Fourth Council of Constantinople (Catholic)

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For the Eastern Orthodox synod, see Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox) (879-880)

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The Fourth Council of Constantinople (Catholic) was the 8th Catholic Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople from October 5, 869 to February 28, 870. The Council met in 10 sessions from October 869 to February 870 and issued 27 canons.

[edit] Background

With the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III in 800, his new title as Patricius Romanorum, and the handing over of the keys to the Tomb of Saint Peter, the papacy had acquired a new protector in the West. This freed the pontiffs to some degree from the power of the emperor in Constantinople but it also led to a schism, because the emperors and patriarchs of Constantinople interpreted themselves as the true descendants of the Roman Empire dating back to the beginnings of the Church.^[1]

After the Byzantine emperor summarily dismissed St Ignatius of Constantinople as patriarch of that city, Pope Nicholas I refused to recognize his successor Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople. Photius, in turn, attacked the pope as a heretic, because he kept the filioque in the creed, which referred to the Holy Spirit emanating from God the Father and the Son. The Council condemned Photius, who questioned the legality of the papal delegates presiding over the Council and ended the schism.^[1]

[edit] Photius

Photios had been appointed Patriarch of Constantinople but deposed.^[2] The second, held after Photios had been reinstated on order of the Emperor, annulled the first.^[2] Today, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes the council in 869-870, while the Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize the councils in 879-880 and revere Photios as a saint. At the time that these councils were being held, this division was not yet clear.

In 858, Photius, a noble layman from a local family, was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople^[2], a position of authority rivaling that of Rome. Emperor Michael III had deposed the previous patriarch, Ignatius.^[2] Ignatius refused to abdicate, setting up a power struggle between the Emperor and Pope Nicholas I.^[2] In 867, a council in Constantinople purported to depose Nicholas, declared him anathema, and excommunicated him.^[2] In addition his claims of primacy, his contacts to Bulgaria, and the Filioque clause were condemned.

[edit] The Council

The 869 Council was called by Emperor Basil I the Macedonian and Pope Adrian II. It condemned Photius and deposed him as patriarch and reinstated his predecessor Ignatius. It also ranked Constantinople before the other three Eastern patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem and anathematized the teaching, supposedly held by Photius, that there are two human souls, one spiritual and immortal, one earthly and mortal.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Cross, F. L. (ed.). The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press (2005).