Each week, we will share some information about Pope St. John XXIII, so that we can all learn more about the patron of the new parish.  

“What unites us, is much greater than what divides us.” 

Pope St.John XXIII

The eldest son in a family of thirteen children, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born November 25, 1881. The Roncallis were poor sharecroppers from Sotto il Monte, northern Italy. Angelo, who later recalled always wanting to be a priest, entered seminary at the age of ten and was ordained in Rome in 1904. 

In 1921 he was called to Rome to reorganize the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Nominated titular archbishop of Areopolis and apostolic visitator to Bulgaria (1925), he immediately concerned himself with the problems of the Eastern Churches. Transferred in 1934 to Turkey and Greece as apostolic delegate, he set up an office in Istanbul for locating prisoners of war.

(to be continued in next newsletter)

Source: vatican.va