Vatican II revisited through papal reflections — from John XXIII to Francis, the Council remains a living source of faith and renewal.
Newsroom (07/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) Pope Leo XIV opened the new catechetical series “The Second Vatican Council through Its Documents”, inviting the faithful to revisit one of the most defining events in modern Church history. In his first general audience of the year, the pontiff described the Council as having “helped us open ourselves to the world and grasp the changes and challenges of the modern age through dialogue and shared responsibility.” His reflections continue a papal conversation on the meaning and future of the Council.
The Second Vatican Council was convened by Pope John XXIII and opened on October 11, 1962. Benedict XVI, who attended as a young theological adviser, later recalled the emotion that surrounded that historic moment: a shared mission to make the truth and beauty of faith shine in the modern world without distorting its essence or reducing it to a relic of the past. John XXIII himself defined the Council’s central purpose as ensuring that “the sacred deposit of Christian doctrine be preserved and taught more effectively,” adapting timeless truth to contemporary needs.
Through his apostolic constitution Humanae Salutis, John XXIII explained the call to gather the world’s bishops: the Church, he wrote, felt an urgent need to strengthen faith and demonstrate unity in addressing the problems of modern humanity. The Council, therefore, sought not to alter doctrine but to deepen it, to present the Gospel with renewed vigor and relevance.
John Paul II, who participated as a Council Father, later described the event as “a gift of the Spirit to His Church.” For him, Vatican II was a profound act of faith—an abandonment to God’s guidance and an expression of the Church’s confidence in divine love. Its sixty years of enduring influence can only be understood, he observed, through this lens of faith.
Pope Paul VI, reflecting a year after the Council’s close, emphasized that its legacy transcends historical memory. “The Council leaves to the Church itself,” he said, noting that its teachings live on in its documents: four constitutions, nine decrees, and three declarations. Together, they form a doctrinal and legislative body that embodies the renewal Vatican II began—an inheritance to be known, studied, and applied in every age.
Pope Francis, marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Council’s opening in 2022, called the Church to return to the essential: to rediscover God as the center. The Council, he said, directs the Church back to its “Galilee,” to the freshness of the first love of faith, where joy and mission are reborn in the encounter with Christ. Without joy, he added, the Church loses love—and so the invitation remains to recover the vitality that inspired Vatican II.
Finally, Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful in his January 7, 2026 catechesis to “know the Council anew.” This means engaging directly with its documents rather than relying on secondhand interpretations. Through rediscovery of their prophetic depth, believers can renew their commitment to the Church’s living tradition and its mission in the world—bringing the Gospel of love, justice, and peace to every generation.
The path ahead, as the Popes remind us, lies in reading, studying, and living the Council—not as a moment locked in the past, but as a continuing dialogue between faith and the world.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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