Editing Ecumenical council (section)

==Circumstances of the first ecumenical councils==
Of the seven councils recognised in whole or in part by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church as ecumenical, all were called by a [[Roman emperor]].<ref>Thomas J. Reese, ''Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church'', (Harvard University Press, 1996), 35.</ref><ref name="books.google.com">[https://books.google.com/books?id=oO2eY2BC6xIC&dq=first+ecumenical+council+convened+by+Emperor&pg=PA742 Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine – Gregg Allison, Wayne Grude]. mGoogle Books.</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">[https://books.google.com/books?id=QLWqXrW2X-8C&dq=first+ecumenical+council+convened+by+Emperor&pg=PA14 The Ecumenical Patriarchate – Demetrius Kimina]. sGoogle Books (27 March 2009).</ref> The emperor gave them legal status within the entire [[Roman Empire]]. All were held in the eastern part of the [[Roman Empire]]. The bishop of Rome (self-styled as "pope" since the end of the fourth century) did not attend, although he sent [[papal legate|legates]] to some of them.

Church councils were traditional and the ecumenical councils were a continuation of [[Ancient church councils (pre-ecumenical)|earlier councils]] (also known as [[synod]]s) held in the Empire before Christianity was made legal. These include the [[Council of Jerusalem]] (c. 50), the Council of Rome (155), the Second Council of Rome (193), the Council of Ephesus (193), the [[Councils of Carthage|Council of Carthage (251)]], the Council of Iconium (258),<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cyprianhislifeh00bensgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/cyprianhislifeh00bensgoog/page/n388 348] |first=Edward |last=Benson |title=Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work |year=1897 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-41796979-1}}</ref> the [[Synods of Antioch|Council of Antioch (264)]], the [[Councils of Arabia]] (246–247), the [[Synod of Elvira|Council of Elvira]] (306), the [[Councils of Carthage|Council of Carthage (311)]], the [[Synod of Neo-Caesarea]] (c. 314), the [[Synod of Ancyra|Council of Ancyra]] (314) and the [[Synod of Arles|Council of Arles (314)]].

The first seven councils recognised in both East and West as ecumenical and several others to which such recognition is refused were called by the Byzantine emperors. In the first millennium, various theological and political differences such as [[Nestorianism]] or [[Dyophysitism]] caused parts of the Church to separate after councils such as those of [[Council of Ephesus|Ephesus]] and [[Council of Chalcedon|Chalcedon]], but councils recognised as ecumenical continued to be held.

The [[Council of Hieria]] of 754, held at the imperial palace of that name close to Chalcedon in Anatolia, was summoned by Byzantine Emperor [[Constantine V]] and was attended by 338 bishops, who regarded it as the seventh ecumenical council.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hbqG3XZrpEkC&pg=PA193 |editor-first=Hubert |editor-last=Cunliffe-Jones |title=A History of Christian Doctrine |publisher=Continuum International |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-56704393-1 |page=193}}</ref> The [[Second Council of Nicaea]], which annulled that of Hieria, was itself annulled at the [[Council of Constantinople (815)|synod held in 815 in Constantinople]] under [[Leo V the Armenian|Emperor Leo V]]. This synod, presided over by Patriarch [[Theodotus I of Constantinople]], declared the Council of Hieria to be the seventh ecumenical council,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lL40wXlfa2UC&pg=PA56 |first=Roman |last=Cholij |title=Theodore the Stoudite |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-19924846-9 |page=56}}</ref> but, although the Council of Hieria was called by an emperor and confirmed by another, and although it was held in the East, it later ceased to be considered ecumenical.

Similarly, the [[Second Council of Ephesus]] of 449, also held in Anatolia, was called by the Byzantine Emperor [[Theodosius II]] and, though annulled by the Council of Chalcedon, was confirmed by Emperor [[Basiliscus]], who annulled the Council of Chalcedon.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjBYQCpfCNkC&pg=PA440 |first=J.D. |last=Fage |title=The Cambridge History of Africa |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-52121592-3 |volume=2 |page=440}}</ref> This too ceased to be considered an ecumenical council.

===Catholic views on those circumstances===
The Catholic Church does not consider the validity of an ecumenical council's teaching to be in any way dependent on where it is held or on the granting or withholding of prior authorization or legal status by any state, in line with the attitude of the 5th-century bishops who "saw the definition of the church's faith and canons as supremely their affair, with or without the leave of the Emperor" and who "needed no one to remind them that Synodical process pre-dated the Christianisation of the royal court by several centuries".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QxhR9ihUAWkC&pg=PA69 |first=John Anthony |last=McGuckin |title=Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy |publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-88141-259-8 |page=69 |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164808/https://books.google.com/books?id=QxhR9ihUAWkC&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Catholic Church recognizes as ecumenical various councils held later than the First [[Council of Ephesus]] (after which churches out of communion with the Holy See because of the [[Nestorian Schism]] did not participate), later than the [[Council of Chalcedon]] (after which there was no participation by churches that rejected [[Dyophysitism]]), later than the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] (after which there was no participation by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]), and later than the [[Fifth Council of the Lateran]] (after which groups that adhered to Protestantism did not participate).{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Of the twenty-one ecumenical councils recognised by the Catholic Church, some gained recognition as ecumenical only later. Thus the Eastern [[First Council of Constantinople]] became ecumenical only when its decrees were accepted in the West also.<ref>{{cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=General Councils |volume=4 |first=Joseph |last=Wilhelm}} cf. [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P17.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 247] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303003725/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P17.HTM |date=3 March 2013 }}</ref>