Who he was
The fourth of thirteen children, born near Bergamo, he was secretary to the Bishop of Bergamo, an army medic and chaplain in the First World War, and then for many years a papal diplomat in Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece, and nuncio in Paris. During the Second World War he helped save many Jews with transit visas issued by his office. He was made a cardinal and Patriarch of Venice in 1953, and was elected pope at nearly seventy-seven.
What he is remembered for
People called him the 'good Pope' for his warmth and simplicity; he visited prisoners and the sick and the parishes of Rome. He called the Second Vatican Council, began the revision of the Code of Canon Law, and wrote the encyclicals Mater et Magistra (1961) and Pacem in terris (1963). St John Paul II beatified him in 2000, and Pope Francis canonised him on 27 April 2014.
He is honoured by the Church as Saint. Read his page in the dictionary of saints.
Sources
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