On Nov. 25 -- Birthday of Pope John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):
November 25 is the birthday of Pope Saint John XXIII, was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in 1881. He was the fourth of 14 children born to sharecroppers in Lombardi, Italy. He served as a sergeant in the Royal Italian Army during World War I, as a chaplain and stretcher-bearer. Before being elected pope, he served at posts in Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.
His papacy was unexpected due to his advanced age (76), and he arrived in Rome for the voting with a return train ticket, not believing he would garner enough votes.
He was considered one of the most compassionate popes. He said, “We were all made in God’s image, and thus, we are all Godly alike.” He was the first pope since 1870 to make pastoral visits in the Diocese of Rome, when he visited children afflicted with polio at a hospital and then visited a prison. He told the inmates, “You could not come to me, so I came to you.”
Pope John is largely known for orchestrating the Second Vatican Council in 1962, which produced major change in the Church for the first time in hundreds of years. Most obvious were changes in the Mass, which had been said in Latin, with priest facing away from the congregation, often speaking quietly (even mumbling). It was impersonal at best, and for most, not understandable.
In 2000, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.