1. THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

2. 2 ND VATICAN COUNCIL  Vatican Council, Second, more commonly known as Vatican II. From 1962-1965, the 21 st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church assembled by Pope John XXIII and continued under Paul VI. A spiritual renewal for the church and for Christians separated from Rome to join in search for reunion. Preparatory Commissions appointed by the Pope created an agenda and drafts of decrees on various topics. When the council opened for the first time on October. 11 th, 1962, the pope advised the council fathers to try to meet the needs of the church. Those who were summoned to the council included all Catholic Bishops and other church dignitaries.

3. INFORMATION  One of the big accomplishments of the council was the invitation extended to Protestant and Orthodox Eastern churches to send observers; meetings were attended by representatives from many of those churches. Another evident feature was the diversity of cultural origins shown among those who attended from all over the world. One of the main goals of these conferences was to reform the liturgy, mostly to bring the layman into greater participation in the church services, which would ultimately encourage diversity in the language and practice. Large emphasis was placed upon the pastoral duties of the bishops.

4. POPE JOHN XXIII  Pope John XXIII, Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli. Born November 25 th,1881 lived to June 3 rd, 1963. He was the head of the Catholic Church from October 28 th, 1958 to his death in 1963. He was the third of thirteen children, born to a family of sharecroppers. He became a priest in 1904 and served many posts. Roncalli became a Cardinal on January 12 th, 1953 and also was named the Patriarch of Venice by Pope Pius XII. Roncalli was elected pope on October 28 th, 1958. He became a pope at the age of 77. He believed in equality and he was very passionate about the topic. His famous statement is support of his beliefs of equality, 'We were all made in God's image, and thus, we are all Godly alike.' John XXIII made many passionate speeches during his pontificate, one of which was on the day that he announced the Second Vatican Council in the middle of the night to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square: "Dear children, returning home, you will find children: give your children a caress and say: This is the caress of the Pope!"

5. POPE JOHN XXIII

6. FACTS  Predecessor: Pius XII  Successor: Paul VI

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY "Second Vatican Council (Roman Catholic History [1962-65])." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. See H. Küng, The Council, Reform, and Reunion (tr. 1962); H. Daniel-Rops, The Second Vatican Council (tr. 1962); D. C. Pawley, An Anglican View of the Vatican Council (1962, repr. 1973); W. M. Abbot, ed., Documents of Vatican II (1966); A. Gilbert, The Vatican Council and the Jews (1968); X. Rynne, Vatican Council II (1968); A. Flannery, ed., Vatican Council II: Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations (repr. 1996) and Vatican Council II: Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents (2 vol., repr. 1996). "Vatican Council, Second." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. "Biography of Pope John XXIII." Biography of Pope John XXIII. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.