The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II, was the twenty-first and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. It met in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City from 11 October 1962 to 8 December 1965, during the pontificates of Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI.
John XXIII convoked the council as part of a programme of renewal often associated with the term aggiornamento, meaning "bringing up to date". The council addressed the Church's internal life, its relationship with other Christians and non-Christian religions, and its engagement with the modern world.
Vatican II produced sixteen documents: four constitutions, nine decrees, and three declarations. These included Sacrosanctum Concilium on the liturgy, Lumen gentium on the Church, Dei verbum on divine revelation, and Gaudium et spes on the Church in the modern world. The council was followed by reforms of Catholic liturgical practice, ecumenical relations, and the Church's approach to religious freedom.
Pope Pius XII's 1943 encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu encouraged Catholic biblical scholars to use original-language texts and modern methods of textual study rather than relying exclusively on the Latin Vulgate. The encyclical gave new impetus to Catholic biblical studies and formed part of the intellectual background to the council's teaching on scripture in Dei verbum.
Ressourcement and nouvelle théologie
In the decades before Vatican II, several Catholic theologians called for renewed attention to biblical, patristic, and liturgical sources. This movement, often called ressourcement, was associated with figures including Henri de Lubac, Yves Congar, Jean Daniélou, Marie-Dominique Chenu, and Hans Urs von Balthasar.
The movement was contested in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1950, Pope Pius XII issued Humani generis, which criticised theological tendencies he considered harmful to Catholic doctrine. The encyclical did not name individual theologians. In the years that followed, some theologians associated with these currents faced restrictions on teaching or publication. De Lubac and Congar were later appointed as theological experts at Vatican II, and theologians who had earlier faced suspicion became influential in the council's work.
The First Vatican Council opened on 8 December 1869 and was adjourned on 20 September 1870 after Italian forces captured Rome during the course of Italian unification. The council completed its teaching on the papacy and on the relationship between faith and reason, but other subjects, including the theology of the episcopate and the role of the laity, remained undeveloped. Bokenkotter describes these as among the unfinished questions later taken up by the Second Vatican Council. Pope Paul VI also described Vatican II as continuing work left incomplete by Vatican I.
Similar to the First Vatican Council, the second council also took place during a time of great socioeconomic and technological transformation. Relevant specifically to the second council were the social, political, economic, and technological changes of the mid-twentieth century; as well as the ideas of modernism and associated ideologies, the Liturgical Movement, as well as new discoveries and perspectives on Early Christianity. Some bishops sought new pastoral approaches to those changes.
John XXIII announced his intention to convene an ecumenical council on 25 January 1959, while addressing a group of cardinals at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. The announcement came less than three months after his election and surprised many of those present.
John XXIII described the council in terms of three overlapping goals: renewal of the Catholic Church through aggiornamento, progress toward Christian unity, and the Church's contribution to the resolution of social and political problems.
The council was formally called by the apostolic constitution Humanae Salutis on 25 December 1961. Nearly 2,500 bishops ultimately attended as Council Fathers, joined by auditors, observers, and theological advisers.
Preparation for the council lasted from 1959 to 1962. The first year was the antepreparatory period. On 17 May 1959, John XXIII appointed an antepreparatory commission to consult bishops, Catholic universities and theological faculties, and departments of the Roman Curia about subjects that might be discussed at the council.
The next two years were the preparatory period. On 5 June 1960, ten preparatory commissions were created. These bodies produced draft texts, known as schemas, for discussion by the bishops. Most commissions were linked to departments of the Curia and were chaired by the cardinal who headed the corresponding department. The schemas were later reviewed by a Central Preparatory Commission.
The preparatory schemes varied in tone and content. Those prepared by the liturgical commission and the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity reflected a stronger emphasis on renewal than most of the others.
Council Fathers. All Catholic bishops, together with the heads of major male religious orders, were entitled to participate as Council Fathers, with the right to speak and vote. About 2,900 were eligible, though not all were able to attend.
General Congregations. The Council Fathers met in daily sessions, known as General Congregations, to discuss and vote on the schemas. These meetings took place in St. Peter's Basilica. Votes generally required a two-thirds majority.
Public Sessions. Public Sessions were formal gatherings at which the pope was present and documents were promulgated. Ten public sessions were held during the council.