John XXIII
Angelo Roncalli, a papal diplomat and then patriarch of Venice, was elected pope in 1958 at the age of 76. He called the Second Vatican Council, opened it in October 1962 and died in June 1963 with its work unfinished.
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born on 25 November 1881 at Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo, to a family of sharecroppers. He was ordained in 1904, represented the Holy See in Bulgaria, in Turkey and Greece and in France, and became patriarch of Venice in 1953. The cardinals elected him pope in October 1958, when he was 76 (Holy See, biographical profile of John XXIII).
On 25 January 1959 he announced that he would hold a council (John XXIII, Humanae Salutis 13), and at Christmas 1961 he summoned it for the following year (John XXIII, Humanae Salutis 18 and dating clause). He opened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962 (Paul VI, In Spiritu Sancto (8 December 1965)) with an address that asked for the church’s teaching to be handed on whole, in a manner suited to the times (John XXIII, Gaudet Mater Ecclesia 6). He died on 3 June 1963 (Holy See, biographical profile of John XXIII), and Paul VI carried the council on (Paul VI, In Spiritu Sancto (8 December 1965)). Pope Francis canonised him on 27 April 2014 together with John Paul II (Holy See, biographical profile of John Paul II).
In the timeline
- 1962 to 1965, firm dateThe Second Vatican Council
From 1962 to 1965 the Catholic bishops of the world meet in St Peter’s. Called by John XXIII and concluded by Paul VI, the council issues texts on the liturgy, the church, revelation, religious freedom, other Christians and the Jewish people.