Biblical theology
John XXIII was Pope from 28 October 1958 to 3 June 1963. After 1944 as Nuncio to France, he played an active role in gaining Catholic Church support for the establishment of the state of Israel. His support for Zionism and the establishment of Israel was the result of his cultural and religious openness toward other faiths and cultures, and especially concern with the fate of Jews after the war. He was one of the Vatican's most sympathetic diplomats toward Jewish illegal immigration to Palestine, which he saw as a humanitarian issue, and not a matter of Biblical theology.