Vatican II

Useful information for playing VATICAN The Board Game

The Second Vatican Council (or "Vatican II") was a general Council of the Roman Catholic Church that was convened by Pope John XXIII in 1962 and presided over by Pope Paul VI until it closed in 1965. It was the largest gathering in any council in church history, producing 73 proposed decrees and constitutions. At the conclusion of the Council, Pope Paul VI declared a jubilee to urge all Catholics to study and accept the decrees of the Council.

One of the most significant achievements of the Council was to indicate a move away from the centralization that had been encouraged under Pope Pius XII and his immediate predecessors. National Bishop’s Conferences were given official recognition and granted sweeping powers to translate the liturgy into their own vernacular languages. The Council also created the Synod of Bishops which was to advise the Pope on a regular basis. The Council also laid the groundwork for an improvement in relations with other Christian churches and other religions, affirming  that Catholicism was “joined in many ways” to other Christians and even with “those who have not yet received the Gospel.”

Many of these reforms were put on hold or reversed under Pope John Paul II, who decreed that Bishop’s Conferences lacked any theological or collegial status and could not exercise independent teaching authority. In 2000, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document which denied the ability of other religions to offer salvation outside of Christianity.

By playing  VATICAN The Board Game,  you can learn a great deal about the workings of the institutions of papal government and its history.