Not just because of their members (they are assemblies of Patriarchs, Cardinals, residing Bishops, Abbots, male heads of religious orders and other juridical persons nominated by the Pope) but their mission: they meet to discuss matters of Christian fate and Catolic Church discipline. Their decisions become valid when they are approved by the popes.
Catholic Ecumenical Councils include 21 councils over a period of 1700 years. Each of them had his role mainly to refute heresies in the church and to solidify doctrine, as the problems appeared and had to be solved or, at least, they had to try clear them out. Some of the problems appeared because of during time of the apostles (after Jesus' death in 33 A.D) each of them evangelized in different parts of the world and wrote many different books of doctrine and church practice. Within the the next 3 centuries some conflicts arose in man's attempt to define the nature and person of God.
First Council of Nicaea (325)
Was convened by the ruler of the Roman Empire, Constantine, to address the Arian issue and other concerns and controversies. Arius, a theologian, developed his own concept of the inception of Jesus: he asserted that if the Father brought about Jesus, then there was a time that Jesus didn't exist and that he was created out of nothing. During this first Council of Nicaea Arianism was repudiated and Arius and his followers were excommunicated. The Christians declared that Christ is homoousios with the Father (of the same substance as the Father), adopted the original Nicene Creed, established Easter date and certain high church leaders were recognized and honored recognized primacy of the sees of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch and granted the See of Jerusalem a position of honor. It is interesting to note that today the Nicene Creed is recited every Sunday mass in Catolic churches.
First Council of Constantinople (381)
Council of Ephesus (431)
The council was called amid a dispute over the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Nestorius' doctrine, Nestorianism, emphasized the disunity between Christ's human and divine natures and had brought him into conflict with other church leaders. In the end Nestorius' teachings were condemned by the council as heresy. Also, the council declared Mary as Theotokos (God-bearer, Mother of God), repudiated Pelagianism, and reaffirmed the Nicene Creed.
This precipitated the Nestorian Schism, by which churches supportive of Nestorius were severed from the rest of Christendom and became known as Nestorian Christianity, the Persian Church, or the Church of the East. Their present-day representatives are the Assyrian Church of the East, the Ancient Church of the East, the Chaldean Syrian Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church.
Second Council of Ephesus (449)
This one was originally convened as an ecumenical council, but it's not recognized as ecumenical (it declared Eutyches orthodox and attacked his opponents), it was denounced as a Robber Council by the Chalcedonians (Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants).
Council of Chalcedon (451)
The council also issued 27 disciplinary canons governing church administration and authority. It marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century because in the last decree, later known as the canon 28, the bishops declared the See of Constantinople (the New Rome) equal in honor and authority to Rome.It is the last council which many Anglicans and most Protestants consider ecumenical.
The Council of Chalcedon is considered to have been the Fourth Ecumenical Council by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church (including its Eastern Catholic Churches), the Old Catholics and various other Western Christian groups. The Council is not accepted by several of the ancient Eastern Churches, including the Oriental Orthodox of Egypt, Syria and Armenia and the Assyrian Church of the East.
Second Council of Constantinople (553)
It confirmed the condemnation issued by edict in 551 by the Emperor Justinian against the Three Chapters (known as the Three Chapters controversy or the Three Chapters schism), they repudiated them as nestorian. The 3 Chapters where:
- the person and writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia
- the attacks on Cyril of Alexandria and the First Council of Ephesus written by Theodoret of Cyrrhus
- the attacks on Cyril and Ephesus by Ibas of Edessa.
They also condemned Origen of Alexandria, decreed the Theopaschite Formula.
Third Council of Constantinople (680-681)
Counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, took place in 680-681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical. It also defined Jesus Christ as having two energies and two wills (divine and human).
Quinisext Council, also called Council in Trullo (692)
It addressed matters of discipline in amendment to the 5th and 6th councils, but the Ecumenical status of this council was repudiated by the western churches.
Second Council of Nicaea (787)
The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized by both West and East: Orthodox, Catholics, and Old Catholics unanimously recognize it; Protestant opinions on it are varied.Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870). This council is rejected by some Protestant denominations, which condemn the veneration of icons.
It deposed the Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople as an usurper and reinstated his predecessor Saint Ignatius.
Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870)
It was called by Emperor Basil I the Macedonian and Pope Adrian II and deposed Photios, a layman who had been appointed as Patriarch of Constantinople, and reinstated his predecessor Ignatius. It also reaffirmed the decisions of the Second Council of Nicaea in support of icons and holy images and required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of the Bible.
The Roman Catholic Church recognizes the council in 869–870 as "Constantinople IV", while the Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize the councils in 879–880 (the Greek Council) as "Constantinople IV" and revere Photios as a saint. These two councils represent a growing divide between East and West, the differences led eventually to the East-West Schism of 1054.
First Council of the Lateran (1123)
It was convoked by Pope Calixtus II in December, 1122, immediately after the Concordat of Worms. The Council sought to:
- end the practice of the conferring of ecclesiastical benefices by people who were laymen;
- abolish the claim of the emperors to influence papal elections.
- free the election of bishops and abbots from secular influence;
- establish once again the principle that spiritual authority resides solely in the Church;
- clarify the separation of spiritual and temporal affairs;
It is said that 300 bishops and more than 600 abbots assembled at Rome in March 1123, the pope Callistus presided in person the Council. The decisions of the Concordat of Worms were read and ratified.
Second Council of the Lateran (1139)
It was held by Pope Innocent II in April 1139, and was attended by close to a thousand clerics. It reaffirmed Lateran I and addressed clerical morals and discipline (as dress and marriages) which the council fathers considered had grown lax, it condemned the teachings of the Petrobrusians and the Henricians, the followers of Peter of Bruys and Henry of Lausanne, but its immediate task was to neutralise the after-effects of the schism which had arisen after the death of Pope Honorius II in February 1130 and the setting up of Petris Leonis as the antipope Anacletus II.
In his opening statement the Pope Innocent II deposed those who had been ordained and instituted by Anacletus or any of his adherents. King Roger II of Sicily was excommunicated for maintaining what was thought to be a schismatic attitude.
Third Council of the Lateran (1179)
A serious schism arose out of internal Catolic Church conflict (one of many): after Victor IV's death in 1164, two further antipopes were nominated in opposition to Alexander III: Paschal III (1164–1168) and Callistus III (1168–1178). Eventually, at the Peace of Venice, when Alexander gained victory, he promised Frederick that he would summon an ecumenical council.
Besides removing the remains of the recent schism the Council condemned the Waldensian and Catharheresies, restricted papal election to the cardinals, condemned sodomy, introduced minimum ages for ordination (thirty for bishops) and pushed for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline. Three sessions were held, on 5, 14, and 19 March, in which 27 canons were promulgated.
Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215)
It was convoked by Pope Innocent III and gathered at Rome's Lateran Palace beginning November 11, 1215. It is sometimes called the Great Council or General Council of Lateran due to the presence of 71 patriarchs and metropolitan bishops, 412 bishops and 900 abbots and priors together with representatives of several monarchs.
The Council considered the 71 decrees presented by the Pope along with the organization of the Fifth Crusade and with measures against heretics. It defined transubstantiation, addressed papal primacy and clerical discipline. The Council confirmed the elevation of Frederick II as Holy Roman Emperor.
First Council of Lyon (1245)
It was presided over by Pope Innocent IV that threatened by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. With Rome under siege by the emperor, the pope used the council to excommunicate and depose him with Ad Apostolicae Dignitatis Apicem, as well as the Portuguese King Sancho II but without having the material means to enforce the decree. The Council directed a new crusade (the seventh) under the command of Louis IX of France in a trial to reconquer the Holy Land. Also, it promulgated several other purely disciplinary measures: it obliged the Cistercians were obliged to pay tithes, it approved the Rule of the Grandmontines was approved, it decided the institution of the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, cardinals had to wear a red hat.
Second Council of Lyon (1274)
It was called to act on a pledge by Byzantine emperor Michael VIII to reunite the Eastern church with the West and it was presided by Pope Gregory X. The second main topic was the conquest of the Holy Land, but it also approved Franciscan and Dominican orders, and some conclave procedures were drawn.
Council of Vienne (1311 - 1312)
Its principal act was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar on the instigation of Philip IV of France as the Pope Clement V was under the control of Philip.
Council of Pisa (1409)
It attempted to solve the Great Western Schism, but it is not numbered because it was not convened by a pope and its outcome was repudiated at Constance.
Council of Constance (1414 - 1418)
It ended the Three-Popes Controversy (the Papal schism which had resulted from the confusion following the Avignon Papacy) by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.
The Council condemned and executed Jan Hus and ruled on issues of national sovereignty, the rights of pagans and just war in response to a conflict between the Kingdom of Poland and the Order of the Teutonic Knights. The Council is important for its relationship to ecclesial Conciliarism and Papal supremacy: the decree Haec Sancta Synodus which gave primacy to the authority of the Council and thus became a source for ecclesial conciliarism was promulgated in 6 April 1415.
An innovation at the Council was that instead of voting as individuals the bishops voted in national blocks, confirming the national pressures that had fueled the schism since 1378.
Council of Siena (1423 - 1424)
It addressed church reform but it was not numbered as it was swiftly disbanded.
Council of Basel, Ferrara and Florence (1431 - 1445)
It is usually called the Council of Florence, but it began in Basel, Switzerland. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in the context of the Hussite wars in Bohemia and the rise of the Ottoman Empire.
The Council entered a second phase after Sigismund's (the king of Hungary) death in 1437. The Pope Eugene IV (Pope Martin V's successor) convoked a rival Council of Ferrara on 8 January 1438 and succeeded in drawing the Byzantine ambassadors to Italy. The Council of Basel first suspended him, declared him a heretic, and elected an antipope, Felix V. The rival Council moved in Florence to avoid plague in Ferrara and concluded after negotiating unions with the various Eastern Churches and temporarily with the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1447, Sigismund's successor Frederick III commanded the city of Basel to expel the Council of Basle; the rump council reconvened in Lausanne before dissolving itself in 1449.
It also addressed church reform.
Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512 - 1514)
It addressed church reform, several decrees were published, including: the local bishop had to give permission in order for a book to be printed, Apostolici regiminis, on the immortality of the soul, one decree concerning the freedom of the Church and the dignity of bishops, another one condemning the French Pragmatic Sanction which sought to prevent the papacy from extending its power.
Council of Trent (1545 - 1563 with interruptions)
It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils, especially considering that more than 300 years passed until the next Ecumenical Council, but it was delayed and interrupted several times because of political or religious disagreements. It was a major reform council, it issued condemnations on what it defined as Protestant heresies at the time of the Reformation (it repudiated Protestantism), it defined the role and canon of Scripture, it defined Church teachings in the areas of Tradition, Original Sin, Justification, Sacraments, the Eucharist in Holy Mass, the veneration of saints and the seven sacraments and it strengthened clerical discipline and education.
First Council of the Vatican (1870, but officially: 1870 - 1960)
It was convoked by Pope Pius IX to deal with the contemporary problems of the rising influence of rationalism, liberalism, and materialism, opened on 8 December 1869 and adjourned on 20 October 1870. Unlike the five earlier General Councils (the Lateran Councils) held in Rome, which took place in the Lateran Basilica, this one took place in the Vatican Basilica. Its best-known decision is its definition of papal infallibility, but it also defined pope's primacy in church governance, repudiated rationalism, materialism and atheism, addressed revelation, interpretation of scripture and the relationship of faith and reason.
Second Council of the Vatican (1962 - 1965)
Addressed pastoral and disciplinary issues dealing with the Church and its relation to the modern world, including liturgy and ecumenism.
It is informally known as Vatican II and it addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world, including liturgy and ecumenism. It was the second to be held at Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, it was formally opened under the pontificate of Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on 8 December 1965.
