 Giovanni was named Cardinal Bishop of Velletri by Pope Leo IX in 1050.He was highly esteemed, however, by those who wanted to reform the Church, and was one of five men proposed by Cardinal Frederick of Lorraine when consulted during the summer of 1057 concerning a possible successor to Pope Victor II, whom Frederick himself succeeded as Pope Stephen IX.Upon Pope Stephen's death the following year, Giovanni was elected pope on 4 April 1058, his election having been arranged by his family.