Editing Synod (section)

====Councils====

Meetings of bishops in the Roman empire are known from the mid-third century and already numbered twenty by the time of the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325). Thereafter they continued by the hundreds into the sixth century. Those authorized by an emperor and often attended by him came to be called ecumenical, meaning throughout the world (as the world was thought of in Western terms).<ref>MacMullen, Ramsay. ''Voting About God in Early Church Councils'', Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-300-11596-3}}</ref> Today, ''Council'' in Roman Catholic [[canon law]] typically refers to an irregular meeting of the entire episcopate of a nation, region, or the world for the purpose of legislation with binding force.  Those contemplated in canon law are the following:
* An ''[[Catholic Ecumenical Councils|ecumenical council]]'' is an irregular meeting of the entire episcopate in communion with the pope and is, along with the pope, the highest legislative authority of the universal Church (can.&nbsp;336).  The pope alone has the right to convoke, suspend, and dissolve an ecumenical council; he also presides over it or chooses someone else to do so and determines the agenda (can. 338).  The [[sede vacante|vacancy]] of the [[Holy See]] automatically suspends an ecumenical council.  Laws or teachings issued by an ecumenical council require the confirmation of the pope, who alone has the right to promulgate them (can. 341).  The role of the pope in an ecumenical council is a distinct feature of the Catholic Church.
* ''Plenary councils'', which are meetings of the entire episcopate of a nation (including a nation that is only one [[ecclesiastical province]]), are convoked by the national [[episcopal conference]].
* ''Provincial councils'', which consist of the bishops of an ecclesiastical province smaller than a nation, are convoked by the [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]] with consent of a majority of the [[suffragan bishop]]s.

Plenary and provincial councils are categorized as particular councils.  A particular council is composed of all the bishops of the territory (including coadjutors and auxiliaries) as well as other ecclesiastical ordinaries who head particular churches in the territory (such as [[territorial abbot]]s and [[vicar apostolic|vicars apostolic]]). Each of these members has a vote on council legislation.  Additionally, the following persons by law are part of particular councils but only participate in an advisory capacity: [[vicar general|vicars general and episcopal]], presidents of [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] universities, deans of Catholic departments of theology and canon law, some major superiors elected by all the major superiors in the territory, some rectors of seminaries elected by the rectors of seminaries in the territory, and two members from each cathedral chapter, presbyterial council, or pastoral council in the territory (can. 443).  The convoking authority can also select other members of the faithful (including the laity) to participate in the council in an advisory capacity.

Meetings of the entire episcopate of a supra-national region have historically been called councils as well, such as the various [[Councils of Carthage]] in which all the bishops of North Africa were to attend.

During the Middle Ages, some councils were [[legatine council|legatine]], called by a papal legate rather than the pope or bishop.<ref>{{cite book |author=Robinson, I. S. |title=The Papacy 1073–1198: Continuity and Innovation |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1990 |page=150 |isbn=0-521-31922-6 }}</ref>