Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council is the 21st and most recent ecumenical Roman Catholic council, met C.E.1962 to 1965.

• It is difficult to realize that three years have elapsed since Your Holiness announced that you planned to convene an Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church--the first in almost a hundred years. During these three fateful years, millions of my fellow citizens in the United States, including many who do not belong to the Catholic Church, have followed with lively and sympathetic interest the work of the various preparatory Commissions appointed by Your Holiness to draw up the agenda for this extraordinarily important Council. They have also read, with particular interest and with genuine admiration for your all-embracing concern for the welfare of humanity, the several inspiring statements issued by Your Holiness on the background and purposes of the Council.
  • John F. Kennedy; Message to Pope John XXIII on the Occasion of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council Online, The American Presidency Project; 5 October 1962

Second Vatican Council

• In the face of staggering problems which, from the human point of view, seem at times to be almost insoluble, people all over the world have found reason for renewed confidence and courage in the welcome thought that the Fathers of the Council, as Your Holiness indicated in your Radio Message of September 11, will give special attention to the grave economic and social problems which daily press upon suffering humanity in almost all parts of the world but, more particularly, in the economically underdeveloped nations. It is very heartening to know that the Council, in the words of Your Holiness, will strive to deepen the fellowship and love which are "the natural needs of man" and "are imposed on the Christian as rules for his relationship between man and man, and between people and people." We hope that the Council will be able to present in clear and persuasive language effective solutions to the many problems confronting all of us and, more specifically, that its decisions will significantly advance the cause of international peace and understanding.
  • John F. Kennedy; Message to Pope John XXIII on the Occasion of the Opening of the Second Vatican Council Online, The American Presidency Project; 5 October 1962

• We often talk about the Second Vatican Council: I can only say that I have not yet seen it applied completely in the life of our churches. The anniversaries are celebrated, but the letter of the Council is little applied. It seems, in some cases, a dead letter. Especially with regards to the collaboration between lay people and hierarchy and the question of the infallibility and immutability of the Petrine power, which has remained as it was. (Andrea Gallo)
• The Second Vatican Council is not a pill to sweeten some difficult dogmas: it is the very essence of the evangelical message. With the Council the Church had finally let some fresh, clean air into her musty rooms. (Andrea Gallo)
• The renewal of the Council must go deep. To implement it, the Holy Father believes it is necessary for there to be convinced minorities who have the courage to live like this: men and women who in the encounter with Christ have found the "precious pearl" and over time bring out the value of reason, to open it and heal her from her tiredness and laziness. (Nicola Bux)
• Holland [was] the country in which, in Europe, the fervor of the Second Vatican Council was first felt. The so-called "new Dutch catechism", which caused so much outcry and fear at the top of the Church of Rome, was the fruit of a movement of believers who supported great demands for social commitment and freedom of expression. (Tonino Perna)
• The liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council was fundamental for a more thoughtful faith, which is not just devotion. For us Christians, the rites are not enough, we need the adhesion of the heart and intellect. It is not enough to repeat formulas whose meaning is not known: those who pray must understand what he says. (Enzo Bianchi)
• We have never said that the Council had directly professed heresies. But the wall of protection against error was removed and thus error was allowed to manifest itself. The faithful need protection. This is what the constant struggle of the militant Church to defend the faith consists of. (Bernard Fellay)