"... a rash and impulsive decision" - This Week at Vatican II

POPE JOHN XXIII, upon his election to the Papacy, was viewed by many inside the Vatican as being a mere caretaker Pontiff. However, he shocked the College of Cardinals in 1959 by calling for an ecumenical council. Cardinal Lecaro thought that this was "a rash and impulsive decision," even though he would later become a major reformer during the Council.


View inside Saint Peter's Basilica during Vatican II

From the Very Rev. John T. Myler, Rector of the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Belleville, Illinois, comes a new blog, This Week at Vatican II:

Starting in 2009, the Church begins the observance the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John XXIII announced an ecumenical (universal) Council for the Church in January 1959. For the next three years the world's Bishops prepared for the Council -- and Vatican II met in four sessions from 1962 to 1965. Re-live the history of the Council and recall its authentic teaching at this blog, week-by-week (and sometimes day-by-day).

http://thisweekatvaticanii.blogspot.com