The Catholic Church marked the 60th anniversary of Vatican II Tuesday, recognizing the importance and impact the Council had on the Church.

“#Pope Francis: Vatican II taught the church to look around, "being in the world without feeling superior to others, being servants of that higher realm, the Kingdom of God, bringing the good news of the Gospel into people’s lives & languages; sharing their joys and hopes,” Catholic News Service tweeted, quoting Pope Francis. 

The Diocese of Lansing is touting a video, “Vatican II: An Eyewitness Story by Bishop Carl Mengeling.”

“Sixty years ago, today, the Second Vatican Council opened in Rome. One man who was there was Emeritus Bishop Carl Mengeling of Lansing,” the diocese posted on Facebook. “As a young priest of the Diocese of Gary, Indiana, Bishop Mengeling was in Rome doing advanced studies when he was asked by the Vatican to be a page at the Council. As an eyewitness to Church history, what are Bishop Mengeling’s memories of the Second Vatican Council? Watch this great clip from a 2020 interview to find out.” 

Pope St. John XXIII called for the convocation of the Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, in early 1959. It was designed to renew spirituality and gave Catholics around the world the opportunity to unite in Rome, Britannica says. The most important pastoral need was cited as the “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,” which involved the laity more in the liturgy and introduced the “novus ordo” so familiar to today’s Catholics. 

Pope St. John XXIII, born Angelo Roncalli, became Pope in 1958 and served until his death in 1963, according to his Vatican Biography.

When he was elected, few thought he’d accomplish much, not realizing “the pontificate of this man of 76 years would mark a turning point in history and initiate a new age for the Church,” the biography says.

Vatican II is called his most significant accomplishment, and its creation played a role in Pope St. John XXIII being canonized by Pope Francis in 2014. 

“Since his death on June 3, 1963, much has been written and spoken about the warmth and holiness of the beloved Pope John,” the biography says. “Perhaps the testimony of the world was best expressed by a newspaper drawing of the earth shrouded in mourning with the simple caption, ‘A Death in the Family.’"

Reporter A.C. Wimmer, in a Catholic News Agency article, says Vatican II addressed many topics, many of which fall under the umbrella of bringing the Church into the modern world. Four sessions in St. Peter’s Basilica resulted in “four constitutions” that changed the trajectory of the Catholic Church. 

Wimmer summed up a Vatican II timeline: 

Pope St. John Paul XXIII, or the “Good Pope,” laid out plans for the council in 1959 and established 11 commissions in 1960, by HUMANAE SALUTIS.

The council convened in Rome in 1961. About 2,500 bishops attended. The sessions began in 1962. 

The key topic for the first session was “the collegiality of bishops, the relationship with other religions and religious freedom,” according to Wimmer. 

In 1963, Pope St. John XXIII died and Pope Paul VI was elected as his successor. Late that year, the Church officially adopted other languages besides Latin into the liturgy. 

In 1964, Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, was issued. Other famous documents include: The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes. 

The council came to an end in 1965, after proclaiming a Jubilee Year that would help the Church transition to implement the new strategies. 

George Weigel, a noted Catholic author and the official biographer of Pope St. John Paul II, has released his newest book, “To Sanctify the World: the Vital Legacy of Vatican II,” in honor of the 60th anniversary. It is available to buy on Amazon.