Review by Thomas Albert Howard in B&C 3-4/13 of Vatican II--the battle for meaning, an analysis and overview of that RCC council

FOr liberal Catholics, the Council often signifies a salutary rupture in the history of the Church, an about-face from the reactionary legacy of the first Vatican COuncil (1869-70), enforced by a train of intransigent popes until the miracle of John XXIII, who shocked the world by calling for a new council in 1959. By contrast, conservative Catholics tend to interpret Vatican II as continuous with the past, even if accommodating new developments, and they champion the efforts of John Paul II and Benedict XVI to reign in liberal excesses.

Likening it in importance to the Council of Trent (1543-1562), the fountainhead of what historians once called the "Counter-Reformation," the full implications of what transpired between 1962 and 1965 might not be plumbed for centuries.

...(the Catholic Church recognizes 21 ecumenical councils in all, of which Vatican II is the most recent)...

In contrast to past councils, all European or Mediterranean affairs, Vatican II was global in scope, drawing church leaders from around he world and making room for non-Catholic observers.