Vatican Council II

Second Vatican Ecumenical Council Latin: Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum
Saint Peter's Basilica Venue of the Second Vatican Council
Date	11 October 1962 (11 October 1962) – 8 December 1965 (8 December 1965)
Accepted by	Catholic Church
Previous council	First Vatican Council
Convoked by	Pope John XXIII
President	Pope John XXIII Pope Paul VI
Attendance	up to 2,625
Topics	The Church in itself, its sole salvific role as the one, true and complete Christian faith, also in relation to ecumenism among other religions, in relation to the modern world, renewal of consecrated life, liturgical disciplines, etc.
Documents and statements	Four Constitutions: Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) Lumen gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) Dei verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation) Gaudium et spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) Three Declarations: Gravissimum educationis (Declaration on Christian Education) Nostra aetate (Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions) Dignitatis humanae (Declaration on Religious Freedom) Nine Decrees: Inter mirifica (Decree on the Media of Social Communication) Orientalium Ecclesiarum (Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite) Unitatis redintegratio (Decree on Ecumenism) Christus Dominus (Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church) Perfectae caritatis (Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life) Optatam totius (Decree on Priestly Training) Apostolicam actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity) Ad gentes (Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church) Presbyterorum ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests)
Chronological list of Ecumenical councils

Four Constitutions:

Three Declarations:

Nine Decrees:

The Second Vatican Council, fully the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (Latin: Concilium Oecumenicum Vaticanum Secundum) and informally known as Vatican II, addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The council, through the Holy See, formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1965.

Several changes resulted from the council, including the renewal of consecrated life with a revised charism, ecumenical efforts towards dialogue with other religions, and the universal call to holiness, which according to Pope Paul VI was "the most characteristic and ultimate purpose of the teachings of the Council".

According to Pope Benedict XVI, the most important and essential message of the council is "the Paschal Mystery as the center of what it is to be Christian and therefore of the Christian life, the Christian year, the Christian seasons". Other changes which followed the council included the widespread use of vernacular languages in the Mass instead of Latin, the subtle disuse of ornate clerical regalia, the revision of Eucharistic prayers, the abbreviation of the liturgical calendar, the ability to celebrate the Mass versus populum (with the officiant facing the congregation), as well as ad orientem (facing the "East" and the Crucifix), and modern aesthetic changes encompassing contemporary Catholic liturgical music and artwork. Many of these changes remain divisive among the Catholic faithful.