Second Vatican Council Under Way
It’s been a h
alf-century since the opening of the Second Vatican Council along with the speculation regarding what direction it would eventually steer the Church.
This photo (from page 2 of Lasallian Digest Fall 1962) shows several thousand bishops assembled inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the deliberations. For those who have visited St. Peter’s Basilica, an “X” marks the protruding arm of the statue of St. John Baptist de La Salle. The statue stands 16 feet tall—but in an edifice that big, it seems much smaller!
Of the several thousand bishops at the Vatican Council, 13 were former students of the Christian Brothers of the Baltimore District. The New York, LI-NE, and Toronto districts were likely well represented in this regard.
Various bishops visited the generalate (motherhouse) during breaks in the council’s proceedings in Rome to venerate the relics of St. John Baptist de La Salle and to visit the Brothers.