**COUNCILS.— I. Origin.**
The rise of heresies in the 2nd century A.D. compelled bishops to convene in assemblies to legislate against emerging errors. Tertullian (De ieiunio, ch. 13) calls these gatherings *concilia*, while Dionysius of Alexandria (Eusebius, *Hist. eccl.*, VII, 7) and the Apostolic Canons (can. 38) use the term *synodus*. These two appellations, used interchangeably, referred not only to the assemblies themselves but also to the places where they were held. Later, these terms were reserved exclusively for assemblies in which bishops gathered to deliberate on ecclesiastical matters. Hence the distinction between *real* councils (in which secular princes such as counts, dukes, and other nobles participated alongside bishops) and ecclesiastical councils (attended only by bishops). Subsequently, the term *council* was reserved solely for meetings of ecclesiastical prelates (L. Thomassin, *De vet. et nova eccl. discip.*, Paris 1688, part 2, III, ch. 36; Benedict XIV, *De synodo dioec.*, I, Prato 1844, ch. 1, pp. 1–5).
The series of councils begins with the Apostles themselves (v. JERUSALEM). From the Lord’s words (Mt 18:20: *“where two or three are gathered in my name...”*), confirmed by the Apostles (Acts 15:28: *“it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us...”*), some theologians deduced the divine origin of councils; a thesis also upheld by St. Gregory (Gregory I, *Registrum epistolarum*, ed. P. Ewald, in *MGH, Epist.*, I, 1, 24, Berlin 1887, p. 36). Although no one can deny the propriety and utility of councils, there is insufficient evidence to assert their divine origin. Christ sufficiently ensured the preservation of His doctrine through the institution of the primacy (Wernz-Vidal, II, p. 524).
After the Apostolic Council, the first councils recorded by history date to the 2nd century. Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, mentions many synods held in Asia Minor (Eusebius, *Hist. eccl.*, V, 16); others were convened concerning the Paschal controversy (Eusebius, *Hist. eccl.*, V, 23). Around the year 220, Agrippinus, Bishop of Carthage, inaugurated the series of African councils (Cyprian, *Epist.*, 71, 73). Subsequently, other councils were held at Iconium in 230 and 235 (Cyprian, *Epist.*, 75), and at Antioch in 264 and 269 (Eusebius, *Hist. eccl.*, VII, 7). These councils were attended by bishops, presbyters, and even deacons; laymen, as mere observers, were not excluded. Only the bishop, however, held the decisive vote. At first, the acts were subscribed only by the metropolitan, but later also by other bishops and sometimes even by presbyters, though only in a consultative capacity. The object of deliberations was to condemn heresies and resolve disciplinary matters; legislative power was rarely exercised (Hinschius, *System des K. Kirchenrechts*, III, Berlin 1869–79, p. 475). When grave questions of faith arose, all the bishops of the province would convene. Such was the Council of Alexandria in 320 concerning the case of Arius, and in 430 concerning that of Nestorius. Notable also are those of 445 and 447 held at Antioch, and those of Jerusalem in 518 and 536. These assemblies were presided over by the patriarch. Their decrees were not subject to imperial approval. St. Gregory likewise held two such councils in Rome in 595 and 601 (Gregory I, *Registrum epistolarum*, ed. P. Ewald–L. M. Hartmann, in *MGH, Epist.*, V, 57a, p. 362). These councils resemble the plenary councils, which enjoyed great authority, such as those convened in Carthage, whose canons are fully recorded in the earliest canonical collections. In such gatherings, decisions of every kind were made on judicial and administrative matters; legislative power was also exercised extensively. Of equal interest is the Council of Arles in 314 concerning the Donatist controversy.
**II. Definition and Classification.**
A council may therefore be defined as a legitimate assembly of bishops convened to deliberate and decree on ecclesiastical matters. If bishops from the entire universal Church are summoned and in fact represent it, the council is called *ecumenical*; if only some bishops of Christendom participate, it is called *particular*. The latter may be *plenary* if bishops from several ecclesiastical provinces attend (CIC, can. 281); *provincial* or *metropolitan* if only the bishops of a single province gather (CIC, can. 283). All councils possess a particular juridical note that grants them a special jurisdiction distinct from that of individual bishops to legislate in religious matters. This prerogative distinguishes councils from episcopal conferences (CIC, can. 292).
**III. Ecumenical Councils.**
1. **Composition.** — By divine right, only residential bishops are entitled to participate; by ecclesiastical law, cardinals who have not received episcopal consecration, abbots and other prelates *nullius*, abbots general of monasteries united in a congregation, and the superiors general of religious orders are also summoned (CIC, can. 223).
2. **Convocation.** — The Roman Pontiff alone possesses the proper and exclusive right to convoke an ecumenical council (Leo X, const. *Pastor aeternus*, 19 Dec. 1516; CIC, can. 222 § 1). This prerogative stems from the primacy of jurisdiction which he holds over the entire Church and over each and every bishop. No other authority may arrogate this right without infringing upon the inalienable rights of the Bishop of Rome. From the right of convocation necessarily follows the power to transfer, suspend, or dissolve an ecumenical council (Pius IX, const. *Cum Romani Pontificis*, 4 Dec. 1869; Pius X, const. *Vacante Sede Apostolica*, 25 Dec. 1904, no. 28). The convocation of the first eight ecumenical councils by emperors reflects the circumstances of those times. Only the emperor could summon so many bishops to a council, since Eastern bishops would scarcely have responded to an invitation from the Roman Pontiff, and only the emperor could provide the swiftest means of travel and sustenance. This does not derogate from the primacy of the Roman Pontiff, for in fact the emperors arrogated this right at the request of the pope or with his express or tacit consent, which suffices for a legitimate convocation.
3. **Constitution.** — The constitution of an ecumenical council takes place immediately upon the participation of a sufficient number of bishops to represent the universal Church. The exact number of participants has never been defined: it is certainly not required by law that all the bishops of the world be present, a moral impossibility, nor can recourse be had to an absolute majority, since this does not always represent the wisest part of the Church. The necessary condition is that the bishops represent the universal Church only when united with the Successor of St. Peter; only thus can the legitimate college of bishops be united with the shepherd, that is, the head united with the members. The absolute necessity of the consent of the majority of bishops cannot be demonstrated; indeed, the pope may reject decisions taken by an absolute majority of bishops. For this intimate union between head and members to exist, it is required that the Bishop of Rome preside over the council either personally or through his legates (CIC, can. 222 § 2; Wernz-Vidal, II, no. 460; Benedict XIV, *De synodo dioec.*, XIII, ch. 2, no. 3; Hefele-Leclercq, I, pp. 71, 752).
4. **Authority.** — The ecumenical council has ordinary and supreme authority in the universal Church. It differs from that of the Roman Pontiff solely in the number of those who exercise it: the pope, in fact, possesses in the universal Church the same complete and supreme jurisdiction. There is an intimate relationship between the two: while the power of the Roman Pontiff is conceived as unique, sole, universal, and supreme, one cannot, on the other hand, attribute these same qualities to the ecumenical council unless it is united with the Vicar of Christ (M. D. Bouix, *De papa, ubi et de conc. oec.*, II [Paris 1869], pp. 503, 687). This consideration definitively excludes the possibility of an appeal from the judgment of the pope to the ecumenical council. The competence of the universal council extends to all matters intimately connected with the dogmatic and moral patrimony (CIC, can. 228).
5. **Celebration.** — Questions must be proposed by the Roman Pontiff; even to the bishops, in a subordinate order, this right is granted, provided they have the approval of the president of the council (Pius IX, *const. Multiplices*, 29 Nov. 1869, n. 2; CIC, can. 226). Discussion must be free to allow for a more thorough elucidation of the questions, and also because it is fitting that doctrine not be imposed authoritatively but should naturally and spontaneously arise from the infallible magisterium of the Church. Once the various questions have been discussed, they are put to a vote. It is self-evident that dogmatic questions and universal decrees should require an absolute majority. But even in this matter, if the minority of bishops is the wiser and in harmony with the Vicar of Christ, it may reprove the stance of the majority.
6. **Approval.** — The bishops gathered in council are true judges, by the power received from God. Their decisions are true definitions and judgments, not mere advice: that is, they are juridical acts placed in force by their jurisdiction. This power is not absolute but is subordinate to the approval of the Roman Pontiff. Such confirmation by the Bishop of Rome is essential, not accidental, as the head is to the body; lacking it, the acts of the bishops have neither full value nor universal binding force (R. Bellarmine, *De conciliis et eccl.*, I, cap. 18; D. Palmieri, *De Romano Pont.*, 2nd ed., Prato 1891, p. 683). The confirmation by the Roman Pontiff may be antecedent, through a special mandate, or concomitant when he himself presides, or subsequent (CIC, can. 227). This is followed by the chronology of the ecumenical councils, each of which is to be seen under the relevant apostolic entry.
7. **Chronology.** — 1) **Council of Nicaea**, A.D. 325, convoked by Constantine during the pontificate of St. Sylvester (against the Arians). 2) **First Council of Constantinople**, A.D. 381, held under Pope Damasus and Emperor Theodosius the Great (against the same heretics). 3) **Council of Ephesus**, A.D. 431, under Pope Celestine I and Emperor Theodosius II (against Nestorius). 4) **Council of Chalcedon**, A.D. 451, with Pope Leo the Great and Emperor Marcian (against Eutyches). 5) **Second Council of Constantinople**, A.D. 553, convoked by Emperor Justinian against the will of Pope Vigilius, became ecumenical through subsequent papal approval (resolved the Three Chapters controversy). 6) **Third Council of Constantinople**, A.D. 680, held under Pope Honorius, approved by Agatho (against the Monothelites). 7) **Second Council of Nicaea**, A.D. 787, under the regency of Empress Irene, with Pope Adrian I (against the Iconoclasts). 8) **Fourth Council of Constantinople**, A.D. 869–70, under Pope Adrian II (against Photius). 9) **First Council of the Lateran**, A.D. 1123, the first ecumenical council in the West, under Pope Callistus II (at the end of the Investiture Controversy). 10) **Second Council of the Lateran**, A.D. 1139, under Pope Innocent II (to settle the schism of Pierleone). 11) **Third Council of the Lateran**, A.D. 1179, under Pope Alexander III (ratification of peace with Frederick Barbarossa). 12) **Fourth Council of the Lateran**, A.D. 1215, under Pope Innocent III (the most important of the Middle Ages, for the doctrinal formulations and condemned errors [Joachimism, Albigensian heresy, etc.], and for the disciplinary norms issued). 13) **First Council of Lyon**, A.D. 1245, under Pope Innocent IV (against Frederick II). 14) **Second Council of Lyon**, A.D. 1274, convoked by Gregory X (for union with the East) in France. 15) **Council of Vienne**, A.D. 1311–12, under Pope Clement V (concerning the Templars and the condemnation of various heretical doctrines). 16) **Council of Constance**, 1414–18, in that part approved by Martin V (to resolve the Western Schism and condemn Hus and Wycliffe). 17) **Council of Florence**, A.D. 1439–45, convoked by Eugenius IV (for union with the Greeks and other Easterners). 18) **Fifth Council of the Lateran**, A.D. 1512–17, convoked by Julius II, continued and approved by Leo X (for the condemnation of various doctrines against those who denied the immortality of the soul). 19) **Council of Trent**, convoked by Paul III in 1545, concluded by Pius IV in 1563 (against the errors of the Protestants and for the true reform of the Church). 20) **First Vatican Council**, convoked by Pius IX and personally inaugurated on 8 Dec. 1869, suspended following political events on 20 Sept. 1870 (most celebrated for the condemnation of materialistic errors and in general of rationalism [*const. Dei Filius*] and the definition of the primacy and infallible magisterium of the Roman Pontiff [*const. Pastor aeternus*]).
*CONCILIO* — Acts of the First Diocesan Synod held in Baltimore on 7 Nov. 1791 — Rome, Archive of the Propaganda Fide SORCG. 1794, vol. 869, ff. 89 recto and verso.
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IV. PLENARY COUNCIL. — To celebrate a plenary council, prior permission of the Roman Pontiff is required; when granted, he appoints a legate who convokes and presides over the council (CIC, can. 281). In addition to the legate, all residential archbishops and bishops, administrators, vicars, and apostolic prefects must participate, as well as abbots and prelates *nullius*, and vicars capitular; if titular bishops are summoned, they have a deliberative vote (CIC, can. 282). The other norms are the same as those concerning provincial councils.
Plenary councils to which all the bishops of a state are invited are more properly called **national councils**.
Italy has been divided (by decrees of the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory of 15 Feb., 22 Mar. 1919, and 29 Sept. 1933) into nineteen conciliar regions, in each of which, with a few exceptions, a **regional council** must be held in place of provincial councils (v. hereafter), which is a true plenary council.
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V. PROVINCIAL COUNCILS. — Their origin predates the Council of Nicaea, which prescribed their celebration twice a year (can. 5), a rule renewed by the Council of Chalcedon (can. 17; Leo I, *Epist.* 14, cap. 7 [A.D. 445]; Gregory I, *Reg.*, 4, 9). Convocation belongs to the metropolitan, who presides over the assemblies (CIC, can. 284). Their composition is established by the Code. The following must participate: 1) all bishops, even if not consecrated within the province, 2) apostolic administrators, 3) coadjutors with full administration of the diocese, 4) exempt bishops deputed to the province, 5) all abbots and prelates *nullius*, 6) vicars capitular (CIC, can. 286). Their competence is almost exclusively restricted to common law, whose application they must promote in particular provisions so that faith and morals may be preserved in the most perfect manner (CIC, can. 290). Their acts, sent to the Holy See, are subject to the judgment of the Congregation of the Council. This approval does not confer new authority upon the decrees, except when given in a specific form. Once published, the decrees bind the entire province; bishops may grant dispensations only in particular cases (CIC, can. 291).
VI. IN THE MISSIONS
The norms for provincial councils and diocesan synods in the missions fall under the jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide. This was not always the case, however: at the beginning of its establishment, it often referred the examination of councils and synods held in the missions to the Sacred Congregation of the Council. Some of these were celebrated before the founding of Propaganda, such as the five provincial councils of Goa (1567, 1575, 1585, 1592, 1606) and the Synod of Diamper (1599) in India. In Latin America, councils and synods were very numerous, and among the oldest and most important are those of Lima and Mexico. Only two councils of Port of Spain (1854, 1867) were submitted for approval to Propaganda. In North America, the series begins with the first diocesan synod of Baltimore (1791), followed in 1829 by the First Provincial Council of Baltimore. In that same city, nine other provincial councils were celebrated, the tenth taking place in 1869. More significant are the three plenary councils held in Baltimore (1852, 1866, 1884), which are still in force in the Church of the United States.
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concilio - Acts of the First Diocesan Synod held in Baltimore on 7 Nov. 1791 - Rome, Propaganda Fide archive SORCG, 1794, vol. 899, ff. 89 recto and verso.
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(1st. Fules)
Numerous other councils and synods were celebrated in other dioceses, such as, for example, in Philadelphia, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and New York.
In Canada, there are seven provincial councils and the Plenary Council of 1909.
In Northern Europe, the following were celebrated: a synod in the Apostolic Vicariate of Scotland (1700), three Irish synods (Thum 1633, Meath 1686, Dublin 1770), and the four provincial councils of Westminster (1852, 1855, 1859, 1873) in England, and the Plenary Council of Maynooth (1875) in Ireland.
The Eastern Church has also had a large number of councils and synods, including the Provincial Synod of Mount Lebanon (1736) for the Maronites, the National Council of the Armenians (1911), the National Synods of Carcapa (1806), which was not approved, and of Ain-Traz (1835) for the Melchites; and for the Ruthenians, the Provincial Synod of Zamość (1720).
In India, after the councils of Goa and Diamper and the Synod of Cranganore (1606), the Synod of Pondicherry was held in 1844, and no plenary council.
After the Synod of Juthia (1665) in Indochina, there was a limited number of synods and councils. In 1914, the first plenary council took place.
In China, the Synod of the Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan was held in 1803, which was approved only in 1822 and then extended to all of China. Several others were celebrated in the following years; noteworthy are the synods of the various regions into which that vast territory had been divided. In 1924, the first General Council was celebrated in Shanghai.
In Japan and Korea, conciliar activity has been very limited. In 1890, the regional synod of the two territories was celebrated. In Tokyo, in 1895 and 1924, the two provincial councils were held, and in 1931 another regional council took place.
Indonesia records only one synod in the Apostolic Vicariate of the Lesser Sunda Islands; and the Philippine Islands, which have always been independent of Propaganda, have had the Diocesan Synod of Manila (1582), that of Nueva Segovia (1773), and the Provincial Council of Manila (1907).
The Australian and New Zealand Church lists several councils held in Sydney (1844, 1885, 1895, 1905), Melbourne (1862, 1869, 1885, 1907), and Wellington (1899); in 1937 it held the Fourth Plenary Council, also celebrated in Sydney.
In Africa, various synods were held at St-Denis, Algiers, and Carthage. But in recent times, there have been very few synods and numerous conferences of Ordinaries.