The Second Vatican Council: A Timeline Timeline compiled by Gary Macy, theology professor at the University of San Diego and the National Catholic Reporter, October 4, 2002 1959 Jan. 25: Pope John XXIII announces his intention of calling an ecumenical council Fidel Castro becomes premier of Cuba Hawaii becomes the 50th state Karl Barth publishes Dogmatics in Outline Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, publishes The Phenomena of Man Joan Miró does the murals for the UNESCOBuilding in Paris Films include Ben Hur and La Dolce Vita Died: Frank Lloyd Wright 1960 June 5: Preparatory commissions and secretariats for the council set up by motu proprio, meaning under the pope s personal authority U.S. U-2 spy plane shot down over Russia Belgian Congo granted full independence John F. Kennedy elected president of the United States Brasilia replaces Rio de Janeiro as capital of Brazil Robert Bolt writes A Man for All Seasons Three women admitted to the ministry of the Swedish Lutheran church Picasso exhibition at the Tate Gallery, London Films include Psycho and The Apartment
U.S. scientists develop laser device U.S. submarine completes first underwater circumnavigation of the globe American Heart Association issues a report attributing higher death rates among middleaged men to heavy smoking of cigarettes First weather satellite launched Died: Albert Camus, Clark Gable, Emily Post 1961 Dec. 25: The council is formally summoned by the apostolic constitution Humanae Salutis President John F. Kennedy inaugurates the Peace Corps U.N. General Assembly condemns apartheid Unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs Berlin Wall constructed Dag Hammarskjöld killed in air crash Adolf Eichmann found guilty Graham Greene publishes A Burnt-out Case Irving Stone publishes The Agony and the Ecstasy Joseph Heller publishes Catch-22 Michael Ramsey appointed archbishop of Canterbury Meeting of the World Council of Churches in Delhi Films include Jules et Jim and West Side Story Yuri Gagarin (U.S.S.R.) orbits the earth Alan Shepard makes the first U.S. space flight Freedom Riders are attacked and beaten in Anniston and Birmingham, Ala. Died: Ernest Hemingway, Carl Jung
1962 Sept. 5: Norms and procedures of the council settled by the apostolic constitution Appropinquante Concilio Oct. 11-Dec. 8: First session of the council meets Cuban missile crisis Uganda and Tanganyika become independent John Steinbeck publishes Travels with Charley and wins Nobel Prize for Literature Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich James Baldwin publishes Another Country Films include Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra Drs. F.H.C. Crick, M.H.F. Wilkins and J.D. Watson win Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for determining the molecular structure of DNA Died: Marilyn Monroe 1963 June 3: Pope John XXIII dies June 21: Pope Paul VI elected; announces to continue the council Sept. 29-Dec. 4: Second session of the council meets Issued on Dec. 4: Sacrosanctum concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ; Inter Mirifica, Decree On the Means of Social Communication Civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala., culminate in the arrest of Martin Luther King Jr. and the calling out of 3,000 troops by President Kennedy 200,000 Freedom Marchers descend on Washington to protest discrimination Nuclear test ban treaty signed by the United States, Soviet Union and Great Britain Nov. 22: President John F. Kennedy assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas
Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in as president Kenya becomes independent republic Morris L. West publishes The Shoes of the Fisherman; Hannah Arendt publishes Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil Leonardo da Vinci s Mona Lisa exhibited in New York and WashingtonD.C. Films include The Cardinal, The Birds and Dr. Strangelove Russian Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first female astronaut A hurricane and resulting tsunamis leave about 22,000 dead in East Pakistan T.A. Mathews and A.R. Sandage discover quasars Dr. Michael De Bakey first uses an artificial heart to take over the circulation of a patient s heart during surgery Died: Robert Frost 1964 Jan. 4-6: Pope Paul VI meets Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the Holy Land May 17: Secretariat for Non-Christian Religions established Sept. 14-Nov. 21: Third session of the council meets Issued on Nov. 21: Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution On the Church ; Orientalium Ecclesiarum, Decree On the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite ; Unitatis Redintegratio, Decree on Ecumenism 24th amendment to the Constitution ratified abolishing poll tax Lyndon B. Johnson elected president of the United States U.S. destroyer attacked off coast of North Vietnam; U.S. aircraft attack North Vietnam bases Race riots break out in cities across the United States as reaction against enforcement of civil rights laws U.N. Peace Force takes over in Cyprus Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Yasser Arafat takes over leadership of Al-Fatah movement Martin Luther King Jr. publishes Why We Can t Wait Films include Lord of the Flies, A Hard Day s Night, Zorba the Greek and My Fair Lady Fiddler on the Roof plays in New York James Hoffa, president of the Teamsters Union, found guilty of jury tampering, fraud and conspiracy Verrazano-NarrowsBridge, the longest suspension bridge, opens in New York Died: Cole Porter 1965 Sept. 14- Dec. 8: Fourth session of the council meets Sept. 15: Pope Paul VI issues an apostolic constitution, Apostolica Sollicitudo, which formulates norms for a new episcopal synod established to assist the pope in governing the church Issued Oct. 28: Christus Dominus, Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church ; Perfectae Caritatis, Decree On Renewal of Religious Life ; Optatam Totius, Decree On Priestly Training ; Gravissimum Educationis, Declaration On Christian Education ; Nostra Aetate, Declaration On the Relation of the Church to Non- Christian Religions Issued Nov. 18: Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution On Divine Revelation ; Apostolicam Actuositatem, Decree On the Apostolate of the Laity Dec. 4: Prayer Service for Promoting Christian Unity held at St. Paul Outside the Walls Dec. 7: Dignitatis Humanae, Declaration On Religious Freedom ; Ad Gentes, Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church ; Presbyterorum Ordinis, Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests ; Gaudium et Spes, Pastoral Constitution on the Church In the Modern World Dec. 8: The Second Vatican Council is solemnly ended; extraordinary Jubilee Year proclaimed to familiarize the faithful with the teachings of the council Pope Paul VI addresses U.N. assembly in New York Malcolm X shot in New York
Outbreaks of racial violence in Selma, Ala.; Martin Luther King Jr. leads march of 4,000 people from Selma to Montgomery Race riots in Watts district of Los Angeles, 35 dead, 4,000 arrests Students demonstrate in Washington against U.S. bombing of North Vietnam Medicare Bill becomes law New U.S. immigration law classifies applicants by family condition, refugee status and skills, replacing 1921 law based on nationality Ralph Nader publishes Unsafe at Any Speed Herbet Marcuse publishes Culture and Society Films include Help, Dr. Zhivago and The Sound of Music Cyclones ravage East Pakistan, 12,000-20,000 die Power blackout in eastern United States and parts of Canada Died: Winston Churchill, T.S. Eliot, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Buber, Paul Tillich