The Top Ten Most Important Church Councils

Stephen Beale

by Stephen Beale on October 25, 2012 · 8 comments

5. Third Council of Constantinople, 680: This council squashed a new heresy about Christ called Monothelitism, which held that Christ had just one will. You may be thinking—now we’re really getting into the weeds, aren’t we? But Monothelitism was a serious heresy that was a throwback to Monophysitism (the heresy that Christ had one nature). In saying Christ had one will, the Monothelites were essentially saying he had one nature. In rejecting this heresy, this council closed a major chapter in Church history, putting to rest any major lingering debates over who Christ was.

6. Second Council of Nicaea II, 787: This council declared that venerating icons was not only permissible, but also necessary. And it lambasted anyone who claimed that veneration was akin to worship of God or that veneration of icons violated the Old Testament commandment against worshipping false idols. Protestants who repeat such accusations today could use reminding that this controversy was settled centuries ago.

7. Fourth Lateran Council, 1215: By all accounts, this was an epic council. Both St. Dominic and St. Francis attended; a Holy Roman Emperor was named; and the council helped launch a new crusade. In matters of strictly faith and morals, its achievements were equally staggering: the council defined the doctrine that there is no salvation outside the church, approved the use of the term transubstantiation, mandated that Christians go to confession at least once a year, and  condemned the erroneous Trinitarian teachings of Joachim of Fiore, calling them heretical and “insane.”

8. Council of Florence, 1431: This council is important for two apparently unrelated reasons. First, it decided what books belong in the Bible. Second, it made a heroic attempt to reunite Catholic Church with the Eastern Orthodox Greek churches that had broken off several hundred years earlier. But the reunion was short-lived—almost immediately dissolving after the council ended.

9. Council of Trent, 1545: It’s hard to imagine a more influential council. Trent defined and defended a whole swath of Church dogmas and teachings about the Eucharist, the authority of the Church, the role of Scripture, and the nature of the Sacraments. The council also led to a standardized Mass, launched the Counter Reformation, and inspired the baroque movement in the arts. In short, Trent gave Catholicism its definitive shape and substance for the next half millennium—at least, up until Vatican II. (But that’s another story. 

10. Vatican I, 1869: Although it had been an article of faith since the earliest times, it wasn’t until Vatican I that the Church defined the dogma of papal infallibility. Two criteria were put in place: the Pope had to be speaking in an official capacity, that is, from the chair, or cathedra, of St. Peter and he had to be speaking about matters of faith and morals. Since that council, there has been only one infallible papal statement, in 1950, on the Assumption of Mary. (The other commonly cited ex cathedra statement, on Mary’s Immaculate Conception, was in 1854.)

Why Vatican II didn’t make the list: Obviously, Vatican II looms the largest of all the councils not only because it was the most recent one but also because it brought sweeping changes to the Church. The significance and salience of those changes remain a subject of controversy and confusion—and therefore the lasting impact of Vatican II is unclear. If those changes mark the beginning of a new course for the Church—whatever that might be—then Vatican II will go down as a pivotal moment. But history has yet to render its verdict.

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Stephen Beale

By Stephen Beale

Stephen Beale is a freelance writer based in Providence, Rhode Island. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, he is a convert to Catholicism. He is a former news editor at GoLocalProv.com and was a correspondent for the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he covered the 2008 presidential primary. He has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN and the Today Show and his writing has been published in the Washington Times, Providence Journal, the National Catholic Register and on MSNBC.com and ABCNews.com. A native of Topsfield, Massachusetts, he graduated from Brown University in 2004 with a degree in classics and history. His areas of interest include Eastern Christianity, Marian and Eucharistic theology, medieval history, and the saints. He welcomes tips, suggestions, and any other feedback at bealenews at gmail dot com. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StephenBeale1

Tagged as: church teaching, Constantinople, ecumenical councils, Nicea

  • dmw

    When there are only 21 oecumenical councils anyway, why bother with creating a list of “the ten most important”? I would argue that you should have made at least the first seven as “most important” because they are the ones recognized by East and West alike. As a source of unity, breathing with both lungs, as you will, certainly all seven rank among the most important.

  • Rob B.

    I guess it isn’t technically a council, but I think the gathering of apostles and elders described in Acts 15 should make the list. After all, how many Gentiles would have converted in those early days if circumcision and avoiding pork were deemed necessary doctrines of the faith?

  • a

    What about the councils that decided the Canon of Scripture? Those would be a bit important?

  • Jason

    so happy that Vatican II wasn’t on the list actually. I’m sick of hearing about it as if it were the only council ever to happen.

  • http://therecusanthousemate.blogspot.com/ Chatto

    See no. 8 – Council of Florence.

  • Matthew

    Have to disagree with the statement there has only been one infallible statement since VI. That comes from the idea that only dogmas can be defined infallibly and also a mistaken understanding of Vatican I that the Pope has to use the word “definit” which was carefully explained to the Council fathers at the time to not be the case by Bishop Gasser. Thus you have Sacramentum Ordinis defining the essential matter of the sacrament of order, Apostoliciae Cura on the invalidity of Anglican orders etc.

  • Ronk

    Indeed. And the mroe recent infallible declarations by Blessed John Paul II that abortion is absolutely always gravely immoral (Evangelium Vitae) and the absolute impossibility of the Church ever ordaining women to the priesthood. In the latter case, uniquely among infallible declarations the pope signed a later statement actually confirming that the previous statement was infallible.

  • http://www.facebook.com/marcus.ampe Marcus Ampe

    The list of all those councils shows clearly how the church went away from the original Jewish faith and how the Catholic and many protestant beliefs deviated from the first apostolic belief in One Only True God and his son, the man from Nazareth, in the lineage from King David, Jeshua or Jesus Christ.