Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , addressed relations between the Catholic Church and the modern world. The council, through the Holy See, was formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and was closed under Pope Paul VI on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1965.
Achille Silvestrini
In 2010, he provided his assessment of the actions during World War II of Pope Pius XII, with whom he worked for many years beginning just after the war. He said:
Following the election of Pope Francis in 2013, he said the Church needs to "start from the Second Vatican Council, from all that has not yet been implemented and must still be accomplished". He called the work of the Council and the plans of Pope John XXIII "an unfinished task" and said the Church needs "a new language to talk to humanity today, and in particular to the new generations, and to give adequate answers to modernity".