Book excerpt: The Second Vatican Council ended in December 1965, but Vatican II is still happening in the global church. Catholicism has always had a universal claim, but the globalization of Catholicism as a truly "world church" became part of Catholic theology only thanks to that gathering—decided by St. John XXIII—of bishops, theologians, lay observers, ecumenical representatives, and journalists. Vatican II is the most important event in church history after the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, and it is the key to understanding Catholicism and its inner tensions today.