Editing Second Council of Constantinople

{{Short description|Ecumenical council held in 553 in response to the Three Chapters controversy}}
{{Infobox ecumenical council
| council_name = Second Council of Constantinople
| council_date = 553
| image = Second Ecumenical council by V.Surikov.jpg
| caption = Artistic rendition of the Second Council of Constantinople by [[Vasily Surikov]]
| accepted_by = {{plainlist|
* [[Catholic Church]]
* [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
* [[Old Catholic Church]]
* [[Anglican Church]]es
* [[Lutheran Church]]es}}
| previous = [[Council of Chalcedon]]
| next = [[Third Council of Constantinople]]
| convoked_by = Emperor [[Justinian I]]
| presided_by = [[Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople]]
| attendance = 152 (including 16 Western Church bishops)<ref name=intro/> 
| topics = [[Nestorianism]], [[Origenism]]
| documents = 14 canons on [[Christology]] and against the Three Chapters, 15 canons condemning the teaching of Origen and Evagrius
}}
{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar|expanded=councils}}
{{Ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church}}

The '''Second Council of Constantinople''' is the fifth of the [[first seven ecumenical councils]] recognized by both the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Catholic Church]]. It is also recognized by the [[Old Catholic Church|Old Catholics]] and others. [[Protestantism|Protestant]] opinions and recognition of it are varied. Some Protestants, such as [[Calvinism|Calvinists]], recognize the first four councils,<ref>''See, e.g.'' Lutheran–Orthodox Joint Commission, Seventh Meeting, The Ecumenical Councils, Common Statement, 1993, ''available at'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20140106233748/http://www.helsinki.fi/~risaarin/lutortjointtext.html#unde Lutheran–Orthodox Joint Commission] (B. I. 5a. "We agree on the doctrine of God, the Holy Trinity, as formulated by the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople and on the doctrine of the person of Christ as formulated by the first four Ecumenical Councils.").</ref> whereas [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] and most [[Anglo-Catholicism|Anglo-Catholics]] accept all seven. Constantinople II was convoked by the [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Justinian I]] under the presidency of [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch]] [[Eutychius of Constantinople]]. It was held from 5 May to 2 June 553. Participants were overwhelmingly [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern bishops]]—only sixteen [[Western Christianity|Western bishops]] were present, including nine from [[Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum|Illyricum]] and seven from [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], but none from Italy—out of the 152 total.<ref name=intro>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xii.ii.html |title=NPNF2–14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils, Introduction |publisher=CCEL |access-date=2014-08-23}}
* (3 names, 3 bishops and 145 other, plus 1 pope, total 152)</ref><ref name=Catholic/>

The main work of the council was to confirm the condemnation issued by edict in 551 by the [[Byzantine Empire|Emperor]] [[Justinian]] against the [[Three Chapters Controversy|Three Chapters]]. These were the Christological writings and ultimately the person of [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]] (died 428), certain writings against [[Cyril of Alexandria]]'s Twelve Anathemas accepted at the [[Council of Ephesus]], written by [[Theodoret of Cyrrhus]] (died {{circa|466}}), and a letter written against Cyrillianism and the Ephesian Council by [[Ibas of Edessa]] (died 457).<ref name=Davis242/>

The purpose of the condemnation was to make plain that the Great Church, which followed a [[Chalcedonian Christianity|Chalcedonian]] creed, was firmly opposed to [[Nestorianism]] as supported by the [[School of Antioch|Antiochene school]] which had either assisted [[Nestorius]], the eponymous [[heresiarch]], or had inspired the teaching for which he was anathematized and exiled. The council also condemned the teaching that [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] could not be rightly called the [[Mother of God]] ({{langx|el|[[Theotokos]]}}) but only the mother of the man ({{lang|el|anthropotokos}}) or the mother of Christ ({{lang|el|[[Christotokos]]}}).<ref name=Davis242/>

The Second Council of Constantinople is also considered as one of the many attempts by Byzantine Emperors to bring peace in the empire between the Chalcedonian and [[non-Chalcedonian]] factions of the church which had been in continuous conflict since the times of the [[Council of Ephesus]] in AD 431.

==Proceedings==
{{details|Three-Chapter Controversy}}
The council was presided over by [[Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople|Eutychius]], [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]], assisted by the other three eastern patriarchs or their representatives.{{sfn|Meyendorff|1989|pp=241–243}} Pope Vigilius was also invited; but even though he was at this period resident in Constantinople (to avoid the perils of life in Italy, convulsed by the war against the Ostrogoths), he declined to attend, and even issued a document forbidding the council from proceeding without him (his 'First Constitutum'). For more details see [[Pope Vigilius]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vigilius {{!}} pope {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vigilius |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

The council, however, proceeded without the pope to condemn the Three Chapters. And during the seventh session of the council, the bishops had Vigilius stricken from the [[diptych]]s for his refusal to appear at the council and approve its proceedings, effectively excommunicating him personally but not the rest of the Western Church. Vigilius was then imprisoned in Constantinople by the emperor and his advisors were exiled. After six months, in December 553, he agreed, however, to condemn the Three Chapters, claiming that his hesitation was due to being misled by his advisors.<ref name=Davis242>{{Citation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMhzlnY0P0QC&q=Vigilius+Judicatum+diptychs&pg=PA242 |chapter=Chapter 6 Council of Constantinople II, 553 |title=The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787): Their History and Theology |author=Leo Donald Davis |author-link=Leo Donald Davis |publisher=The Liturgical Press |location=Collegeville, Minnesota |year=1983 |isbn=978-0814656167 |pages=242–248 |access-date=2014-08-23}}</ref> His approval of the council was expressed in two documents, (a letter to Eutychius of Constantinople on 8 December 553, and a second "Constitutum" of 23 February 554, probably addressed to the Western episcopate), condemning the Three Chapters,<ref>[[Giovanni Domenico Mansi|Mansi]], ''Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio'', vol. IX, pp. 414–420, 457–488; cf. Hefele, ''Conciliengeschichte'', vol. II, pp. 905–911.</ref> on his own authority and without mention of the council.<ref name=Catholic>{{Catholic|inline=1 |wstitle=Councils of Constantinople |author=Thomas J. Shahan |authorlink=Thomas Joseph Shahan}}</ref>

In Northern Italy the ecclesiastical provinces of [[Milan]] and [[Aquileia]] [[Schism of the Three Chapters|broke communion with Rome]]. Milan accepted the condemnation only toward the end of the sixth century, whereas Aquileia did not do so until about 700.<ref name=Catholic/><ref>Hefele, ''Conciliengeschichte'', vol. II, pp. 911–927. (For an equitable appreciation of the conduct of Vigilius see, besides the article [[s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Pope Vigilius|VIGILIUS]], the judgment of Bois, in Diet. de theol. cath., II, 1238–39.)</ref> The rest of the Western Church accepted the decrees of the council, though without great enthusiasm. Though ranked as one of the ecumenical councils, it never attained in the West the status of either Nicaea or Chalcedon.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

In Visigothic Spain ([[Reccared]] having converted a short time prior) the churches never accepted the council;<ref>Herrin (1989) pp. 240–241</ref> when news of the later [[Third Council of Constantinople]] was communicated to them by Rome it was received as the ''fifth'' ecumenical council,<ref>Herrin (1989) p. 244</ref> not the sixth. [[Isidore of Seville]], in his ''Chronicle'' and ''[[De Viris Illustribus]]'', judged Justinian a tyrant and persecutor of the orthodox<ref>Herrin (1989) p. 241 and the references therein</ref> and an admirer of heresy,<ref>[[Isidore of Seville]], ''Chronica Maiora'', no. 397a</ref> contrasting him with [[Facundus of Hermiane]] and [[Victor of Tunnuna]], who was considered a martyr.<ref>Herrin (1989) p. 241</ref>

Despite the conflict between the council and the pope, and the inability to reconcile Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians, the council still made a significant theological contribution. The canons condemning the Three Chapters were preceded by ten dogmatic canons which defined Chalcedonian Christology with a new precision, bringing out that Christ has two natures, the human and the divine, in one person. The 'two natures' defined at Chalcedon were now clearly interpreted as two sets of attributes possessed by a single person, Christ God, the Second Person of the Trinity.<ref>Price (2009) vol. I, p. 73–75</ref> Later Byzantine Christology, as found in [[Maximus the Confessor]] and [[John of Damascus]], was built upon this basis. It might have proved sufficient, moreover, to bring about the reunion of Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians, had it not been for the severance of connections between the two groups that resulted from the [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] of the next century.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

==Acts==

The original Greek acts of the council are lost,<ref name=excursus>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xii.iii.html |title=NPNF2–14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils, Excursus on the Genuineness of the Acts of the Fifth Council |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |date=1 June 2005 |access-date=2014-08-23}}</ref> but an old Latin version exists, possibly made for Vigilius, of which there is a critical edition<ref name=Straub1971>{{Citation |last=Straub |first=Johannes |year=1971 |title=Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum. Tomus IV, volumen I |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |location=Berlin }}</ref> and of which there is now an English translation and commentary,<ref>Price (2009) {{page?|date=May 2024}}</ref> and a modern Greek translation and commentary.<ref>{{Citation|last=Kalamaras|first=Meletios|authorlink=Meletios Kalamaras|year=1985|title=The 5th Ecumenical Council ''[in Greek]''|publisher=Holy Diocese of Nicopolis|location=Athens, Greece}}</ref> It has been alleged (probably falsely) that the original Acts of the Fifth Council had been tampered with<ref>Hefele, ''Conciliengeschichte'', vol. II, pp. 855–858</ref> in favour of [[Monothelitism]].<ref name=Catholic/> It used to be argued that the extant acts are incomplete, since they make no mention of the debate over Origenism. However, the solution generally accepted today is that the bishops signed the canons condemning Origenism before the council formally opened.<ref>Price (2009) vol. 2, pp. 270–286.</ref> This condemnation was confirmed by Pope Vigilius and the subsequent ecumenical council (Third Council of Constantinople) gave its "assent" in its Definition of Faith to the five previous synods, including "... the last, that is the Fifth holy Synod assembled in this place, against Theodore of Mopsuestia, Origen, Didymus, and Evagrius ...";<ref name=DoF>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xiii.x.html |title=NPNF2–14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils, The Definition of Faith|publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |date=1 June 2005 |access-date=2014-08-23}}</ref> its full conciliar authority has only been questioned in modern times.<ref>Price (2009) vol. 2, pp. 270ff.</ref>

There is a [[Syriac language|Syriac]] account of the council in the ''[[Melkite Chronicle]]'' of 641.<ref>{{citation |author=Hubert Kaufhold |author-link=Hubert Kaufhold |chapter=Sources of Canon Law in the Eastern Churches |page=223 |title=The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500 |editor1=Wilfried Hartmann |editor2=Kenneth Pennington |publisher=Catholic University of America Press |year=2012}}.</ref>

Also, one of the Acts of the Council at Constantinople, were the [[Anathema]]s issued against those who rejected the [[Perpetual Virginity of Mary]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Perpetual Virginity: Dogmatic Status and Meaning: University of Dayton, Ohio |url=https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/p/perpetual-virginity-dogmatic-status-and-meaning.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419084901/https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/p/perpetual-virginity-dogmatic-status-and-meaning.php |archive-date=2021-04-19}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
Justinian hoped that this would contribute to a reunion between the Chalcedonians and [[non-Chalcedonians]] in the eastern provinces of the Empire. Various attempts at reconciliation between these parties within the Byzantine Empire were made by many emperors over the four centuries following the Council of Ephesus, none of them successful. Some attempts at reconciliation, such as this one, the condemnation of the Three Chapters, and the unprecedented posthumous [[anathema]]tization of Theodore—who had once been widely esteemed as a pillar of orthodoxy—caused further [[schism]]s and [[heresy|heresies]] to arise in the process, such as the aforementioned [[schism of the Three Chapters]] and the emergent semi-monophysite compromises of [[monoenergism]] and [[monotheletism]]. These propositions assert, respectively, that Christ possessed no human energy but only a divine function or principle of operation (purposefully formulated in an equivocal and vague manner, and promulgated between 610 and 622 by the [[Emperor Heraclius]] under the advice of the Patriarch [[Sergius I of Constantinople]]) and that Christ possessed no human will but only a divine will, "will" is understood to mean the desires and appetites in accord with nature (promulgated in 638 by the same and opposed most notably by [[Maximus the Confessor]]).<ref name=Davis242/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |first=Judith|last=Herrin|author-link=Judith Herrin|title=The Formation of Christendom, revised, illustrated paperback edition|location=London|publisher=Princeton University Press and Fontana|year=1989}}
* {{Cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=John|author-link=John Meyendorff|year=1989|title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D.|series=The Church in history|volume=2|location=Crestwood, NY|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=978-0-88-141056-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard|last=Price|title=The Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 553 – 2 Vol Set: With Related Texts on the Three Chapters Controversy|location=Liverpool|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=978-1846311789|pages=270–286 |year=2009}}
* {{cite book |last = Hefele |first = Karl Josef von |others = Translated and edited by Edward Hayes Plumptre, Henry Nutcombe Oxenham, William Robinson Clark |title = A History of the Councils of the Church: To the Close of the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325 (original, "Conciliengeschichte") |publisher = [[Nabu Press]] |place = [[Charleston, South Carolina]]|volume = 2 |year = 2014 |orig-year = The seven volumes of this work were first published between 1855 and 1874 |isbn = 978-1293802021 |author-link = Karl Josef von Hefele }}

==External links==
* [http://www.legionofmarytidewater.com/faith/ECUM05.HTM Second Council of Constantinople]
{{History of the Roman Catholic Church|collapsed}}
{{Ecumenical councils|collapsed}}
{{Christian History|collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Second Council Of Constantinople}}
[[Category:Church councils in Constantinople|2]]
[[Category:550s in the Byzantine Empire|Constantinople 2]]
[[Category:First seven ecumenical councils|Constantinople 2]]
[[Category:6th-century church councils|Constantinople 2]]
[[Category:Justinian I]]
[[Category:553]]
[[Category:Nature of Jesus Christ]]