FILE – Pope John XXIII stands and prays in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, Oct. 12, 1962, during a special audience to delegates from foreign governments to the ecumenical council. Pope Francis commemorates the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council by celebrating a Mass in honor of St. John XXIII, the “good pope” who convened the landmark meetings that modernized the Catholic Church. (AP Photo/File)
By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the landmark meetings that brought the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church into the modern era. Francis is celebrating a Mass on Tuesday in honor of St. John XXIII, who convened the council and presided over its opening sessions. Tuesday’s commemoration opens with a reading of John’s inaugural speech and ends with a reenactment of the candlelight procession that lit up St. Peter’s Square on the night of Oct. 11, 1962. On that night, the “good pope” came to the window of the Apostolic Palace and delivered his famous “moonlight speech.”