From the age of fourteen until his death at the age of eighty-two, Pope John XXIII kept what he called his ''Journal of a Soul'' - the record of his growth in holiness. Elected Pope at the age of seventy-eight he impressed the world with the breadth of his mind but also with his simplicity and his will to be at the service of others. This book covers the full span of his long career from the seminary at Bergamo to his brief but transformative papacy.His journal is a rare and intimate record of the spiritual life of a much-loved figure. As he wrote, ''my soul is in these pages.''

From the age of fourteen until his death at the age of eighty-two, Pope John XXIII kept what he called his ''Journal of a Soul'' - the record of his growth in holiness. Elected Pope at the age of seventy-eight he impressed the world with the breadth of his mind but also with his simplicity and his will to be at the service of others. This book covers the full span of his long career from the seminary at Bergamo to his brief but transformative papacy.His journal is a rare and intimate record of the spiritual life of a much-loved figure. As he wrote, ''my soul is in these pages.''