John XXIII, by Josephine Robinson

John XXIII, The Universal Parish Priest. Life of the Pope who inaugurated the Second Vatican Council. Intelligent, modest, joyful and from the humblest of origins, became Pope aged 78. Yet his short papacy (1958-1963) inaugurated the most significant event in Church life for centuries: the Vatican Council II. The moving spiritual journey told here - his ambitions and failures, his family and the years overseas as a papal representative - reveal the gentle heart of a true pastor.