| Birth: | Nov. 25, 1881 | | Death: | Jun. 3, 1963 | 
Pope. Educated at Bergamo and the Seminario Romano (called the Apollinare), Rome, he was ordained in 1904. While secretary to the bishop of Bergamo (1904-14) he wrote scholarly works, among them a life of St. Charles Borromeo. He was elected pope Oct. 28, 1958. As pope, he put reforms into practice: He laid stress on his own pastoral duties as well as those of other bishops and the lesser clergy; he was active in promoting social reforms for workers, the poor, orphans, and the outcast; he advanced cooperation with other religions (among his innumerable visitors were many Protestant leaders, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, the archbishop of Canterbury, and a Shinto high priest). He excommunicated Fidel Castro on January 3, 1962 in line with a 1949 decree by Pope Pius XII forbidding Catholics from supporting communist governments. The convening of the council on Oct. 11, 1962, was the high point of his reign. His heartiness, his overflowing love for humanity individually and collectively, and his freshness of approach to ecclesiastical affairs made John one of the best-loved popes of modern times.
On November 27, 1962, he suffered a massive intestinal hemorrhage. The Vatican press office issued a report that he had a bad cold; rumors flew around Rome that he was already dead. But he rallied, and his tough peasant constitution enabled him to survive another six months. US President Lyndon Johnson posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom on December 6, 1963. Pope John XXIII was Beatified on September 3, 2000 by Pope John Paul II. (bio by: MC)
Cause of death: Stomach cancer
Search Amazon for Pope John XXIII | | | Burial:
Saint Peter's Basilica
, Vatican City |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 2380 |
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