Film on Vatican II offers new insights on Council

September 25, 2012

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications is producing a film on Vatican II, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Council.

The movie, which will debut in October, uses film and still pictures from the Vatican archives—including a good deal of material that has not been previously made public--along with more recent video clips in which Church leaders who were present at Vatican II.

Archbishop Claudio Celli, the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, told Vatican Radio that the filmmakers had access to over 200 hours of material from the archives, dating back to 1959, when Blessed John XXIII unveiled his plans for the council. The film provides a revelation—disclosed by a former secretary to Pope John XXIII—that a famous address by the Pontiff on the night after the opening of the Council was completely unplanned and delivered extemporaneously.

 

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Further information:

• From the archives: new film marks anniversary of Vatican II (Vatican Radio)