COUNCILS
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COUNCILS
[I. Historical Sketch of CEcrMENicAL Coun-
i. — The present article deals chiefly with the theo-
cal and canonical questions concerning councils
ch are cecumenical in the strict sense above de-
d. Special articles give the history of each im-
- ant synod under the head of the city or sec where
as held. In order, however, to supply the reader 1 a basis of fact for the discussion of principles ch is to follow, a list is subjoined of the twenty imenical councils with a brief statement of the pur- ! of each.
I) The First fficumenical, or Council of Nicaea (.325) pd two months and twelve days. Three hundred eighteen bishops were present. Hosius, Bishop of iova, assisted as legate of Pope Sylvester. The peror Constantino was also present. To this icil we owe the Creed (Si/mbolum) of Nicaea, defin- against Arius the true Divinity of the Son of God avcTioi). and the fi.xing of the date for keeping ter (against the Quartodecimans). !) The Second Q'>umenical, or First General ncil of Constantinople (381), under Pope Damasus the Emperor Theodosius I, was attended by 150 ops. It was directed against the followers of edonius, who impugned the Divinity of the Holy st. To the above-mentioned Nicene Creed it jd the clauses referring to the Holy Ghost (qui d adoralur) and all that follows to the end. I) The Third (Ecumenical, or Council of Ephesus ), of more than 200 bishops, presided over by St. 1 of Alexandria representing Pope Celestine I, de- i the true personal unity of Christ, declared Mary Mother of God {0eoT6Kos) again.st Nestorius, Bishop bnstantinople, and renewed the condemnation of ,gius.
- ) The Fourth (Ecumenical, or Council of Chalce-
(451) — 150 bishops under Pope Leo the Great and Emperor Marcian — defined the two natures (Di- ! and human) in Christ against Eutyches, who was mimunicated.
i) The Fifth (Ecumenical, or Second General ncil of Constantinople (553), of 165 bishops under e Vigilius and Emperor Justinian I, condemned errors of Origen and certain writings (The Three pters) of Theodoret, of Theodore, Bishop of Mop- tia, and of Ibas, Bishop of Edessa; it further con- ed the first four general councils, especially that of Icedon whose authority was contested by some tics.
i) The Sixth (Ecumenical, or Third Council of Con- tinople (680-681), under Pope Agatho and the Em- ir Constantine Pogonatus, was attended by the •iarchs of Constantinople and of Antioch, 174 bish- and the emperor. It put an end to Monothel- by defining two wills in Christ, the Divine and the lan, as two distinct principles of operation. It hemiitized Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, Macarius, and heir followers.
) The Seventh (Ecumenical, or Second Council of ea (787) was convoked by Emperor Constantine md his mother Irene, under Pope Adrian I, and presided over by the legates of Pope Adrian; it fated the veneration of holy images. Between and 367 bLshops assisted.
i) The Eighth (Ecumenical, or Fourth Council of stantinople (869), under Pope .\drian II and Em- ir Basil, numbering 102 bishops, 3 papal legates, 4 patriarchs, consigned to the flames the Acts of rreg\ilar council (mnrilinltnlum) brought together Photius against Pope Nicholas and Ignatius, the imate Patriarch of ('onstantinople; it condemned tius who had unlawfully seized the patriarchal ity. The Photian schi.sm, however, triutn|ihed in Greek Church, and no other general council look e in the Ea.st.
The Ninth (Ecumenical Council (1123) wa.s the held in the Lateran at Rome under Pope Callis-
tus II. .Vbout 900 bishops and abljots assisted. It
abolished the right, claimed by lay (irinces, of investi-
ture with ring and crosier to ecclesiastical benefices
and dealt with church discipline and the recovery of
the Holy Land from the infidels.
(10) The Tenth (Ecumenical Council (1139) was the Second Lateran held at Rome under Pope Innocent II with an attendance of about 1000 prelates and the Emperor Conrad. Its object was to put an end to the errors of .\rnold of Brescia.
(11) The Eleventh (Ecumenical Council (1179) was the third assembled at the Lateran, antl took place under Pope .Alexander III, Frederick I being emperor. There were 302 bishops present. It condemned the Albigenses and Waldenses and issued numerous de- crees for the reformation of morals.
(12) The Twelfth (Ecumenical Synod (1215) was the Fourth Lateran, under Innocent III. There were present the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Jeru- salem, 71 archbishops, 412 bishojis, and 800 abbots, the Primate of the Maronites, and St. Dominie. It issued an enlarged creed (symbol) against the Albi- genses (Firmitcr credimus), condemned the Trini- tarian errors of Abbot Joachim, and published 70 im- portant reformatory decrees. This is the most im- portant council of the Middle Ages; it marks the cul- minating point of ecclesiastical life and papal power.
(13) The First General Council of Lyons (1245) is the Thirteenth (Ecumenical. Innocent IV presided; the Patriarchs of Constantinople, .\ntioch, and Aqui- leia (Venice), 140 bishops, Baldwin II, Emperor of the East, and St. Louis, King of France, assisted. It ex- communicated and deposed Emperor Frederick II and directed a new crusade, under the command of St. Louis, against the Saracens and Mongols.
(14) The Fourteenth (Ecumenical Council was held at Lyons (1274) by Pope Gregory X, the Patriarchs of Antioch and Constantinoiilc. 1.') r:inlinals, .500 bishops, and more than 1000 ntln r lll^lllt:l^il■s. It effected a temporary reunion of tlir Cr.ik Clmrch with Rome. The word filioqtie was added to the symbol of Con- stantinople and means were sought for recovering Palestine from the Turks. It also laid down the rules for papal elections.
(15) The Fifteenth (Ecumenical Council took place at Vienne in France (13U-1313) by order of Clement V, the first of the Avignon popes. The Patriarchs of Antioch and .\lexandria, 300 bishops (114 according to some authorities), and 3 kings — Philip IV of France, Edward II of England, and James II of Aragon — were present. The synod dealt with the crimes and errors imputed to the Knights Templars, the Fraticelli, the Beghards, and the Beguines, with projects of a new crusade, the reformation of the clergy, and the teaching of Oriental languages in the universities.
(16) The Council of Constance (1414-1418), the Sixteenth (Ecumenical, was held during the great Schism of the West, with the object of ending the divisions in the Church. It only became legitimate when Gregory XII had formally convoked it. Owing to this circumstance it succeeded in putting an end to the schism by the election of Pope Martin V, which the Council of Pisa { 1 409) had failed to accomplish on account of its illegality. The rightful |x)pc confirmed the fonner decrees of the synod against Wyclif and Hus. This council is thus only cecumenical in its last sessions (XLII-XLV inclusive) and with resjject to the decrees of earlier sessions approved by Martin V.
(17) The Seventeenth (Ecumenical Council met at Basle (1431), Eugene IV being pope, and Sigismund Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Its object was the religious pacification of Bohemia. (Juarrels with the pope having ;iriscn, t\u: council wa.s transferred first to Ferrara (1438), then to Florence (1439), where a short-lived union with the Greek Church w:is ef- fected, the Greeks accepting the council's definition of
