The Intended Second Vatican Council

John XXIII Addressing Vatican II, c.1962 In July 1959, with no prior consultations with advisors or the Church at large, Pope John XXIII abruptly announced the establishment of a preparatory commission to organize a second Vatican Council. Immediately afterward in August, he ordered that the copy of the Third Fatima Secret be brought to him. In the presence of his confessor, Msgr. Alfredo Cavagna, he opened it. However, since Sister Lucia wrote in a difficult Portuguese dialect, he had it translated by Msgr. Paolo Tavares, an official of the Secretariat of State. Other officials were also present. After reading it, John XXIII said, “This does not concern the years of my pontificate.”1 Once it became known that the Third Secret had been opened and read, the Holy See publicly suggested that the Secret contained, “Neither terrors, nor alarmist statements, nor ‘sensationalism’ nor morbid curiosity.”2 Perhaps “Good Pope John” was brought the wrong piece of paper? The publicly released portion …