Research Guides: Vatican II: Home

The Second Vatican Council

50 years ago, from October 11, 1962 until December 8, 1965, over 2000 bishops, theologians, and lay participants from 116 countries gathered in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. This assembly was known as the Second Vatican Council. Led by Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, what emerged was an intense examination of the voice and promptings of the Holy Spirit. The 16 council documents are as relevant today as ever.

This guide is intended to serve as a starting point for learning and research, providing links to materials regarding the Second Vatican Council and its legacy.

Fr. Robert Barron's Presentation

The second talk in the series was presented by Fr. Robert Barron, the well known theologian, rector of Mundelein Seminary and founder of Word on Fire ministries. He will speak in the Abbey Church on Gaudium et Spes, Vatican II's document on the Church in the Modern WorldSeptember 24, 2013 at 7:00 pm

New Materials

The Spirituality of Vatican II
Call Number:
CD 262.52 C576s 2012
Publication Date: 2012

12 Lectures on 5 CDs by Fr. Anthony Ciorra, M.A., M.Div., Ph.D. internationally celebrated spirituality expert and recipient of Pope John Paul II’s Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice honor
Vatican II by Fr. John W. O'Malley, S.J., Ph.D.
Call Number: CD 262.52 O54v 2009

The Second Vatican Council concluded fifty years ago, but it is a livelier topic today than it has been for decades. Basic questions are being asked. What did the council do? Was it properly implemented? Are its decisions being systematically “rolled back”?

Good questions, but to answer them good information is needed. Such information is precisely what these twelve insightful lectures provide. These lectures will give you the orientation you need to understand one of the most important events of the 20th century, to appreciate the problems it faced, and to grapple with the questions being asked about it (and the Catholic Church) today.