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ECUMENICAL COUNCILS
OF CATHOLIC CHURCH
HOW MANY ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
IN THE CHURCH?

There are 21
ecumenical
councils in the
history of the
Church
WHAT IS ECUMENICAL COUNCIL?
 Universal or
worldwide in
extent.
 All the Bishops
from around the
world are
invited and
participate in
Council (or synod): meeting of the bishops of the church
the council
to discuss theological and organizational matters.
1. COUNCIL OF NICAEA
 325AD
 by the Roman
Emperor
Constantine I
 the Christological issue of
the divine nature of God the
Son and his relationship to
God the Father,
 the construction of the first
part of the Nicene Creed,
mandating uniform
observance of the date of
Easter,
 and promulgation of early
canon law
  381 AD
2.CONSTANTINOPLE I  Pope Damasus I,366-
384
 Emperor Theodosius,
379-395
 Recondemned
Arianism;
condemned
Macedonianism,
which denied the
• Completed the formulation of the Nicene-
divinity
Constantinopolitan Creed.of the Holy
  431 AD
3.EPHESUS COUNCIL  Pope Celestine I,
422-432
 Emperor
Theodosius II, 408-
450
 Condemned
Nestorianism,
which denied the
unity of the divine
and human in
 Defined that Mary is
the Mother of God
(Theotokos)
 condemned
Pelagianism, which
held that man could
earn his own
salvation through
his natural powers.
  451AD
4.COUNCIL OF  Pope Leo the Great,
CHALCEDON
440-461
 Emperor Marcian,
450-457
 Condemned
Monophysitism (also
called Eutychianism),
which denied Christ’s
human nature.
5.COUNCIL OF  553 AD
CONSTANTINOPLE II  Pope Vigilius, 537-
555
 Emperor Justinian I,
527-565
 Condemned the
Three Chapters,
writings tainted by
Nestorianism and
composed by
Theodore of
Mopsuestia,
Theodoret of Cyr,
6.CONSTANTINOPLE III

 680
 Pope Agatho, 678-681
 Emperor Constantine IV, 668-685
 Condemned Monothelitism, which held Christ
had but one will, the divine (this heresy arose as
a reaction to the Monophysite heresy);
 censured Pope Honorius I for a letter in which he
made an ambiguous but not infallible statement
about the unity of operations in Christ
7.COUNCIL OF NICAEA II
 787
 Pope Hadrian I, 772-795
 Emperor Constantine VI, 780-797
 Condemned iconoclasm (which was mainly
confined to the East), a heresy that held that the
use of images constituted idolatry;
 condemned Adoptionism, which held that Christ
was not the Son of God by nature but only by
adoption, thereby denying the hypostatic union.
8.COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE IV
 869
 Pope Hadrian II, 867-872
 Emperor Basil, 867-886
 Recondemned Adoptionism; deposed Photius as
patriarch of Constantinople, thereby ending the
Photian Schism, but this did not completely
remove disaffections between the West and the
East (in 1054 came the final break, when the
Eastern Orthodox Churches broke away from
9.COUNCIL OF LATERAN I
 1123
 Pope Callistus II, 1119-1124
 Emperor Henry V, 1105-1125
 Confirmed the Concordat of Worms (1122), in
which the Pope and Emperor sought to end the
dispute over investiture.
10.COUNCIL OF
LATERAN II
 1139
 Pope Innocent II, 1130-1143
 Emperor Conrad III, 1138-1152
 Ended a papal schism by antipope
Anacletus II;
 Reaffirmed baptism of infants;
reaffirmed the sacramental nature of the
priesthood, marriage, and the Eucharist
against Medieval heretics
 decreed that
holy orders is
an impediment
to marriage,
making the
attempted
marriage of a
priest invalid.
11. COUNCIL OF LATERAN III
 1179
 Pope Alexander III, 1159-1181
 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, 1152-1190
 Regulated papal elections by requiring a two-
thirds vote of the cardinals
 condemned Waldensianism and Albigensianism,
a form of Manichaeanism
  1215
12. COUNCIL LATERAN IV  Pope Innocent III, 1198-
1216
 Emperor Otto IV, 1209-
1215
 Ordered annual reception
of penance and the
Eucharist; used the term
“transubstantiation” to
explain the Real Presence
of Christ in the Eucharist;
adopted further canons
against the Albigensians.
  Pope Innocent IV,
13.COUNCIL OF LYONS I 1243-1254
 Emperor Frederick II,
1220-1250

 Decisions:
Excommunicated and
deposed Frederick II
for heresy and crimes
against the Church.
14.COUNCIL OF LYONS II

 1274
 Pope Gregory X, 1271-1276
 Emperor Rudolf I, 1273-1291
 Effected only temporary union of the Eastern
Churches with the Roman Church; promulgated
regulations for conclaves.
  1311
15. COUNCIL OF VIENNE  Pope Clement V,
1305-1314
 Emperor Henry VII,
1308-1313

 Suppressed the
Knights Templars;
 Issued decrees on
the reform of morals.
  1414
16. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE
 Popes Gregory XII,
1406-1415
 Emperor Sigismund,
1410-1437
 Ended the Great
Schism, which involved
three rival claimants to
the papacy
Gregory XII Alexander V Benedict XII
16. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE

 opposed the teachings of John Wycliffe, who

taught sola scriptura, denied the authority of the
pope and bishops, denied the Real Presence of
Christ in the Eucharist, and wrote against
penance and indulgences;
 condemned as a heretic John Huss, who denied
papal authority and taught wrongly about the
nature of the Church and who was burned at the
stake in 1415
17. COUNCIL OF  1438-1443
FLORENCE  Pope Eugene IV, 1431-
1447
 Reaffirmed papal
primacy against claims
of conciliarists that an
ecumenical council is
superior to a pope;
approved reunion with
several Eastern
Churches, but the
18. COUNCIL OF LATERAN
V
 1512-1517
 Popes Julius II, 1503-1513
 Leo X, 1513-1521

 Opposed erroneous teachings about the soul;

reaffirmed the doctrine of indulgences; restated the
relationship between popes and ecumenical councils;
on the eve of the Protestant Reformation, failed to
inaugurate an authentic and thoroughgoing reform of
the Church, inadvertently helping Protestantism.
19. COUNCIL OF TRENT

 1545-1549, 1551-
1552, 1562-1563
 Popes Paul III, 1534-
1549
 Julius III, 1550-1555
 Pius IV, 1559-1565
 Affirmed Catholic doctrines against the errors of
the Protestant Reformers;
 Reaffirmed teachings on the role of the Bible
and Tradition, grace, sin, justification by faith
(but not by “faith alone”), the Mass as a real
sacrifice, purgatory, indulgences, jurisdiction of
the pope;
 Initiated the Counter-Reformation; reformed the
clergy and morals; promoted religious
instruction; ordered the establishment of
seminaries for the future training of priests.
20. COUNCIL OF  1869-1870
VATICAN I  Pope Pius IX, 1846-
1878

 Defined papal
infallibility and
primacy; condemned
errors regarding the
relationship between
faith and reason.
21. COUNCIL OF VATICAN II
 1962-1965
 Popes John XXIII, 1958-
1963
 Paul VI, 1963-1978

 Issued pastoral
documents on the
renewal and reform of
the Church, intending
the make the Church
 There are 16
Documents
promulgated by
Vatican II.
 4 Apostolic
Constitutions
 9 Decrees
 3 Declarations
 The Four
Constitutions

4 APOSTOLIC
CONSTITUTIONS
f
APOSTOLIC
CONSTITUTIONS

 The Vatican II documents with the highest level

of authority and importance are the four
Apostolic Constitutions. They are called apostolic
because they come from the successors of the
apostles (the bishops) and they are called
constitutions because they define the structure,
composition, physical makeup, and nature of the
topics they address.
DECREES
 Next in level of authority are the nine decrees. In Church-
speak, a decree explains how we are to accomplish the tasks
and duties we are given. For example, the Decree on the
Apostolate of Laity (Apostolicam Actuositatem) explains how
we are to implement the teaching about our role in the Church
according to the teachings in the Apostolic Constitutions.

 Decree are binding on us because they explain the wisdom the

Spirit has given us concerning how we should live and how we
should relate to each other.
DECLARATIONS

 At the lowest level of authority are the three

declarations. These documents present the
Council Father’s position on three topics.
While these are not binding on anyone they
hold a place of respect because they
represent the wisdom of the Council Fathers
on three critical issues, which are as
important to us today as they were in 1965.
HOW ARE THE CHURCH DOCUMENTS
NAMED?

 Sacrosanctum Concilium
 This Sacred Council
 Laudato Si
 Praise to You