"Pope John XXIII opens with a concise but sweeping history of the Catholic Church and the papacy, culminating in the brief but unforgettable reign of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli as Pope John XXIII in the mid-twentieth century. At seventy-six years of age, neither a well-known public figure nor a highly trained theologian, he was at first regarded as a transitional pope.

During his reign, however, he awed the world with the seminal and unprecedented change he brought about, in his concern for the fundamental plight of humankind.".

"In rich, impassioned prose Cahill follows the pontiff's life from his peasant roots to the landmark Second Vatican Council, with its emphasis on worldwide social justice, which marked the beginning of a true shift in the Catholic Church and its relationship to the modern world.

In a biography that will captivate Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Cahill's signature blend of imagination, interpretive insight, and scholarship mirrors Pope John's own intuition, spontaneity, and all-embracing vision."--BOOK JACKET.