# Second Vatican Council The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) was the 21st ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, meeting from 1962 to 1965 under Popes John XXIII and Paul VI. Under the banner of *aggiornamento* ("updating"), it modernized Catholic liturgy and practice -- and triggered the traditionalist backlash that defines today's Catholic right and the Catholic strand of [[The Octopus]]. ## Reforms and backlash The Council introduced the vernacular Mass in place of the universal [[Latin Mass]], the priest facing the congregation, greater lay participation, and openness to ecumenism and religious liberty. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre led traditionalist resistance, founding the Society of St. Pius X and being excommunicated in 1988 for consecrating bishops without papal approval -- the first such schism in over a century. Rejection of Vatican II's authority is, literally, what [[Carlo Maria Viganò]] was excommunicated over in 2024. ## Epistemic status The Council's dates and reforms are documented. The traditionalist claim that Vatican II *caused* the Church's decline is a contested interpretation, not established fact -- but the existence of that grievance is central to understanding why figures like [[Steve Bannon]] try to drive a wedge between Jesuits and traditionalists. ## See also - [[The Octopus]] - [[Latin Mass]] - [[Pope Francis]] - [[Carlo Maria Viganò]]