1. Vatican II

2. Society in the 20 th Century WWI and WWII The Cold War The 1960’s

3. Liturgy Language Altar View of the world

4. P. John XXIII Thought the Church needed updating His death-bed message included: “The moment has come to discern the signs of the times, to seize the opportunity and to look far ahead.”

5. Vatican II It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962Pope John XXIII It closed under Pope Paul VI on 8 December 1965Pope Paul VI

6. Themes Return to its roots in Scripture and its early Christian traditions More in touch and in dialogue with the world in terms of other faiths, the cultural, the political and the technical milieu in which we all live

7. Outcomes The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) Children should receive communion on reaching the age of reason at around the age of seven Liturgy in vernacular language Priest faces the congregation

8. Increased participation by lay people provided renewed understanding of the Church Church’s relationship to Judaism, against the backdrop of the holocaust, and to other world faiths improved