Well, some people blame Vatican II and Annibale Bugnini for “ruining” (according to their opinion) the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) and the Mass.
Interestingly, Annibale Bugnini was appointed by Pius XII as Secretary to the Commission for Liturgical Reform. Under his tenure in that position, he was responsible for the restoration of the Easter Vigil; and rubrics to the Mass and Divine Office were reformed and simplified. Annibale Bugnini’s stamp is on the 1961 Breviary and 1962 Missal.
Of course reform of divine liturgy was nothing new. His predecessor, Pius X, was responsible for the 2nd most radical change to the Divine Office in the 20th century, being responsible for the elimination of the Laudate psalms after the OT Canticle at Lauds and dividing up the psalms into relatively equal segments throughout the Divine Office.
So I tend to smirk a bit when I hear moans and wails about how Vatican II was a horrible reform of the liturgy; it was a process that commenced well before Vatican II.
You could say that Pius XII unwittingly planted the seeds of Vatican II. Or maybe it wasn’t so unwittingly. But reform he did start, and while under his papacy it was very very slow (except for the Easter Vigil), it did plant the seeds for more the more swift reform that followed Vatican II.
