Perhaps you might be interested to know that:

—St. John XXIII opened Vatican Council II in 1962. St. John Paul II attended all four sessions of Vatican Council II (1962-65).

—Pope Pius XII created St. John XXIII as cardinal (Jan. 12, 1953) and appointed St. John Paul II as bishop (July 4, 1958).

—St. John XXIII was elected pope on Oct. 28, 1958 — exactly one month after St. John Paul II was ordained a bishop (auxiliary of Cracow, on Sept. 28).

—Both men were elected pope in October, 20 years apart — St. John XXIII on Oct. 28, 1958, and St. John Paul II on Oct. 16, 1978.

—St. John Paul II became the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Cracow while St. John XXIII was pope. (John Paul became archbishop of Cracow the year after John XXIII died.)

—St. John XXIII visited the Angelicum University in Rome on March 7, 1963. St. John Paul II is an alumnus of the University, attending 1946-1948.

—Both popes were Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” — St. John XXIII in 1962, St. John Paul II in 1994.

—Both popes were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — St. John XXIII (posthumously) by President Lyndon Johnson on Dec. 3, 1963; St. John Paul II by President George W. Bush on June 4, 2004.

—St. John XXIII was declared “Blessed” with another Pope (Pius IX) on Sept. 3, 2000 by St. John Paul II. Thus, not only were two popes declared “Blessed” by a future Blessed and Saint (John Paul II), it was also the first time in the history of the Church to have two popes declared “Blessed” on the same day.

—St. John XXIII was buried in a grave in the Papal Grottos underneath St. Peter’s Basilica from 1963 to 2001. St. John Paul II was subsequently buried in the same grave from 2005 to 2011. It was the first time in the history of the Church to have two Popes buried consecutively in the same grave.

—Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II were approved for canonization by Pope Francis on the same day: July 5, 2013.

—Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II were declared Saints by Pope Francis on the same day: April 27, 2014 — the first time in the history of the Church to have two popes declared Saints together.

Msgr. Laurence Spiteri, a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is presently in charge of the legal office of the Vatican Apostolic Library and a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Roman See. He has authored “The Ten Commandments: A Positive Approach Toward Catholic Morality, Lifestyle and Attitude” (St Pauls/Alba House, 2007) and “The Code in the Hands of the Laity: Canon Law for Everyone” (St Pauls/Alba House, 1997).