Spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Patriarch of Venice. Distinguished papal diplomat in Bulgaria, Turkey and France. Convened the Second Vatican Council.
 
TLS - Typewritten Letter Signed, two sides of a correspondence card, dated 16 January 1925. Three months prior to this the pope named him Italian secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. One month after this letter, Roncalli was given the personal title of archbishop and appointed papal nuncio to Bulgaria. Charming friendly note to the countess-daughter of Radini-Tedeschini (related to Bishop Tedeschini under whom Roncalli had once served). She was studying with the Ursuline nuns in Rapallo. 
 
Reads:  You know that my delays in responding are not signs of insensitivity. Indeed, these things keep me more and more connected and my mind and heart to the people I have to respond to. Please welcome the cordial exchange of best wishes for the new year. I continue to implore for her that inner peace of spirit that allows us to find relief, in union with Jesus Crucified, all the pains of life. You know these pains of yours as I know them, you pity them and appreciate them above all in their true value. They look from the window at its beautiful sea, may you briefly read in the slow horizon something of the mystery of love and providence of the Lord to whom your pains serve and are surely ordered, and also have in this a foretaste of the celestial fords that are there reserved in the company of the blessed districts among whom we will find the people who were dearest to us in life. I always think back to our recent meeting in Bergamo in the act of carrying out an office together, despite the sadness of the rite. I truly admired you, my Countess, on that occasion; and I said to myself: This is how he truly loved his brother! I cannot think that from Heaven he, our unforgettable Monsignor, does not follow her with his protection and does not come to her by preparing and accumulating that reward of fraternal affection, the very presence of which is a great guarantee of very effective encouragement for goodness, for patience, for charity. As for my trip to Bergamo, I repeat to you what I wrote to your sisters Annetta and Maria Felica. It is ready for printing, and corrected according to the text published in the Via Diocesana. But you still have to be patient a little. A little about my occupations; A bit of the difficulty of money for the shopping - which is expensive and considerable; and I too am a rich, very poor Prelate here in Rome - keeps me from hurrying. But it will come and we won't have to wait too long now. In the meantime, continue to keep me very present in your prayers and in your sufferings which are even more effective and precious prayers. Remember me very much to the Mother Superior and to all the Sisters of the House of Rapalle and tell them that my thoughts were with them, in their chapel, in their garden which I hope the Lord will thank you to see again. But please pray for my work which is entirely apostolate, of what the Cubre del Signora likes most. Greetings also to Mrs. Castegneto who I still see in the act of spreading her figs in the sunshine of her windows and singing with a serene spirit the beautiful songs of Buonos Ayres and Genoa. I confirm myself as very devoted to you, Contessina, in the Lord.