Pope Francis and bishops around the U.S. remarked on the importance and impact of the Council on the Church as Vatican II turned 60 this week.

"#Pope Francis: Vatican II taught the church to look around, 'being in the world without feeling superior to others, being servants of that higher realm, the Kingdom of God, bringing the good news of the Gospel into people's lives & languages; sharing their joys and hopes,'" the Catholic News Service quoted Pope Francis as saying on Twitter.

The Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, was an ecumenical council announced by Pope St. John XXIII in early 1959 as a means for spiritual renewal and a chance for Catholics around the world to unite in Rome, a Britannica report said. The pastoral needs of the council included different topics, but the most famous was the “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,” which brought the laity more into the liturgy and introduced the “novus ordo,” which most Catholics are familiar with today. In total, Vatican II produced 16 documents and concluded in 1965 with Pope Paul VI.

Pope St. John XXIII was born Angelo Roncalli, his Vatican biography said. He became pope in 1958, when he was 76 years old, and served until his death in 1963.

Few realized “the pontificate of this man of 76 years would mark a turning point in history and initiate a new age for the Church,” the biography said. His most famous accomplishment was the convocation of Vatican II in 1962.

“Since his death on June 3, 1963, much has been written and spoken about the warmth and holiness of the beloved Pope John,” the bio added. “Perhaps the testimony of the world was best expressed by a newspaper drawing of the earth shrouded in mourning with the simple caption, ‘A Death in the Family.’"

Pope St. John XXIII was canonized by Pope Francis in 2014.

A.C. Wimmer, writing for the Catholic News Agency, noted that Vatican II addressed many topics, but the common theme was to bring the Church into the modern world. Four sessions in St. Peter’s Basilica resulted in “four constitutions” that changed the trajectory of the Catholic Church.

Wimmer put forth a Vatican II timeline: Pope St. John Paul XXIII, called the “Good Pope,” announced the council in 1959, establishing 11 commissions in 1960, by HUMANAE SALUTIS. The council convened in Rome in 1961 with approximately 2,500 bishops in attendance and began sessions in 1962.

The first session covered “the collegiality of bishops, the relationship with other religions and religious freedom,” and other minor topics; Wimmer said.

In 1963, Pope St. John XXIII died and Pope Paul VI was elected three weeks later. On Dec. 4, 1963, the Church officially adopted other languages besides Latin into the liturgy.

In 1964, Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, was issued. Other famous documents include the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes). 

The council concluded in 1965 with a proclamation of a Jubilee Year to accustom the Church with these new items. 

George Weigel, a famous Catholic author and the official biographer of Pope St. John Paul II, has released his newest book, “To Sanctify the World: the Vital Legacy of Vatican II,” which can be purchased on Amazon.