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Fourth Council Of Constantinople
  CATEGORIES ABOUT FOURTH COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE
   
byzantine empire
   
869
   
879
   
roman catholic church councils
   
constantinople 4
   
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  council Date 869 - 870 '''or''' 879 - 880
  accepted By Catholicism '''or''' Eastern Orthodoxy
  previous Third Council Of Constantinople
  next First Council Of The Lateran
  convoked By Emperor Basil I and Pope Adrian II
  presided By papal legates
  attendance 20-25 (first session), 102 (last session)
  topics Photius ' patriarchate
  documents deposition of Photius, twenty-seven canons, including directives for behavior of bishops and the rights of patriarchs restoration of Photius, protection of Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed


The Fourth Council of Constantinople as an Ecumenical Council is a name given to one of two meetings in Constantinople : the first in 869-870; the second in 879-800. The second reversed the key decision of the first.


869-870

The meeting recognized as an Ecumenical Council by Roman Catholics met from October 5 , 869 to February 28 , 870 .

It was called by Emperor Basil I the Macedonian and Pope Adrian II . It deposed and condemned Photius as patriarch and, of the four Eastern patriarchates, ranked Constantinople before Alexandria , Antioch , and Jerusalem . Photius is now considered a Saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church ; in part for having refused to acquiesce to the decision of this council and what the Eastern Orthodox consider to have been overweening monarchical aspirations on the part of Rome's patriarch.

Photius is also considered a saint by Eastern Rite Catholics in the same manner as he is by the Orthodox. Among Eastern Catholics, he is remembered for the virtues of his personal life and his remarkable talents, even genius, and the wide range of his intellectual aptitudes.


879-880

Many theologians (and not a few bishops; see Encyclical Of The Eastern Patriarchs ) within the Orthodox Church consider the council of 869 - 870 to have been a Robber Council and instead recognize the reunion council held at Constantinople in 879 - 880 as being the Eighth Ecumenical Council. This latter council was originally accepted and fully endorsed by Rome (whose Legate s were present), who in the 11th century repudiated it and retroactively regarded the council of 869 - 870 to be ecumenical.

The council of 879 - 880 restored St. Photius to his see and anathematized any who altered the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (thus condemning the Filioque ).


EXTERNAL LINKS


For more on the council of 879 - 880 , see also: