Giuseppe De Luca was a close friend of John XXIII and 'Altar, Gift and Gospel' was, according to Archbishop Cardinal, Apostolic Delegate to Great Britian, Pope John's 'favorite bedside book till the very end'. De Luca was born in 1898 and died in Rome at the age of 64, having used his small patrimony and scanty clerical salary for the purchase of books and distributions to charity.