Catholic ecumenical councils
According to the Catholic Church, a Church Council is ecumenical if it is "a solemn congregation of the Catholic bishops of the world at the invitation of the Pope to decide on matters of the Church with him". The wider term "ecumenical council" relates to Church councils recognised by both Eastern and Western Christianity.
In Catholicism, in addition to ecumenical Councils, there are "particular Councils". Current Canon Law recognises two kinds of particular Councils: plenary councils involve the bishops of an episcopal conference, while provincial councils involve the bishops of an ecclesiastical province.
The Catholic Church recognizes as ecumenical 21 councils occurring over a period of some 1900 years. The ecumenical nature of some Councils was disputed for some time but was eventually accepted, for example the First Lateran Council and the Council of Basel. A 1539 book on ecumenical councils by Cardinal Dominicus Jacobazzi excluded them, as did other scholars.
The first few centuries did not know large-scale councils; they were feasible only after Emperor Constantine granted the Church freedom from persecution. As a result, the Council of Jerusalem or Apostolic Council, held in Jerusalem around AD 50 and described in Acts of the Apostles chapter 15, is not an ecumenical Council, even though most Christian denominations consider that it expresses a key part of Christian doctrine and moral teaching.First four ecumenical councils (4th–5th centuries)
These comprised the hierarchs of the undivided Church, and are accepted as authoritative, not only by Catholics, but also by the Eastern Orthodox Church and many Protestant denominations.The First Council of Nicaea formulated the original Nicene Creed. Most importantly, the council defined the equality of God the Father and Christ, his son. It taught that Jesus was of the same substance as God the Father and not just merely similar. By defining the nature of the divinity of Jesus, the council did not solely rely on the Bible but jointly gave it a binding interpretation. The council issued 20 canons and repudiated Arianism.The First Council of Constantinople defined in four canons the Nicene Creed, which is still used in the Catholic Church. Most importantly, it defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The council met from May until July 381 during the pontificate of Pope Damasus I and issued four canons.The Council of Ephesus proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos. The council met in seven sessions during the pontificate of Pope Celestine I from 22 June until 17 July 431. It rejected Nestorianism.The Council of Chalcedon defined the two natures of Jesus Christ. "We teach unanimously that the one son, our lord Jesus Christ to be fully God and fully human." It met in 17 sessions from 8 October until November 451 during the pontificate of Pope Leo the Great. It issued 28 canons, the last one defining equality of the bishops of Rome and Constantinople, which was rejected by the papal delegates and Pope Leo the Great.Councils of the 6th to 9th centuries
The council again dealt with the issue of the two natures of Christ, as monophysitism had spread through Christianity despite the decisions of Chalcedon. The council met from 5 May until 2 June 553, in eight sessions during the pontificate of Pope Vigilius, who was imprisoned during the council by the emperor. It condemned "Three Chapters" of Nestorian writings. Several Catholic provinces refused to accept the Second Council of Constantinople because of the political pressures.Third Council of Constantinople
The council repudiated Monothelitism, and reaffirmed that Christ, being both human and divine, had both human and divine wills. It met in sixteen sessions from 7 November 680, until 16 September 681. The council was held during the pontificates of Pope Agatho and Pope Leo II. It also condemned Honorius for holding to Monothelitism.In 730, the emperor outlawed pictorial presentations of Christ and the saints. The Pope argued against the first iconoclasm and convened in 731 a local council in Rome to no avail. The Second Council of Nicaea discussed and restored the veneration of icons using the Bible and tradition of the Church as arguments. Pictures of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints were used to stimulate piety and imitation. The council met in eight sessions from 24 September until 23 October 787, during the pontificate of Pope Adrian I. It issued twenty canons. This was the last ecumenical council to be accepted by both Eastern and Western churches.Fourth Council of Constantinople
With the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III in 800, his new title as Patricius Romanorum, and the handing over of the keys to the Tomb of Saint Peter, the papacy had acquired a new protector in the West. This freed the pontiffs to some degree from the power of the emperor in Constantinople, but it also led to a schism, because the emperors and patriarchs of Constantinople interpreted themselves as the true descendants of the Roman Empire dating back to the beginnings of the Church. Pope Nicholas I had refused to recognize Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople, who in turn had attacked the pope as a heretic, because he kept the filioque in the creed, which referred to the Holy Spirit proceeding from God the Father and the Son. The council condemned Photius, who questioned the legality of the papal delegates presiding over the council, and ended the schism. The council met in ten sessions from October 869 to February 870 and issued 27 canons.Councils of the High Middle Ages (12th–14th centuries)
All of these councils took place in the West and were attended by Western bishops.First Council of the Lateran
Successors of Charlemagne insisted increasingly on the right to appoint bishops on their own, which led to the Investiture Controversy with the popes. The Concordat of Worms signed by Pope Calixtus II included a compromise between the two parties, by which the pope alone appoints bishops as spiritual head while the emperor maintains a right to give secular offices and honors. Pope Calixtus invoked the council to ratify this historic agreement. There are few documents and protocols left from the sessions and 25 canons approved. The council met from 18 March to 5 April 1123.Second Council of the Lateran
After the death of Pope Honorius II, two popes were elected by two groups of cardinals. Sixteen cardinals elected Pope Innocent II, while others elected antipope Anacletus II who was called the Pope of the Ghetto, in light of his Jewish origins. The council deposed the antipope and his followers. In important decisions regarding the celibacy of Catholic priests, clerical marriages of priests and monks, which up to 1139 were considered illegal, were defined and declared as non-existing and invalid. The council met under Pope Innocent II in April 1139 and issued 30 canons.Third Council of the Lateran
The council established the two-thirds majority necessary for the election of a pope. This two-thirds majority existed until Pope John Paul II. His change was reverted to the old two-thirds majority by Pope Benedict XVI in his Moto Proprio, De Aliquibus Mutationibus, from June 11, 2007. Still valid today are the regulations that outlawed simony, and the elevation to Episcopal offices for anyone under thirty. The council also ruled it illegal to sell arms or goods which could assist armaments to Muslim powers. Saracens and Jews were forbidden from keeping Christian slaves. All cathedrals were to appoint teachers for indigent and low-income children. Catharism was condemned as a heresy. This council is well documented: Reports include the saga of an Irish bishop whose income consisted in the milk from three cows. If one of the cows would stop giving milk, the faithful were obliged to donate another animal. The council met in March 1179 in three sessions and issued 27 chapters, which were all approved by Pope Alexander III.Fourth Council of the Lateran
The council mandated every Christian in serious sin is to go at least once a year on Easter to confession and to receive the Holy Eucharist. The council formally repeated Catholic teaching, that Christ is present in the Eucharist and thus clarified transubstantiation. It dealt with several heresies without naming names but intended to include the Catharists and several individual Catholic theologians. It made several political rulings as well. It met in only three sessions in November 1215 under Pope Innocent III and issued 70 chapters.The council continued the political rulings of the previous council by deposing Frederick II, as German king and as emperor. Frederick was accused of heresy, treason and arresting a ship with about 100 prelates willing to attend a meeting with the pope. Frederick outlawed attendance at the council and blocked access to Lyon from Germany. Therefore, the majority of council fathers originated from Spain, France and Italy. The council met in three sessions from 28 June 1245, and issued 22 chapters all approved by Pope Innocent IV.Second Council of Lyon
defined three aims for the council: aid to Jerusalem, union with the Greek Orthodox Church and reform of the Catholic Church. The council achieved a short-lived unity with the Greek representatives, who were denounced for this back home by the hierarchy and the emperor. A teaching on purgatory was defined. Papal conclaves were regulated in Ubi periculum, which specified that electors must be locked up during the conclave and, if they could not agree on a pope after eight days, would receive water and bread only. Franciscan, Dominican, and other orders had become controversial in light of their increasing popularity. The council confirmed their privileges. Pope Gregory X approved all 31 chapters, after modifying some of them, thus clearly indicating papal prerogatives. The council met in six sessions from 7 May to 17 July 1274, under his leadership.