Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in Sotto il Monte, on November 25, 1881. He was educated in Bergamo and Rome and ordained a priest in 1904. During World War I he served as a medical sergeant and then as a chaplain. In 1921 he helped reorganize the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and in 1925 he was sent as papal representative to Bulgaria. He then served as apostolic delegate to both Turkey and Greece. During World War II he played a role in rescuing Jews from Nazi-controlled Hungary, and in 1944 he was appointed to the post of papal nuncio to France. He was made a cardinal and