On January 25, 1959, Blessed Pope John announced his intention to convene a world-wide church council. Father Richard McBrien recalls the event in a story for the National Catholic Reporter.

The pope noted famously in his diary that the small group of assembled cardinals on that day in January, 1959 had greeted his announcement with “impressive, devout silence,” perhaps reflecting not only their surprise but their disapproval as well.

John, after all, had just been elected on October 28, 1958, as a so-called transitional pope. He was just a month shy of his 77th birthday at the time of the conclave. After Pope Pius XII’s lengthy pontificate of more than 19 years, the cardinal-electors were looking for some breathing-space before his “real” successor could be named.

But John XXIII had a different idea. He informed the cardinals that the decision to call a council was his alone, and that it was final. He explained that he was motivated “solely by concern for the ‘good of souls’ and in order that the new pontificate may come to grips, in a clear and well-defined way, with the spiritual needs of the present time.”

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