In commemoration of the closure of the Second Vatican Council sixty years ago Fr Adrian Graffy gave a study day entitled ‘Vatican II and its Popes’ on Saturday 20th September 2025 at the parish of Christ the Eternal High Priest in Gidea Park. Pope John XXIII inaugurated the Council but died after the First Session (1962) in June 1963. It was Pope Paul VI who guided the Council through another three sessions to its conclusion in December 1965. Later Popes, who carried forward the implementation of the decisions of the over two thousand bishops who attended the Council, can also be called ‘Popes of Vatican II’. The Council was a guiding light for both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict. Pope Francis in turn was inspired by Vatican II to develop the outreach of the Church to the world and all its peoples in his two great encyclical letters, Laudato si’ and Fratelli Tutti. Finally Pope Leo from the start of his pontificate committed the Church to following the path of the Second Vatican Council.