Second Vatican Council Begins

Date: October 11, 1962 • Location: Rome, Italy

The Second Vatican Council becomes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years.

The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly called the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II, was the twenty-first and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. It met in four annual sessions in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City between 11 October 1962 and 8 December 1965, spanning the pontificates of Pope John XXIII, who convoked it, and Pope Paul VI, who presided over its final three sessions and promulgated all sixteen of its documents.