◆ The Second Vatican Council, which began 50 years ago, was a watershed summit which brought wide reforms to the Church and revolutionised the relationship between Catholic believers and priests.
◆ Vatican II opened on October 11, 1962, under Pope John XXIII, and closed under Pope Paul VI on December 8, 1965. It was the 21st Ecumenical Council, convened to discuss and settle key matters of Church doctrine and practice.
◆ Vatican I, which had been held nearly a century before, had been cut short when the Italian army invaded Rome in 1870 and forced Pope Pius IX to surrender, leaving a number of pastoral and dogmatic issues unexplored.
◆ John XXIII convened the Council in 1959, just three months after his election, taking many top Catholic figures by surprise. Conservatives expected doctrine to be largely upheld, but the council introduced major reforms which were heralded by the liberal sector.
◆ John XXIII said his aim was to open the windows of the Church to let in some fresh air. He also wanted to make the workings of the Church more transparent by improving communication between the clergy and the faithful.
◆ Protestant and Orthodox Christian observers were invited to follow the debates and council sessions, which were held in St Peter’s Basilica.
◆ John XXIII died in June 1963; 18 days later the Archbishop of Milan was elected Pope Paul VI and carried on where his predecessor had left off.
◆ Vatican II reformed the liturgy. The participation of church-goers became central: Mass, historically read in Latin, was translated into local languages and priests addressed their congregations face-on instead of facing the altar.
◆ The Church set out to better its relationship with other religions, such as Judaism and Islam, by creating a spirit of interfaith dialogue.
◆ The involvement of lay people was widened and a new emphasis was placed on collaboration within different orders in the Church, which led to the use of international, national or regional conferences to debate and share issues.
◆ Sixteen documents laying down new rules were produced in the course of four sessions, each of which lasted four months and was attended by a total of 2,251 bishops from 116 countries.
◆ The bishops were helped in their tasks by a vast international team of advisers and researchers made up of 2,850 priests and 487 theological experts – including a young Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
◆ While the reforms brought about by Vatican II were widely welcomed, many have condemned the Church’s attitude towards birth control, homosexuality and divorce. Some, such as the late influential Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, called for a Vatican III to address controversial dogma issues.
◆ Out of those who took part in the Vatican II opening session, four have since become Pontiffs: Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. (AFP)
Rome: Sculpture on St Peter’s Basilica door.