Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 1881 – 3 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. Roncalli was among 13 children born to Marianna Mazzola and Giovanni Battista Roncalli in a family of sharecroppers who lived in Sotto il Monte, a village in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy. He was ordained to the priesthood on 10 August 1904 and served in a number of posts, as nuncio in France and a delegate to Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. In a consistory on 12 January 1953 Pope Pius XII made Roncalli a cardinal as the Cardinal-priest of Santa Prisca in addition to naming him as the Patriarch of Venice.