Editing First Vatican Council (section)

== Background ==
As early as late 1864, [[Pope Pius IX]] had commissioned the [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinals]] resident in Rome to tender him their opinions as to the advisability of a council. The majority pronounced in favour of the scheme, dissenting voices being rare. After March 1865, the convocation of the council was no longer in doubt. Special bulls were reportedly issued with invitations to [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Protestant]] clerics as well as to other non-Catholics, but apparently none accepted the invitations.{{sfn|Mirbt|1911|p=947}}

The council was summoned by the pope by a [[Papal bull|bull]] on 29 June 1868.{{sfn|Kirch|1912|p=303}} The first session was held in [[St. Peter's Basilica]] on 8 December 1869.{{sfnm |1a1=Nobili-Vitelleschi |1y=1876 |1p=1 |2a1=Tanner |2y=1990}} Preliminary sessions dealt with general administrative matters and committee assignments. [[Bishop in the Catholic Church|Bishop]] [[Bernard John McQuaid]] complained of rainy weather, inadequate heating facilities, and boredom.<ref name="America">{{cite magazine |date=8 September 1962 |title=The First Vatican Council |url=http://conciliaria.com/2012/09/the-first-vatican-council/ |magazine=America |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915040732/http://conciliaria.com/2012/09/the-first-vatican-council/ |archive-date=15 September 2015 |access-date=2 March 2018 |via=Conciliaria}}</ref> Bishop [[James Roosevelt Bayley]] of Newark, New Jersey, noted the high prices in Rome.<ref name="America"/> When [[Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton|Lord Houghton]] asked [[Henry Edward Manning|Cardinal Manning]] what had been going on, he answered: "Well, we meet, and we look at one another, and then we talk a little, but when we want to know what we have been doing, we read ''[[The Times]]''."<ref>{{cite book |first=Augustus |last=Hare |author-link=Augustus Hare |title=The Story of My Life |volume=II |location=New York |publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company |date=1896 |page=504}}</ref>

Unlike the five earlier general councils held in [[Rome]], which met in the [[Archbasilica of St. John Lateran|Lateran Basilica]] and are known as [[Lateran council]]s, it met in [[Saint Peter's Basilica]] in the Vatican, hence its name.