I Will Be Called John: A Biography of Pope John XXIII

by Lawrence Elliott, Edward M. Kennedy (Contributor)

Dust jacket "Before he became pope, scarcely anyone outside the Vatican had heard of him. By the time he died, less than five years later, he was one of the best-loved men in the world. The son of simple peasants who worked a stony tenant farm in a northern Italian village, the man born Angelo Roncalli and destined for sainthood as Pope John XXIII never forgot his humble beginnings nor lost his innate love of humanity. He was a brother to all men, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, and was revered by men of every faith and philosophy. His climb up the hierarchical ladder was slow and often painful. Conservative forces within the church suspected him of modernist tendencies, and he was shunted off to the backwaters in the Balkans. Then, after two decades of obscurity, he was suddenly thrust into the mainstream of events as papal nuncio in Paris, the Vatican's most prestigious diplomatic post. Consecrated as cardinal at the age of seventy-two, he resigned himself to living out his days quietly as Patriarch of Venice - only to be called to the ultimate position of Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, spiritual leader of 500 million Catholic souls. In preparing this exhaustive biography, Lawrence Elliott has traveled widely, talking in depth with the men and women who knew John best - cardinals and canons, friends and family-gathering stories never before told. And so we learn of the little quarrels, endless debts, and abiding love within the Roncalli clan. We see the peasant wit and humor that endeared him to all who met him, the simple faith and goodness that prevailed over adversity and inspired men to come together in search of peace. We come to know Pope John and his towering spirit; through him we see the church growing, sometimes painfully, and we see the world as a slightly less forbidding place."

Genres: Biography, Religion, Nonfiction, History

338 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[John Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t want this to end.
A joy to follow the life of this lovely man. Finished it with a tear or two. My holy hero! Well written and an easy, enjoyable read. Now for Journal of a Soul..

[Luke Daghir · Rating 4 out of 5]

John XXIII. He loved others, his actions showed love, and he fought for peace. A peasant, poor child who then moved by the current of the Holy Spirit became Pope of the Holy See. John's heart continued to expand by the day it seemed. In his time in Greece, Bulgaria, Instanbul, Paris, and Venice he encountered people of all walks of life; yet time and time again John broke through the barriers by respecting the dignity of the human person. It is in the language of the dignity of the human person that everyone is fluent in.

One particular story stuck out to me: in 1960, when the Olympics were in Rome, John XXIII caught site of a former friend he knew from Bulgaria. Unfortunately this person was within the communist leadership of Bulgaria at the time. John XXIII sent a note to the communist leader asking if he would like to meet up after the Olympics of that day and simply catch up on old times. John XXIII said they didn't have to meet for that long. When the other communist leaders heard this they told the one who received the letter from the Pope that he should not meet with John XXIII. The Pope was anti-communism. Well the Bulgarian communist leader talked his communist friends into having only a very short meeting with John XXIII. But as the story goes, they met for much longer than 10 minutes. In fact, they met for the entire night and into the morning. When the communist leader returned to his communist friends they were overly angry and asked him what he and John XXIII talked about. The communist leader said to his friends, "all John XXIII talked about was how much he loves Bulgaria." A few weeks later 1 bishop and 12 priests who were held captive in Bulgaria were silently released.

The Second Vatican council was not started by a pope who didn't reason, rather it was started by the Holy Spirit through the reasoning and experience of John XXIII. The dignity of the human person was the pillar upon which John XXIII's weighted wisdom most greatly leans on.

I recommend this book for Catholics and non-Catholics. In fact, the author was not Catholic. This book is about an extraordinary person. And therefore, is a book worth reading, because the main character loved till the end.

[Janel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a year to read. I kept it on the mantle and would read when sitting downstairs. Very good writing, but dense. I enjoyed learning about the pope and the history of the Vatican at that time as well as how Vatican 2 came about.

[Jean-Rémy Duboc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, touching portrait of the humble and holy man, the saint who started the greatest church reform in the.past 10p years

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept making me look up Wikipedia’s list of cardinals and just how all of that pecking order works. But nevertheless this Pope was an interesting one.

[Norbert Isles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book answers in the affirmative the question "will he be good?" echoed by people upon Angelo Roncalli's election as Pope John XXIII . But more than that, through narrative, anecdotes and the man's own words as well as that of others, Elliot portrayed a man of wisdom, mirth and wit, one with uncommon understanding and compassion for people, sharp perception of the issues that govern the ways of man and nations, and truly human in the good sense of the word. Reading his biography endeared me to Pope John XXIII as truly a person with a heart for God and a heart for the world; unafraid to open new doors and tread new paths to advance unity of people. No wonder he gained the trust, admiration and love of many from all faith and non-faith.

[Joann Glasser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best book I have read on Pope John xxiii. You came away feeling like you really got to know him and what made as they tick. I can remember this pope but not being catholic at the time I really didn't know anything about him. But,now that he has been declared a saint and now having read this book I can appreciate the fact of him having been the Pope. A very good read.