page_title: Second Vatican Council
section_title: Chronology
hierarchical_section_title: Second Vatican Council / Chronology
caption_attribution_description: English: Second Vatican Council
context_page_description: The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the Second Vatican Council, Vatican II, or V2, addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world. The Council, through the Holy See, was formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and was closed under Pope Paul VI on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1965.
  Several changes resulted from the Council, including the renewal of consecrated life with a revised charism, ecumenical efforts towards dialogue with other religions, and the universal call to holiness, which according to Pope Paul VI was "the most characteristic and ultimate purpose of the teachings of the Council".
  According to Pope Benedict XVI, the most important and essential message of the Council is "the Paschal Mystery as the center of what it is to be Christian and therefore of the Christian life, the Christian year, the Christian seasons".
caption: Before a papal Mass at the Council; area between papal altar and apse/cathedra altar, in front of it the seat of the pope.
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