Second Vatican Council
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The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II, was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for four periods, each lasting between 8 and 12 weeks, in the autumn of each of the four years 1962 to 1965. Preparation for the council took three years, from the summer of 1959 to the autumn of 1962. The council was opened on 11 October 1962 by John XXIII, and was closed on 8 December 1965 by Paul VI.
Saint Peter's Basilica (Venue of the Second Vatican Council)
Before a papal Mass at the council; area between papal altar and apse/cathedra altar, in front of it the seat of the pope.
A Catholic priest celebrating Tridentine Mass, the form of the Mass prevalent before the council, showing the chalice after the consecration.
A contemporary Mass in modern practice, as versus populum became the common posture and gesture practised after the council. The priest faces the congregation, while vestments and artwork are less ornate.
Pope Pius XII
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Pope Pius XII was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his election to the papacy, he served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany, and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with various European and Latin American nations, including the Reichskonkordat treaty with the German Reich.
Eugenio Pacelli at the age of six in 1882
Pacelli on the day of his ordination: 2 April 1899