Editing Ecumenical council (section)

===Eastern Orthodox Church===
The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts [[First seven ecumenical councils|seven ecumenical councils]],<ref>[https://archive.today/20120712063414/http://oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=5/ The Councils] at Orthodox Church in America</ref> with the disputed [[Quinisext Council|Council in Trullo]]—rejected by Catholics—being incorporated into, and considered as a continuation of, the [[Third Council of Constantinople]].<ref>[http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/main.htm/  The Ecumenical Councils of the Orthodox Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722032325/http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/main.htm |date=22 July 2012 }}  at OrthodoxChristianInfo</ref><ref>Runciman, S., (1977), The Byzantine Theocracy, (Cambridge University Press), p61.</ref>

To be considered ecumenical, Orthodox accept a council that meets the condition that it was accepted by the whole church. That it was called together legally is also an important factor. A case in point is the [[Third Ecumenical Council]], where two groups met as duly called for by the emperor, each claiming to be the legitimate council. The Emperor had called for bishops to assemble in the city of Ephesus. Theodosius did not attend<ref>Runciman, S., (1977), ''The Byzantine Theocracy'', (Cambridge University Press), p37.</ref> but sent his representative Candidian to preside.<ref name="Wills2003">{{cite book|author=Garry Wills|title=Why I Am a Catholic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CcGlcSdxPAC&pg=PA82|access-date=9 October 2011|date=10 September 2003|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-618-38048-0|pages=82–}}</ref> However, Cyril managed to open the council over Candidian's insistent demands that the bishops disperse until the delegation from Syria could arrive. Cyril was able to completely control the proceedings, completely neutralizing Candidian, who favored Cyril's antagonist, Nestorius. When the pro-Nestorius Antiochene delegation finally arrived, they decided to convene their own council, over which Candidian presided.<ref>Bury, J. B., (1958), ''History of the later Roman Empire: from the death of Theodosius I to the death of Justinian (A.D. 395 to A.D. 565) (Volume 1) '',(Dover Publications; NY), p353</ref> The proceedings of both councils were reported to the emperor, who decided ultimately to depose Cyril, Memnon and Nestorius.<ref>McKinion, S. A., (2000), ''Words, Imagery, and the Mystery of Christ: A Reconstruction of Cyril of Alexandria's Christology (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, V. 55)'', (Brill Academic Pub) p13.</ref> Nonetheless, the Orthodox accept Cyril's group as being the legitimate council because it maintained the same teaching that the church has always taught.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}

Paraphrasing a rule by St [[Vincent of Lérins]], Hasler states
{{Blockquote|...a teaching can only be defined if it has been held to be revealed at all times, everywhere, and by all believers.<ref>Hasler, A. B., (1981) ''How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion'' (Doubleday; Garden City, New York), p153.</ref>}}

Orthodox believe that councils could over-rule or even depose popes. At the [[Third Council of Constantinople|Sixth Ecumenical Council]], [[Pope Honorius I|Pope Honorius]] and [[Sergius I of Constantinople|Patriarch Sergius]] were declared heretics.<ref>Sixth Ecumenical Council – Session XIII. The Sentence Against the Monothelites.
(L. and C., Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 943.)</ref> The council anathematized them<ref>Session XVI. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 1010.)</ref> and declared them tools of the devil<ref>The Definition of Faith. (Found in the Acts, Session XVIII., L. and C., Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 1019.)</ref> and cast them out of the church.<ref>The Prosphoneticus to the Emperor. (Labbe and Cossart, Concilia, Tom. VI., col. 1047 et seqq.)</ref>

It is their position that, since the Seventh Ecumenical Council, there has been no synod or council of the same scope. Local meetings of hierarchs have been called "pan-Orthodox", but these have invariably been simply meetings of local hierarchs of whatever Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions are party to a specific local matter. From this point of view, there has been no fully "pan-Orthodox" (Ecumenical) council since 787. The use of the term "pan-Orthodox" is confusing to those not within Eastern Orthodoxy, and it leads to mistaken impressions that these are ''[[ersatz]]'' ecumenical councils rather than purely local councils to which nearby Orthodox hierarchs, regardless of jurisdiction, are invited.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Others, including 20th-century theologians Metropolitan [[Hierotheos (Vlachos)]] of [[Nafpaktos|Naupactus]], Fr. [[John Romanides|John S. Romanides]], and Fr. [[George Metallinos]] (all of whom refer repeatedly to the "Eighth and Ninth Ecumenical Councils"), Fr. [[George Dragas]], and the 1848 [[Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs]] (which refers explicitly to the "Eighth Ecumenical Council" and was signed by the [[patriarch]]s of [[Constantinople]], [[Jerusalem]], [[Antioch]], and [[Alexandria]] as well as the [[Holy Synod]]s of the first three), regard other synods beyond the [[Second Council of Nicaea|Seventh Ecumenical Council]] as being ecumenical.
{{Citation needed span|text=Before the 20th century, the Council at Constantinople in 879 AD was recognised as the 8th ecumenical council by people like the famous expert on Canon Law, [[Theodore Balsamon]] (11th century), St. Neilos of Rhodes, St. [[Mark of Ephesus]] (15th century), St. [[Symeon of Thessalonica]] (15th century), and the [[Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem]] in his Tome of Joy (17th century).|date=April 2010}}

From the Eastern Orthodox perspective, a council is accepted as being ecumenical if it is accepted by the Eastern Orthodox church at large—clergy, monks and assembly of believers. Teachings from councils that purport to be ecumenical, but which lack this acceptance by the church at large, are, therefore, not considered ecumenical.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hasler |first=A. B. |year=1981 |title=How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion  |url=https://archive.org/details/howpopebecameinf0000hasl |url-access=registration |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/howpopebecameinf0000hasl/page/153 153]|isbn=9780385158510 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |quote=So the new teachings, that are outside the ecumenical councils cannot be accepted because they have not been verified (by) the whole body of the Church. |url=http://stjohndfw.info/sunday-of-the-holy-fathers-from-the-4th-ecumenical-council-the-right-worship.html/ |title=Sunday of the Holy Fathers from the 4th Ecumenical Council – The Right Worship |access-date=18 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402142126/http://stjohndfw.info/sunday-of-the-holy-fathers-from-the-4th-ecumenical-council-the-right-worship.html/ |archive-date=2 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>