Fifty years later to the day, the U.S.-born bishop was back, one of 15 council fathers -- out of the 70 still alive -- who made it to an outdoor Mass in St. Peter's Square marking the golden anniversary of that momentous event.

Bishop McNaughton, 85, attended all four sessions of Vatican II from 1962 to 1965, missing only two days because of illness.

He said the council's "greatest highlight" was the approval of "Lumen Gentium," the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, "a magnificent document" that dedicates an entire chapter to the subject of the "people of God."

That term has sometimes been interpreted as a reference to the laity, the bishop said, but a reading of the constitution should make it clear that it refers to everyone in the church, including the pope and the bishops.

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