-
January 25
January 25 – After celebrating a Mass for Christian unity, Pope John XXIII announces his intention to call the 21st ecumenical councilor of the Roman Catholic Church. John envisioned the council as “an invitation to the separate [religious] communities to seek unity, for that is what many souls long for.” -
Period: to
.
-
June 5
June 5 – John establishes 11 commissions to prepare the council’s agenda from the proposals. Fearful of the potential impact of the council on the traditional, church, the curial cardinals see that mostly Rome-based theologians are appointed to the preparatory commissions. The drafts produced by the commissions are subsequently very conservative. -
December 25
December 25 – John summons the council to Rome for the following year. -
1962
1962
Non-Catholic churches are formally invited to send observers to the council. Many Protestant churches accept, though Orthodox churches initially react with skepticism. -
1963
1963
June 3 – John, whose health had been declining since November, dies. “This bed is an altar,” he says on his deathbed. “An altar needs a victim. I am ready.”