Victor R. Claveau, MJ
A Council is an assembly of the bishops of the Church, called together by their lawful head, in order to decide questions of Faith, or Morals, or church discipline. The following are the chief kinds of Councils: (1) A General or Ecumenical Council, being one to which the Bishops of the whole world are lawfully summoned by the Pope or with his consent and presided over by him or by his representatives. Its decrees must also have the approval of the Sovereign Pontiff. General Councils are infallible, that is, they cannot teach us anything wrong in Faith or Morals. (2) A Provincial Council, which is a meeting of the Bishops of one province. (3) A National Council, which is a gathering of the Bishops of one country. (4) A Diocesan Council, which is a council composed of the Bishop and clergy of a diocese and is usually called a Synod.
The following are the names of the twenty-one General Councils that have been held up to the present time:
- The Council of Nice (325 AD) drew up the Creed of Nicea, defining the Divinity of the Son of God, against Arius, and fixed the date of Easter.
- The Council of Constantinople (381 AD) defined the Divinity of the Holy Spirit.
- The Council of Ephesus, (431 AD), Defined the true unity of Christ, declared Mary the Mother of God, and renewed the condemnation of Pelagius who denied Original Sin and the necessity of grace.
- The Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) defined the two natures of Christ and excommunicated Eutyches who taught to the contrary.
- The Second Council of Constantinople, (533 AD), which condemned the writings of Origen and others and confirmed the validity of the first four councils.
- The Third Council of Constantinople, (680-681 AD), Put an end of Monothelism, by defining the two wills in Christ.
- The Second Council of Nice, (787 AD), Regulated the veneration of holy images and condemned the Iconoclasts.
- The Fourth Council of Constantinople, (869 AD), which condemned and deposed Photius, the author of the Greek Schism.
- The Council of the Lateran, in Rome (1123 AD), which regulated the rights of the Church and Emperors in the election of Bishops and Abbots.
- The Second council of the Lateran (1139 AD), against various heretical sects such as the Petrobrosians who denied the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist, rejected infant baptism, and condemned churches as unnecessary.
- The Third Council of the Lateran (1179 AD), which condemned the Albigenses and the Waldenses.
- The Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215 AD), against the prevailing heresies and for general legislation. The true Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence was firmly established and the term “transubstantiation” was adopted.
- The Council of Lyons (1245 AD) decreed a general crusade.
- The Second Council of Lyons (1274 AD), for the promotion of ecclesiastical discipline, and for the union of the Greeks with the Latin Church.
- The Council of Vienne (1312 AD), suppressed the order of the Knights Templars, condemned errors against faith, and enacted disciplinary canons for the better government of the Church.
- The Council of Constance (1414-1418 AD) condemned Wyclif and Huss.
- The Council of Ferrera-Florence (1438-1445 AD) affected a short-lived reunion between the churches of the East and the West.
- The Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512-1517 AD) decided that the authority of the Holy See is above that of a general council.
- The Council of Trent (1545-1563 AD), which condemned the errors of Luther, Calvin and other so-called reformers of the sixteenth century.
- The Vatican Council (1869-1870 AD), which solemnly decreed the infallibility of the Pope.
- The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965 AD), which was to renew the Church and to modernize its forms and institutions.