The First Ecumenical Council - the First Council of Nicaea - 325 A.D.

The First Council of Nicaea, held in the city of Nicaea in Asia Minor was convened by Emperor St. Constantine the Great in 325 A.D. The Council was held between 20 May and 25 August of that year and was attended by 318 Bishops from both the Eastern and Western Churches. It is believed that Bishop St. Hosius of Cordoba from Hispania presided over the Council.

The Council dealt primarily with the Arian Controversy. The Council also developed and defined the first seven articles of the Creed and established the "Paschalion" of the Church, the method by which the date for the celebration of Pascha (Easter) was to be determined.

Various issues of Church discipline were also discussed and decided, such as the organizational structure of the Church, focusing primarily on the ordering of the episcopacy; the dignity standards for the clergy, namely, issues of ordination at all levels and of the suitability of behavior and background for clergy; reconciliation of the lapsed, including establishing norms for public repentance and penance; the readmission to the Church of heretics and schismatics, including circumstances under which reordination and/or rebaptism were to be required; and liturgical practices, including the ministry and place of deacons and the practice of standing at prayer during Divine Liturgy.

The Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council are commemorated on May 20th and also on the Seventh Sunday after Pascha. They are also commemorated on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils.

The Second Ecumenical Council - The First Council of Constantinople - 381 A.D.

The Council was convened by the Emperor Theodosius the Great. The Council sat in session from May to July 381 A.D. and was attended by 150 Bishops of the Eastern Churches. There were no Bishops of the Western Churches in attendance at this Council. The Council dealt primarily with the Macedonian Controversy. It also added the remaining articles to the Creed and issued some canons.

The Holy Fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council are commemorated on May 22nd and also on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, with the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils.

The Third Ecumenical Council - The Council of Ephesus - 431 A.D.

The Council was held in the ancient city of Ephesus, in Asia Minor, and was convened by Emperor Theodosius II (grandson of Theodosius the Great). The Council met in session between June 22nd and July 31st, 431 A.D., and was attended by 250 Bishops of both the Eastern and Western Churches.

The Council dealt with the Nestorian Controversy, condemning the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who held that the Most Holy Virgin Mary should be called "Christotokos" ("Christ-bearer) and not "Theotokos" (God-bearer). The Council condemned and excommunicated Nestorius for his heresy.

The Council of Ephesus also affirmed the text of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed to be complete and forbade any changes or additions to or deletions from it.

The Fourth Ecumenical Council - The Council of Chalcedon - 451 A.D.

The Council was convened by Emperor Marcian and held in Chalcedon, near Constantinople. The Council was attended by 630 Bishops of both the Eastern and Western Churches.

The principal purpose of the Council was to assert the orthodox catholic doctrine against the heresies of Monophysitism and Eutyches.

The Council issued a proclamation condemning Monophysitism and proclaimed that Christ has two complete natures, the divine and the human, as defined by previous Councils. The proclamation that the Council issued is known as the "Chalcedonian Definition" or the "Confession of Chalcedon." The Definition confirms that Jesus Christ is "perfect both in deity and in humanness; this selfsame One is also actually God and actually man. ."

The Council's judgments, definitions, and decrees regarding the divine marked a significant turning point in the Christological teaching of the Church. These judgments, definitions, and decrees were not accepted by all the Bishops in attendance. This marked another schism in the Church, with the Churches accepting the Chalcedonian decrees becoming known as the Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches (the Orthodox Catholic Churches) and the Churches refusing to accept the definitions, judgments, and decrees as Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches (the Oriental Orthodox Churches).

The Council of Chalcedon also dealt with the Eutyches Controversy. This Controversy, created by a monk named Eutyches, revolved around a belief that Eutyches was advocating Docetism, a sort of reverse Arianism, wherein he was thought to be denying that Jesus was fully man. Eutyches was tried, found guilty, and exiled for his heresy.

The Council also issued 27 disciplinary canons governing Church administration and authority.

The Fifth Ecumenical Council - The Second Council of Constantinople - 553 A.D.

The Second Council of Constantinople was convened by Emperor Justinian the Great, under the presidency of the Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople, in the imperial city of Constantinople from May 5th to June 2nd, 553 A.D. It was attended by 165 Bishops of both the Eastern and Western Churches. The Council was convened primarily to confirm the condemnation issued by edict in 551 A.D. by Emperor Justinian against the Three Chapters.

The Council also dealt with the Nestorian and Eutychian Controversies. The Council confirmed the Church's teaching regarding the two natures of Christ (human and divine).

At this Council, Emperor Justinian confessed his Orthodox Catholic faith in the form of the famous Church hymn, "Only-begotten Son and Immortal Word of God" which is sung during every Divine Liturgy.

The Holy Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council are commemorated on July 25th and also on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost with the Sunday of the Fathers of the Six Ecumenical Council.

The Sixth Ecumenical Council - The Third Council of Constantinople - 680 A.D.

The Third Council of Constantinople was convened by Emperor Constantine IV the New in the imperial city of Constantinople on November 7th, 680 A.D. There were from 40 to 160 Bishops and a number of presbyters in attendance from the Eastern and Western Churches during the Council, which lasted from 680 to 681 A.D.

The primary agenda of the Council was to condemn Monoenergism and Monothelitism as heretical and defined Jesus Christ as having two energies and two wills (divine and human).

The Council issued the following Declaration:

"Christ had two natures with two activities: as God working miracles, rising from the dead and ascending into Heaven; as Man, performing the ordinary acts of daily life. Each nature exercises its own free will." Christ's divine nature had a specific task to perform and so did His human nature. Each nature performed those tasks set forth without being confused, subjected to any change, or working against each other. The two distinct natures and related activities were mystically united in the one Divine Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

The Holy Fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council are commemorated on January 23rd and also on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost with the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils.

The Quinsext Ecumenical Council - The Council in Trullo - 692 A.D.

The Council was held in the imperial city of Constantinople, in the dome (trullo) of the imperial palace, hence its being called the "In Trullo Council."

The Quinisext Council, while considered ecumenical by the Orthodox Catholic Church, is not numbered among the First "Seven" Ecumenical Councils, but is regarded as supplementing the Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils, hence it is called "Quinisext." Its work was purely legislative; it ratified 102 canons and the decisions of the previous Ecumenical Councils. The Council also affirmed and sanctioned the so-called "Eighty-Five Apostolic Canons" and approved the disciplinary decisions (canons) of certain regional and local Councils and Synods. The Council added a series of disciplinary decisions or canons to the existing codices. The Quinisext Council laid the foundation for Orthodox Catholic Canon Law.

The Seventh Ecumenical Council - The Second Council of Nicaea - 787 A.D.

The Second Council of Nicaea was convened by Empress Irene to deal with the controversy surrounding the veneration and possession of icons, or sacred images by the Church and private individuals. The controversy involved two groups, those who were called "Iconoclasts" ("image-smashers") and "Iconophiles ("image-venerators"). The Council, presided over by Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople and legate of Pope Adrian I, was attended by 350 Bishops from both the Eastern and Western Churches

The Iconoclasts were suspicious of religious art and the veneration given to them during Church services and in the homes of the faithful. They demanded that the Church rid itself of such art and that it be destroyed or broken (as the term "iconoclast" implies).

The Iconophiles believed that icons served to preserve and perpetuate the doctrinal teachings of the Church; they considered icons to be man's dynamic way of expressing the divine through art and beauty.

The Iconoclast Controversy was a form of Monophysitism insofar that it promulgated an attitude and behavior that demeaned, downgraded, and denied a human reality.

The Council issued a Proclamation, declaring:

"WE define that the holy icons, whether in color, mosaic, or some other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls and furnishings of holy temples and churches and in the houses of the faithful and along the roads for the venerations and edification of all people, namely the icons of our Lord Jesus Christ, that of the Holy Theotokos, those of the venerable angels and those of all saintly people. Wherever their representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at them to remember, commemorate, honor, and love their prototype. We define also that they should be kissed and that they are the an object of veneration and honor (timitiki proskynisis), but not of real worship (Latria), which is reserved for Him Who alone is the subject of our faith, the object of our worship as is proper for the Divine Majesty and nature, which is in effect transmitted to the prototype; those who venerate and honor sacred images venerate and honor in them the reality for which it stands."

The Eighth Ecumenical Council - The Fourth Council of Constantinople - 879-880 A.D.

The primary purpose of the Council was to confirm the reinstatement of St. Photios the Great as Patriarch of Constantinople.

The Council settled once and for all the dispute that had arisen as a result of the conflict involving Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople and Patriarch Photios of Constantinople which, in itself, also brought into the conflict Pope Nicholas I of Rome.

The Council also implicitly condemned the addition of the Filioque to the NIcene-Constantinopolitan Creed, an addition which was forbidden by previous Ecumenical Councils under pain of excommunication and anathema, and which was rejected at that time in Rome.

The Council also dealt with the Bulgarian Church Controversy which revolved around a dispute between Rome and Constantinople as to whose jurisdiction the Church in Bulgaria belonged. Ultimately, the Council proclaimed the Church of Bulgaria to be autocephalous, thereby making it independent of both Rome's and Constantinople's influence and authority. This, and the controversy over who had jurisdiction of the Greek Churches in Sicily and Southern Italy, led to what has been known historically as the "Photian Schism."

The Fourth Council of Constantinople is considered by the Italo-Greek Byzantine Orthodox Catholic Church as ecumenical primarily because it exonerated St. Photios the Great and also because of the role several of the Sicilian bishops played in the controversy. In this regard, we remember especially St. Gregory Asbestas.

St. Gregory was one of the episcopal consecrators of St. Photios the Great. He served three times as Archbishop of Syracuse in Sicily and then later as Metropolitan-Bishop of Nicaea. He is venerated as a saint in the Italo-Greek Byzantine Catholic Church. He is commemorated in the Church's Calendar of Saints on June 17th.

The Ninth Ecumenical Council - The Fifth Council of Constantinople - 1341, 1347, 1351, A.D.

The Fifth Council of Constantinople was convened to deal with the hesychastic theology of St. Gregory Palamas and condemned the rationalistic philosophy of Barlaam of Calabria.