Second Vatican Council
- When
- 1962–1965 AD
- Where
- Rome
- Kind
- Council
Reformed Catholic liturgy and opened formal dialogue with other churches, ending the mutual excommunications of 1054 by a joint declaration in 1965.
John XXIII called it without a heresy to condemn or a schism to heal, which had not happened before, and asked for aggiornamento — bringing the church up to date. Over four sessions it authorised the liturgy in vernacular languages, described the church as the whole people of God rather than principally its hierarchy, affirmed religious liberty as a right rather than a concession, repudiated the charge of collective Jewish guilt for the crucifixion, and recognised those outside the Catholic Church as genuinely Christian. The change in how Catholics actually worship was the most visible in four hundred years. Whether the council is best read as a break or as a development is the central argument in Catholicism since, and a minority rejected it outright.
Bodies it bears on
Party to it
Who stands here
- John Paul II
1920–2005
Attended as a young bishop, and spent his pontificate interpreting it
Either side of it
The whole timeline, from the apostolic communities to the present.