He chose as his motto, Obedience and Peace which he used for the rest of his life.īishop Roncalli remained in Bulgaria for the next ten years where he fostered relations between the Holy See and other Christian communities. He cherished the messages for peace issued by Pope Benedict XV and one wonders if at that time in his life the seed was planted which resulted in his famous encyclical, Pacem in Terris.Īfter some years working in Rome in service to the Holy See, in 1925, Pius XI consecrated him a bishop sending him to the diocese of Areopolis in Bulgaria. The carnage he witnessed caused him to declare the war a useless massacre. In 1915 he was drafted into military service as a medical corpsman and chaplain. In addition to the daily mentoring given by his bishop, he collaborated with him on many initiatives, some educational and others pastoral. Not long after he was appointed secretary to the new Bishop of Bergamo, a post he enjoyed for nearly ten years.

Roncalli studied at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and in 1904, he was ordained a priest at the age of twenty-two. Those notes have been compiled into Journal of a Soul, his much-loved autobiography that is still in print. In 1922, at age eleven, Angelo entered the Bergamo seminary where he began the practice of making spiritual notes which he continued until his death. His religious education came from his family and from the spiritual life of his parish. He was the fourth of fourteen children born to a devout Catholic family of sharecroppers. –Saint John XXIIIĪngelo Roncalli was born in Sotto il Monte, Italy, November 25, 1881. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.

Journal of a Soul by Pope John XXIII