“What does Christmas mean to you?” This is a common question posed during the Advent season, and one that evokes in many of us fond memories and feelings of gratitude. This week, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council, similar feelings have pervaded me. Many thoughtful and inspiring ...read more

Address of Pope Paul VI During the last general meeting of the Second Vatican Council 7 December 1965  Today we are concluding the Second Vatican Council. We bring it to a close at the fullness of its efficiency: the presence of so many of you here clearly demonstrates it; the well-ordered pattern of this assembly ...read more

This year marks 50 years since the end of the Second Vatican Council and the promulgation of several key documents that shaped the church. There is one document, not part of the official canon of Vatican II documents, that shaped the church just as much yet has been almost forgotten. It is called the Catacombs ...read more

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When the freshly named patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, chose 37-year-old Father Loris Capovilla as his private secretary in 1953, a skeptical adviser told the cardinal that the priest looked too sickly to bear the strain of his new job. “Then he’ll die ...read more

In a recent interview with ZENIT, Salt and Light’s Sebastian Gomes reflected on the significance of Pope John’s upcoming canonization in the context of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Vatican II.  What does “the Good Pope’s” canonization mean for a generation of Catholics who came of age long after the Council closed?  Read the full ...read more

As I begin writing this,  I can say that my preparation for an early autumn 2013 profession of perpetual vows and ordination to the diaconate has officially begun, with the blessing of my religious Congregation, the Basilian Fathers. My Basilian journey, which began with my Associate year in 2007-2008, and the coming months of preparation ...read more

Near the end of last year I wrote about the attitude of openness and adaptation to the modern world which permeated the ecclesiology of John XXIII and Paul VI, and found concrete expression at Vatican II and in the creation of the permanent Synod of Bishops. (Read it here) From there we now jump forward ...read more

“A zealous pastor, a humble religious, a faithful churchman, and an admirable human person” are just some of the words by which my fellow Basilian and biographer of our order, Fr. P. Wallace Platt, has described George Bernard Cardinal Flahiff. George Flahiff, born on 26 October 1905 in Paris, Ontario, was Superior General of the Basilian Fathers from ...read more

Archbishop Luis A. Tagle spoke to Catholic News Service about Vatican II and the Year of Faith. ...read more

St. Peter’s Square – October 11, 2012 Below is Pope Benedict’s Homily from the inaugral mass for the Year of Faith and celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Dear Brother Bishops, Dear brothers and sisters! Today, fifty years from the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, we begin with great ...read more