VATICAN CITY
Fox News

Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday marked the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council — the church meetings he attended as a young priest that brought the Catholic Church into the modern world but whose true meaning is still hotly debated.

Benedict celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Square, attended by patriarchs, cardinals, bishops and a dozen elderly churchmen who participated in the council, and later will greet the faithful re-enacting the great procession into St. Peter’s that launched the council in 1962.

In his homily, Benedict urged the faithful to return to the “letter” and “authentic spirit” of the council found in the Vatican II documents themselves, rather than rely on the distorted spirit promoted by those who saw in Vatican II a radical reform away from the church’s tradition.

“The council did not formulate anything new in matters of…