The 21 Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church recognizes 21 ecumenical (general) councils. Over the centuries it has also held thousands of smaller regional councils and synods.
- Nicaea I [325] Arianism; the Nicene Creed
- Constantinople I [381] Divinity of the Holy Spirit
- Ephesus [431] Nestorianism; Mary as “Mother of God”
- Chalcedon [451] Christ’s two natures
- Constantinople II [553] Condemned the “Three Chapters”
- Constantinople III [680-681] Monothelitism (Christ has two wills)
- Nicaea II [787] Use of icons
- Constantinople IV [869-870] Photian schism
- Lateran I [1123] Investiture controversy
- Lateran II [1139] Church discipline; clerical celibacy
- Lateran III [1179] Papal elections (two-thirds vote) |
- Lateran IV [1215] Transubstantiation; yearly confession
- Lyon I [1245] Conflict with Emperor Frederick II
- Lyon II [1274] Brief reunion with the Eastern churches
- Vienne [1311-1312] Suppression of the Knights Templar
- Constance [1414-1418] Ended the Western Schism; condemned Hus
- Basel–Ferrara-Florence | 1431–1445 | Attempted reunion with the Orthodox
- Lateran V [1512-1517] Church reform (just before the Reformation)
- Trent [1545-1563] Response to the Protestant Reformation
- Vatican I [1869-1870] Papal infallibility
- Vatican II [1962-1965] Modernizing the Church; Mass in local languages
Other churches count differently:
- The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts only the first 7.
- The Oriental Orthodox churches (Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, and others) accept only the first 3, because they rejected Chalcedon.
- Many Protestant churches accept the first 4 to 7 as sound teaching, but not as infallible.