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28.10.

1958: Why was the Election of Pope Innocent XXIII so Important?

1958: Why was the Election of Pope Innocent XXIII so Important?
Photo Credit To http://www.discerninghearts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Blessed-Pope-John-XXII.jpg

Story Highlights

  • historical event:
  • Unlike his predecessor, the new pope didn't originate from a wealthy family. He was born in a small Italian village, about halfway between Milan and the Italian Alps. He had as many as 12 siblings, and was later nicknamed “Good Pope John”.

One of the most fateful papal elections in history took place on this day in 1958. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who took the name John XXIII upon his inauguration. He is important because he called the Second Vatican Council, at which the Catholic Church implemented measures to make itself more in touch with the modern world. The decisions of the Council still bind Catholics to this day.



Unlike his predecessor, the new pope didn’t originate from a wealthy family. He was born in a small Italian village, about halfway between Milan and the Italian Alps. He had as many as 12 siblings, and was later nicknamed “Good Pope John”. He was declared a Blessed of the Catholic Church in 2000, during the pontificate of John Paul II.

The papal elections were held on this day in 1958, in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Fifty-one cardinals were present. Two cardinals (Aloysius Stepinac and József Mindszenty) couldn’t attend the conclave because they weren’t able to leave the communist countries where their archdioceses were located (Yugoslavia and Hungary).

Even the newly-elected pope was allegedly surprised by the results of the election. Namely, he had already bought a return ticket for Venice, where he was Patriarch. Some even believed his election was meant to be a temporary solution, because he was already 77 years old. However, his pontificate lasted for around 4,5 years and he introduced many reforms into the Catholic Church. He was popular throughout the world, so that the Time magazine declared him the Person of the Year in 1962.

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