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Vatican II

Cultural

The popular name for the Second Vatican Council, an assembly of all the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church held from 1962 to 1965. The bishops ordered a large-scale liberalization and modernization of practices in their church.

Example Sentences

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Meanwhile, the Catholic church, launching reforms that culminated in Vatican II, officially recognized that political institutions could be independent from church structures.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

The progressive priests who dominated the U.S. church in the years after Vatican II are now in their 70s and 80s.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 30, 2024

Vatican II modernised the liturgy, including more active participation by the congregation.

From Reuters • Feb. 21, 2023

“It felt like the whole church was going, ‘You know that Vatican II thing we tried in the ‘60s? Let’s all forget about that,’” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2023

Benedict, who as a young priest had served as a theological adviser to Cardinal Josef Richard Frings at Vatican II, later came to believe that the changes had weakened the church.

From Washington Post • Dec. 31, 2022

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023