How did pope john XXIII die?
On 23 September 1962, Pope John XXIII was first diagnosed with stomach cancer. The diagnosis, which was kept from the public, followed nearly eight months of occasional stomach hemorrhages, and reduced the pontiff’s appearances. Looking pale and drawn during these events, he gave a hint to his ultimate fate in April 1963, when he said to visitors, “That which happens to all men perhaps will happen soon to the Pope who speaks to you today.” On 11 May 1963, the Italian president Antonio Segni awarded Pope John XXIII the Balzan Prize for his engagement for peace. It was the Pope’s last public appearance. On 25 May 1963, the Pope suffered another hemorrhage and required blood transfusions, but peritonitis soon set in. On 31 May it had become clear that the cancer had overcome the resistance of Pope John XXIII. At 11 A.M. Petrus Canisius Van Lierde as Papal Sacristan was at the bedside of the dying pope, ready to anoint him. The Pope begins to speak for a very last time: “I had the great gr
