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Last month marked the 60th Anniversary of the Closing of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), a most significant milestone in the history of the Catholic Church of modern times. Earlier this month, Pope Leo XIV began a series of catechetical sessions to guide the faithful through Vatican II’s teachings.
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (Vatican II) was convened by Pope Saint John XXIII and concluded by his successor Pope Saint Paul VI. Officially, the Council held four sessions between 11 October 1962 to 8 December 1965. Some 3,000 people including representatives of the Protestant and Orthodox faiths participated in these four sessions. The Vatican II Council enacted four Constitutions, three Declarations, and nine Decrees. These documents cover a wide range of topics including theology, issues affecting the Church and the Church’s role in the modern world.
It is significant that three future saints and possibly two others all played a role in the Second Vatican Council. Pope Saint John XXIII initiated the Council and Pope Saint Paul VI brought it to its conclusion. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II), Bishop Albino Luciani (Blessed Pope John Paul I) and Father Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) were participants in the Council’s proceedings.
The Second Vatican Council adopted four Constitutions. Dei Verbum is the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, which discusses how God reveals Himself to humanity. Lumen Gentium is the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church which details how the Church is organized and operates and its function in worshipping and proclaiming God. Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) is perhaps most associated with Vatican II by people because of the changes that it brought about with the Mass. Contrary to a popular misconception, Sacrosanctum Concilium did not abolish the use of Latin in the Liturgy, though in recent years the late Pope Francis and others in the Roman Curia have sought to strictly limit its usage. Rather, Sacrosanctum Concilium provided for greater use of vernacular language. As the title of Gaudium Et Spes (The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) indicates, this document deals with the role of the Catholic Church in the modern world.
On 7 December 1965, the Second Vatican Council released Dignitatis Humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom. In part, Dignitatis Humanae stated “This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.” The Second Vatican Council condemned coercion in religion and the oppression of religious freedom, especially by governments. Such a forceful statement was necessary, coming as it did in a century that had seen genocide committed against Armenian Christians by Muslim Turks, the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico (the Cristeros War), the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews, the Nazi persecution of the Christian Church, and Communist suppression of Christianity and other religions by the Soviet Union and Communist China. See https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html
In his Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte at the close of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote, “Now that the Jubilee has ended, I feel more than ever in duty bound to point to the Council as the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century: there we find a sure compass by which to take our bearings in the century now beginning.”
In his General Audience of 10 October 2012, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. “The Council reminds us that the Church in all her members, has the task, the mandate of transmitting God’s word of love which saves, so that we may hear and welcome the divine call which contains in itself our eternal beatitude,” he said.
The impact of the Second Vatican Council upon the Church can be clearly seen in The Catechism of the Catholic Church which was published nearly thirty years after the Council concluded its work in December 1965. Vatican II documents such as Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, and Gaudium Et Spes are among the most frequently quoted and referenced documents in The Catechism.
At his 7 January 2026 General Audience, Pope Leo XIV announced that he would be using his weekly General Audiences as a catechesis on the Second Vatican Council and its documents. “After a rich biblical, theological and liturgical reflection spanning the twentieth century, Vatican Council II rediscovered the face of God as the Father who, in Christ, calls us to be his children; it looked at the Church in the light of Christ, light of nations, as a mystery of communion and sacrament of unity between God and his people; it initiated important liturgical reform, placing at its centre the mystery of salvation and the active and conscious participation of the entire People of God,” Pope Leo XIV said. “At the same time, it helped us to open up to the world and to embrace the changes and challenges of the modern age in dialogue and co-responsibility, as a Church that wishes to open her arms to humanity, to echo the hopes and anxieties of peoples, and to collaborate in building a more just and fraternal society.”
Every week, Pope Leo XIV invites us to journey with him through the documents of Vatican II. We should accept his invitation to deepen our faith and strengthen our relationship with the thrice-Holy God.
You can find Pope Leo XIV’s General Audiences on the Vatican website at https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/audiences/2026.index.html
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has resources about Vatican II posted on its website https://www.usccb.org/second-vatican-council
The documents of Vatican II are posted on the Vatican’s website https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm
Bryan J. Dickerson is an author and historian specializing in military and naval history, and Catholicism. He earned his BA in History from Rowan University (NJ), MA in American History from Monmouth University (NJ) and a graduate Certificate in Archival Studies from Louisiana State University. His writings have appeared online and in print in such publications as Columbia (the magazine of the Knights of Columbus) and Celebrate Life (the magazine of the American Life League). He is a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a Past Grand Knight of a council in New Jersey. His book The Liberators of Pilsen: the U.S. 16th Armored Division in World War II Czechoslovakia was published by McFarland Books in 2018 and his book Dive Bomber Down: James A. Nist Naval Aviator in the Pacific War is now available from McFarland Books. He has also self-published sixeen books, including In the Name of COVID: The Assault on Religious Freedom in 2020. A former U.S. Navy Reserve Religious Program Specialist 1st Class (Fleet Marine Force), he mobilized and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom twice. He and his wife Lisa have four children and live in southern New Jersey.
