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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Appeared in the December 5, 2025, print edition as 'What Was the Point of Vatican II?'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025

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

Still, he made time to write a story about his personal experience of Vatican II and the positive effect it had on his life.

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