I am by no means an expert. A condensed version would be that many church traditions were relaxed (like no meat Friday) or changed (mass went from Latin to native language for example. This was attempt to ‘modernize’ the church, make it more accessible, and make it more popular/attractive to the modern western world. IMHO, a byproduct of this has been a new cadre of priests and other leaders who cater more to popular sentiment than adhere to absolute truths.
I had a feeling it had something to do w/ making it more populist. When I was young there was a very large Catholic family across the street from us. I would be invited to go to church w/ the twin girls who were my age. I always loved how silent and serious the atmosphere was and the incense. It was just a very holy place. I remember being in awe. I did love those times. This was back in the late 60’s.
I also remember that when I had dinner w/ them on Fridays they ONLY had fish!
Thank you for the explanation. Were the majority of Catholics happy about the change or unhappy w/ it? To be honest, all of the Catholics I know (including my husband, his father remains the only practicing Catholic in their family) are lapsed Catholics.