Home
 
 Stamps issued to commemorate the 80th birthday of Pope John XXIII (1961) Top Row: Coat of Arms of the Roncalli Family (Scott 317) Church at Sotto il Monte (Scott 318) Santa Maria in Monte Santo, Rome (Scott 319) Bottom Row: Church of Santo Carlo al Corso, Rome (Scott 320) Alter, St. Peter's, Rome (Scott 321) Pope John XXIII (Scott 322) It is customary in these calendar entries to include dates of the birthdays of popes from the mid-19th century to the present. Today marks the birth date for Pope John XXIII. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (1881-1963) was born on November 25, 1881, at Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo (Lombardy, west of Milan), the third of 13 children whose family are described by historian J. N. D. Kelly as "frugal peasant farmers.” Angelo attended seminaries in Bergamo and then studied (with scholarship) at the S. Apollinaire Institute in Rome, graduating Doctor of Theology in 1904. He served as a secretary to a bishop of Bergamo and lectured at a seminary. He was conscripted into the army as an orderly and chaplain during World War I. He was appointed director of the Italian Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and then undertook diplomatic posts in Turkey, Greece, and France. In 1953 he was named a cardinal and Patriarch of Venice. He was elected pope at age 70 after the death of Pius XII in 1958 and took the name John XXIII. Pope John XXIII maintained a spiritual diary beginning at age 14, published in 1964/1965 as John XXIII, Journal of a Soul. The book contains entries from his seminary years through his years as pope. The entries reflect his life-long humility, common sense approach to life, and his striving to be a priest worthy of his calling. Because 25 November is his birthday, below are his reflections about his family in Lombardy, from his “spiritual testament,” written in 1954: “Born poor, but of humble and respected folk, I am particularly happy to die poor, having distributed, according to the various needs and circumstances of my simple and modest life in the service of the poor and of the holy Church which has nurtured me, what ever came into my hands – and it was very little – during the years of my priesthood and episcopate. …to my beloved family according to the flesh, from whom moreover I have never received any material wealth, I can leave only a great and special blessing, begging them to preserve that fear of God which made them always so dear and beloved to me, and to be simple and modest without ever being ashamed of it: it is their true title of nobility.”John XXIII was canonized a saint by Pope Francis in 2014. His feast day is celebrated on 11 October, for which a more detailed commentary was prepared. Click on the Page 2 button below to review stamps issued to celebrate the birthdays of the popes who succeeded Pope John XXIII, from Pope Paul VI through Pope Francis. REFERENCES: |
