Vatican Council II: "In the world with others without ever feeling above"

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Pope Francis in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, this Tuesday, October 11, 2022, for the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

AP - Alessandra Tarantino

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Sixty years ago, on October 11, 1962, Pope John XXIII solemnly opened the Second Vatican Council in Saint Peter's Basilica.

A major turning point in the history of the Catholic Church.

For three years, more than 2,000 bishops and theologians from all over the world will reflect on the identity of the Church and its relationship to the world.

On Tuesday, October 11, to celebrate this anniversary of the Council, Pope Francis presided over a mass in which he called for unity in the Church and to overcome “polarizations”.

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With our correspondent at the Vatican,

It was in front of the remains of his predecessor that Pope Francis celebrated this mass, where 60 years earlier John XXIII inaugurated the Council.

The Church, for the first time in history, has consecrated a council to question itself, to reflect on its own nature and mission.

But the past six decades have not been without turbulence.

Be careful, both progressivism, which adapts to the world, and traditionalism, or turning back, which regrets a past world, are not proofs of love, but of infidelity.

The faithful pray in front of the Sanctuary of John XXIII, after the mass celebrated by Pope Francis in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, this Tuesday, October 11, 2022. AP - Alessandra Tarantino

The pope thus insisted on the need for unity in the Church, castigating the “ 

 ”.

How many times have we preferred to be “supporters of our own group” rather than servants of all, progressives and conservatives rather than brothers and sisters, “of the right” or “of the left” rather than of Jesus.

The Second Vatican Council invited Christians to " 

 ", explained the bishop of Rome, who welcomed the presence of other Christian denominations at this mass. , like sixty years ago.

Ecumenism is also one of the fruits of the Council.

Immersed in the mystery of the Church, mother and bride, let us also say with Saint John XXIII: Gaudet Mater Ecclesia!

May the Church be inhabited by joy.

If she does not rejoice, she belies herself, for she forgets the love that created her.

#VaticanCouncilII

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex_fr) October 11, 2022

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