Why did Pope John call the Second Vatican Council?

Answer 1

Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962 in order to discuss how the Roman Catholic Church would face the modern world.

.

AnswerNot to be disagreeable but there is no "Roman Catholic Church", it is just the Catholic Church. Roman Catholic is an epithet used in England after the protestant revolt to describe the Catholic Church. It was not intended as a compliment.

Blessed Pope John XXIII, of happy memory, convened the Second Vatican Council to:

The major interest of the Ecumenical Council is this: that the sacred heritage of Christian truth be safeguarded and expounded with greater efficacy.

That doctrine embraces the whole man, body and soul. It bids us live as pilgrims here on earth, as we journey onwards towards our heavenly homeland.

You may read Blessed John's entire opening address at the link below. He does mention "bringing home the Church's Teaching to the Modern World as ONE of the goals, but there were many others including the right way to suppress error, contemporary repudiation of Godlessness, Promoting the Unity of the Christian and Human Family, etc. His address, all told, runs to maybe eight pages, and is well worth reading.

Answer 2

Pope John XXIII called the council to assist the Church in adapting to changes that were more rapidly taking place in the world - political, social, technological, etc.

Most Catholics believe that Vatican II was led by the Holy Spirit, although they may disagree on how good or bad post-conciliar changes were.

It was for many reasons. The largest was because the Catholic Church needed to press a lot of reform in order to continue to be relevant in modern society.

For example, prior to the Council, all Masses had to be be said in Latin. This made it difficult for people to really understand the mass and as such it was turning people away from the Church. The SVC met to discuss Canon Law and decided that Mass did not have to be said in Latin as there was no evidence of God directing that it must be that way.

There had been many other councils held prior to the SVC, and most of them were for the same reason -- a real need for reform.

.

Answer 3

The main reason that the Second Vatican Council was held was because the reigning Pope, Blessed John XXIII willed it and called it. In opening the Council he gave them very specific reasons as to why he called them and what he wanted them to do; they are contained in his opening speech (to open the Council), which you may read at the link below. His primary objective was to shake the Church out of her lethargy and go out to preach the Gospel, the precious gift that she had been given by Jesus Christ, to the world. To "update" the message so that it would resonate with the world.
The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council

http://www.papalencyclicals.net/vatican2.htm