) called by Pius IX.
Vatican II became renowned for comprehensively revising the liturgy and re-igniting ecumenism.