Did the Second Vatican Council forbid the use of Latin in the Mass?
No, just the opposite. The Council said, "Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites." Recent popes have also encouraged the use of Latin alongside the vernacular languages. Pope Paul VI especially was anxious that Catholic people occasionally pray or sing some of the common parts of the mass in Latin, such as the Credo, the Gloria, the Pater Noster, etc.
Reprinted from August 28, 1998
Did the Second Vatican Council order that Mass was to be celebrated with the
priest facing the people?
No, the Council did not do that. In the Latin rite of the Catholic Church it is legitimate for Mass to be celebrated with the priest either facing the people or with his back to the people. In the earlier days of the Church, both usages were in vogue. What was important was that the priest faced east, since Christian churches, altars and tombs were always "oriented." Christians saw in the rising sun a symbol of Christ. Sometimes both priest and people would face in the same direction during all or part of the Mass. Theyc alled this facing "versus Deum" (toward God). It should be remembered that in the Eucharistic prayer the priest is not addressing the people, but talking to God on behalf of the people.
Reprinted from October 9, 1998
Did the Vatican II decree on ecumenism change the way the Catholic Church
looks at herself?
I certainly do not think so. The decree states, "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God."
Reprinted from May 15, 1998