Roman Catholic clergyman John XXIII was born Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli. He was ordained a priest in 1904 and steadily rose through the Vatican heirachy. He was the first permanent observer of the Vatican to UNESCO. Chosen to be Pope in 1958, John is perhaps best remembered for his 1962 convening of the Second Vatican Council, also known as Vatican II, an ecumenical meeting which called for greater unity in the Christian church. Vatican II ushered in tremendous reforms within the Roman Catholic Church. Bibliography: Walsh, Timothy. Pope John XXIII . (World Leaders Past and Present). 1986. Chelsea House Pub. Hebblethwaite, Peter Pope John XXIII: Shepherd of the Modern World . 1985. Doubleday & Co Inc. Zizola, Giancarlo.The Utopia of Pope John XXIII.1979. OrbisBooks. McGravie, Anne. The Boyhood of Pope John XXIII: A Story About Angelo Joseph Roncalli 1979. Harpercollins. Juvenile Books. Johnson, Paul. Pope John XXIII. 1974. Little Brown & Co. Elliott, Lawrence. I Will Be Called John; A Biography of Pope John XXIII. 1973. Random House. Richards, Norman. Pope John XXIII. 1969. Childrens Press.