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77-644: The church was established on August 18, 1941, by a synod of Ukrainian bishops in Pochaiv Lavra headed by Archbishop Alexy (Hromadsky) of Lutsk , who became the new church's metropolitan . The church's founders announced their intention to achieve Autocephalous status for the Ukrainian Church but rejected the path towards autocephaly adopted by the renewed Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church , declaring it uncanonical and unilateralist, as it had simply announced its independence. As such,

154-587: A continuation of, the Third Council of Constantinople . To be considered ecumenical, Orthodox accept a council that meets the condition that it was accepted by the whole church. That it was called together legally is also an important factor. A case in point is the Third Ecumenical Council , where two groups met as duly called for by the emperor, each claiming to be the legitimate council. The Emperor had called for bishops to assemble in

231-553: A council is accepted as being ecumenical if it is accepted by the Eastern Orthodox church at large—clergy, monks and assembly of believers. Teachings from councils that purport to be ecumenical, but which lack this acceptance by the church at large, are, therefore, not considered ecumenical. Oriental Orthodoxy accepts three ecumenical councils, the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople, and

308-400: A derived authority to the extent that they correctly expound Scripture (as most would generally consider occurred with the first four councils in regard to their dogmatic decisions). Church councils were, from the beginning, bureaucratic exercises. Written documents were circulated, speeches made and responded to, votes taken, and final documents published and distributed. A large part of what

385-656: A fierce rivalry within the church, which was suppressed by the Soviet authorities but revived under the German occupation. Metropolitan Alexy and Bishop Mstyslav of the Autocephalous Church attempted unification of the two churches, and an Act of Unity was signed in Pochaiv on 8 October 1942. Under the pressure from his synod of bishops, Alexy later renounced the union, withdrawing his signature, and on 7 May 1943 he

462-620: A formal gathering or council of bishops together with other clerical and lay delegates representing the church to deal with matters of faith, morality, rite, and canonical and cultural life. The synod in the Western churches is similar, but it is distinguished by being usually limited to an assembly of bishops. The term is found among those Eastern Orthodox Churches that use Slavic languages (the Russian , Ukrainian , Bulgarian , Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches ), along with

539-450: A potential "Eighth Ecumenical Council" following debates on several issues facing Eastern Orthodoxy, however not all autocephalous churches were represented. Although some Protestants reject the concept of an ecumenical council establishing doctrine for the entire Christian faith, Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox all accept the authority of ecumenical councils in principle. Where they differ

616-444: A representative, thematic, non-legislative (advisory) or mixed nature or in some other way do not meet the qualifications of a "council". There are various types. Diocesan synods are irregular meetings of the clergy and laity of a particular church summoned by the diocesan bishop (or other prelate if the particular church is not a diocese) to deliberate on legislative matters. Only the diocesan bishop holds legislative authority;

693-712: A separate metropoly for the church in the Grand Duchy of Lithuanian lands. Important sobors in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church are: A bishop may also call a sobor for his diocese , which again would have delegates from the clergy, monasteries and parishes of his diocese, to discuss important matters. Such diocesan sobors may be held annually or only occasionally. In Roman Catholic usage, synod and council are theoretically synonymous as they are of Greek and Latin origins, respectively, both meaning an authoritative meeting of bishops for

770-542: A solemn manner its supreme and full power over the whole Church. It holds that "there never is an ecumenical council which is not confirmed or at least recognized as such by Peter's successor". Its present canon law requires that an ecumenical council be convoked and presided over, either personally or through a delegate, by the Pope, who is also to decide the agenda; but the church makes no claim that all past ecumenical councils observed these present rules, declaring only that

847-652: A specific local matter. From this point of view, there has been no fully "pan-Orthodox" (Ecumenical) council since 787. The use of the term "pan-Orthodox" is confusing to those not within Eastern Orthodoxy, and it leads to mistaken impressions that these are ersatz ecumenical councils rather than purely local councils to which nearby Orthodox hierarchs, regardless of jurisdiction, are invited. Others, including 20th-century theologians Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Naupactus , Fr. John S. Romanides , and Fr. George Metallinos (all of whom refer repeatedly to

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924-819: A supra-national region have historically been called councils as well, such as the various Councils of Carthage in which all the bishops of North Africa were to attend. During the Middle Ages, some councils were legatine , called by a papal legate rather than the pope or bishop. Synods in Eastern Catholic Churches are similar to synods in Orthodox churches in that they are the primary vehicle for election of bishops and establishment of inter-diocesan ecclesiastical laws. The term synod in Latin Church canon law, however, refers to meetings of

1001-542: A two-thirds vote of the conference and review by the Holy See (can. 455) to have the force of law. Without such authorization and review, episcopal conferences are deliberative only and exercise no authority over their member bishops or dioceses. In the Anglican Communion , synods are elected by clergy and laity . In most Anglican churches, there is a geographical hierarchy of synods, with General Synod at

1078-479: Is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are convoked from the whole world ( oikoumene ) and which secures the approbation of the whole Church. The word " ecumenical " derives from the Late Latin oecumenicus "general, universal", from Greek oikoumenikos "from

1155-419: Is also sometimes used to refer to a church that is governed by a synod. Sometimes the phrase "general synod" or "general council" refers to an ecumenical council . The word synod also refers to the standing council of high-ranking bishops governing some of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. Similarly, the day-to-day governance of patriarchal and major archiepiscopal Eastern Catholic Churches

1232-670: Is an example of a council accepted as ecumenical in spite of being rejected by the East, as the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon are accepted in spite of being rejected respectively by the Church of the East and Oriental Orthodoxy . The Catholic Church teaches that an ecumenical council is a gathering of the College of Bishops (of which the Bishop of Rome is an essential part) to exercise in

1309-573: Is composed of all the bishops of the territory (including coadjutors and auxiliaries) as well as other ecclesiastical ordinaries who head particular churches in the territory (such as territorial abbots and vicars apostolic ). Each of these members has a vote on council legislation. Additionally, the following persons by law are part of particular councils but only participate in an advisory capacity: vicars general and episcopal , presidents of Catholic universities, deans of Catholic departments of theology and canon law, some major superiors elected by all

1386-544: Is considered a Synod since there is no national church in the United States. (see establishment principle ) In Swiss and southern German Reformed churches , where the Reformed churches are organized as regionally defined independent churches (such as Evangelical Reformed Church of Zurich or Reformed Church of Berne ), the synod corresponds to the general assembly of Presbyterian churches. In Reformed churches,

1463-401: Is entrusted to a permanent synod. In Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, synods of bishops are meetings of bishops within each autonomous Church and are the primary vehicle for the election of bishops and the establishment of inter-diocesan ecclesiastical laws. A sobor ( Church Slavonic : съборъ , romanized:  sŭborŭ , lit.   'assembly') is

1540-610: Is held or on the granting or withholding of prior authorization or legal status by any state, in line with the attitude of the 5th-century bishops who "saw the definition of the church's faith and canons as supremely their affair, with or without the leave of the Emperor" and who "needed no one to remind them that Synodical process pre-dated the Christianisation of the royal court by several centuries". The Catholic Church recognizes as ecumenical various councils held later than

1617-464: Is in which councils they accept and what the conditions are for a council to be considered "ecumenical". The relationship of the Papacy to the validity of ecumenical councils is a ground of controversy between Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox churches. The Catholic Church holds that recognition by the Pope is an essential element in qualifying a council as ecumenical; Eastern Orthodox view approval by

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1694-450: Is known about the beliefs of heresies comes from the documents quoted in councils in order to be refuted, or indeed only from the deductions based on the refutations. Most councils dealt not only with doctrinal but also with disciplinary matters, which were decided in canons ("laws"). Study of the canons of church councils is the foundation of the development of canon law , especially the reconciling of seemingly contradictory canons or

1771-600: The Ancient Greek σύνοδος ( synodos ) ' assembly, meeting ' ; the term is analogous with the Latin word concilium ' council ' . Originally, synods were meetings of bishops , and the word is still used in that sense in Catholicism , Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy . In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not. It

1848-624: The Council of Elvira (306), the Council of Carthage (311) , the Synod of Neo-Caesarea (c. 314), the Council of Ancyra (314) and the Council of Arles (314) . The first seven councils recognised in both East and West as ecumenical and several others to which such recognition is refused were called by the Byzantine emperors. In the first millennium, various theological and political differences such as Nestorianism or Dyophysitism caused parts of

1925-607: The Council of Serdica (343), the Second Council of Ephesus (449) and the Council of Hieria (754), which saw themselves as ecumenical or were intended as such. As late as the 11th century, seven councils were recognised as ecumenical in the Catholic Church. Then, in the time of Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085), canonists who in the Investiture Controversy quoted the prohibition in canon 22 of

2002-675: The First Council of Nicaea (325) to the Second Council of Nicaea (787), represent an attempt to reach an orthodox consensus and to unify Christendom . All of the original seven ecumenical councils as recognized in whole or in part were called by an emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire and all were held in the Eastern Roman Empire , a recognition denied to other councils similarly called by an Eastern Roman emperor and held in his territory, in particular

2079-647: The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra , the cradle of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the region. This church appealed to the ethnic Russians and Russian speaking population of Ukraine, while the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was closely tied to the Ukrainian nationalist movement. Although some attempts were made to unite the two jurisdictions in 1941–2, these ultimately failed. The spread of the church brought about

2156-594: The Romanian Orthodox Church . The presence of clerical and lay delegates is for the purpose of discerning the consensus of the church on important matters; however, the bishops form an upper house of the sobor, and the laity cannot overrule their decisions. Kievan Rus' chronicles record the first known East Slavic church sobor as having taken place in Kiev in 1051. Sobors were convened periodically from then on; one notable assembly held in 1415 formed

2233-625: The Second Council of Ephesus of 449, also held in Anatolia, was called by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II and, though annulled by the Council of Chalcedon, was confirmed by Emperor Basiliscus , who annulled the Council of Chalcedon. This too ceased to be considered an ecumenical council. The Catholic Church does not consider the validity of an ecumenical council's teaching to be in any way dependent on where it

2310-660: The Sixth Ecumenical Council , Pope Honorius and Patriarch Sergius were declared heretics. The council anathematized them and declared them tools of the devil and cast them out of the church. It is their position that, since the Seventh Ecumenical Council, there has been no synod or council of the same scope. Local meetings of hierarchs have been called "pan-Orthodox", but these have invariably been simply meetings of local hierarchs of whatever Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions are party to

2387-570: The Synod of Homberg . In the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the vast majority of Protestant denominations have regrouped under a religious institution named the Church of Christ in Congo or CCC, often referred to – within the Congo – simply as The Protestant Church. In the CCC structure, the national synod is the general assembly of the various churches that constitutes the CCC. From

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2464-543: The eastern and western denominations comprising Chalcedonian Christianity , were convoked by Roman Emperors, who also enforced the decisions of those councils within the state church of the Roman Empire . Starting with the third ecumenical council, noteworthy schisms led to non-participation by some members of what had previously been considered a single Christian Church . Thus, some parts of Christianity did not attend later councils, or attended but did not accept

2541-567: The ecumenical movement . The Oriental Orthodox hold that the Dyophysite formula of two natures formulated at the Council of Chalcedon is inferior to the Miaphysite formula of "One Incarnate Nature of God the Word" ( Byzantine Greek : Mia physis tou theou logou sarkousomene ) and that the proceedings of Chalcedon themselves were motivated by imperial politics . The Alexandrian Church ,

2618-619: The "Eighth and Ninth Ecumenical Councils"), Fr. George Dragas , and the 1848 Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs (which refers explicitly to the "Eighth Ecumenical Council" and was signed by the patriarchs of Constantinople , Jerusalem , Antioch , and Alexandria as well as the Holy Synods of the first three), regard other synods beyond the Seventh Ecumenical Council as being ecumenical. Before

2695-488: The 20th century, the Council at Constantinople in 879 AD was recognised as the 8th ecumenical council by people like the famous expert on Canon Law, Theodore Balsamon (11th century), St. Neilos of Rhodes, St. Mark of Ephesus (15th century), St. Symeon of Thessalonica (15th century), and the Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem in his Tome of Joy (17th century). From the Eastern Orthodox perspective,

2772-646: The Bishop of Rome (the Pope) as being roughly equivalent to that of other patriarchs. Some have held that a council is ecumenical only when all five patriarchs of the Pentarchy are represented at it. Others reject this theory in part because there were no patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem at the time of the first ecumenical council. Both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches recognize seven councils in

2849-659: The Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth always was that of the Son of God himself". Both sides recognised the legitimacy and rightness, as expressions of the same faith, of the Assyrian Church's liturgical invocation of Mary as "the Mother of Christ our God and Saviour" and the Catholic Church's use of "the Mother of God" and also as "the Mother of Christ". The Lutheran World Federation , in ecumenical dialogues with

2926-574: The Catholic Church), the Catholic Church continues to hold general councils of the bishops in full communion with the Pope , reckoning them as ecumenical. In all, the Catholic Church recognizes twenty-one councils as ecumenical. The first four ecumenical councils are recognized by some Lutheran Churches , Anglican Communion and Reformed Churches —though they are " considered subordinate to Scripture ". The Lutheran World Federation recognizes

3003-606: The Church in a specific geographic area such as the one held November 16 – December 12, 1997, for the Church in America. While the words "synod" and "council" usually refer to a transitory meeting, the term "Synod of Bishops" or "Synod of the Bishops", is also applied to a permanent body established in 1965 as an advisory body of the pope. It holds assemblies at which bishops and religious superiors, elected by bishops conferences or

3080-446: The Church to separate after councils such as those of Ephesus and Chalcedon , but councils recognised as ecumenical continued to be held. The Council of Hieria of 754, held at the imperial palace of that name close to Chalcedon in Anatolia, was summoned by Byzantine Emperor Constantine V and was attended by 338 bishops, who regarded it as the seventh ecumenical council. The Second Council of Nicaea , which annulled that of Hieria,

3157-659: The Council of Constantinople of 869–870 against laymen influencing the appointment of prelates elevated this council to the rank of ecumenical council. Only in the 16th century was recognition as ecumenical granted by Catholic scholars to the Councils of the Lateran, of Lyon and those that followed. The following is a list of further councils generally recognised as ecumenical by Catholic theologians: Eastern Orthodox catechisms teach that there are seven ecumenical councils and there are feast days for seven ecumenical councils. Nonetheless, some Eastern Orthodox consider events like

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3234-415: The Council of Constantinople of 879–880, that of Constantinople in 1341–1351 and that of Jerusalem in 1672 to be ecumenical: It is unlikely that formal ecumenical recognition will be granted to these councils, despite the acknowledged orthodoxy of their decisions, so that seven are universally recognized among the Eastern Orthodox as ecumenical. The 2016 Pan-Orthodox Council was sometimes referred to as

3311-533: The Council of Ephesus. The formulation of the Chalcedonian Creed caused a schism in the Alexandrian and Syriac churches. Reconciliatory efforts between Oriental Orthodox with the Eastern Orthodox and the Catholic Church in the mid- and late 20th century have led to common Christological declarations. The Oriental and Eastern Churches have also been working toward reconciliation as a consequence of

3388-474: The East (accused by others of adhering to Nestorianism ) accepts as ecumenical the first two councils. Oriental Orthodox Churches accept the first three. Both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church recognize as ecumenical the first seven councils , held from the 4th to the 9th centuries. While some Eastern Orthodox accept one later council as ecumenical (which was later repudiated by

3465-536: The Eastern Orthodox churches uphold versions of this doctrine. However, the Catholic Church holds that solemn definitions of ecumenical councils meet the conditions of infallibility only when approved by the Pope, while the Eastern Orthodox Church holds that an ecumenical council is itself infallible when pronouncing on a specific matter. Protestant churches would generally view ecumenical councils as fallible human institutions that have no more than

3542-684: The First Council of Ephesus (after which churches out of communion with the Holy See because of the Nestorian Schism did not participate), later than the Council of Chalcedon (after which there was no participation by churches that rejected Dyophysitism ), later than the Second Council of Nicaea (after which there was no participation by the Eastern Orthodox Church ), and later than the Fifth Council of

3619-535: The Lateran (after which groups that adhered to Protestantism did not participate). Of the twenty-one ecumenical councils recognised by the Catholic Church, some gained recognition as ecumenical only later. Thus the Eastern First Council of Constantinople became ecumenical only when its decrees were accepted in the West also. In the history of Christianity , the first seven ecumenical councils, from

3696-532: The Pope's confirmation or at least recognition has always been required, and saying that the version of the Nicene Creed adopted at the First Council of Constantinople (381) was accepted by the Church of Rome only seventy years later, in 451. The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts seven ecumenical councils , with the disputed Council in Trullo —rejected by Catholics—being incorporated into, and considered as

3773-649: The Synod is drawn an executive committee, and a secretariat. There are also synods of the CCC in every province of the Congo, known appropriately as provincial synods . The CCC regroups 62 Protestant denominations. Ecumenical council God Schools Relations with: Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: An ecumenical council , also called general council ,

3850-527: The Union of Superiors General or appointed by the Pope vote on proposals (" propositiones ") to present for the pope's consideration, and which in practice the pope uses as the basis of "post-synodal apostolic exhortations" on the themes discussed. While an assembly of the Synod of Bishops thus expresses its collective wishes, it does not issue decrees, unless in certain cases the pope authorizes it to do so, and even then an assembly's decision requires ratification by

3927-567: The city of Ephesus. Theodosius did not attend but sent his representative Candidian to preside. However, Cyril managed to open the council over Candidian's insistent demands that the bishops disperse until the delegation from Syria could arrive. Cyril was able to completely control the proceedings, completely neutralizing Candidian, who favored Cyril's antagonist, Nestorius. When the pro-Nestorius Antiochene delegation finally arrived, they decided to convene their own council, over which Candidian presided. The proceedings of both councils were reported to

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4004-465: The conference itself may invite them in an advisory or voting capacity (can. 450). While councils (can. 445) and diocesan synods (can. 391 & 466) have full legislative powers in their areas of competence, national episcopal conferences may only issue supplementary legislation when authorized to do so in canon law or by decree of the Holy See . Additionally, any such supplemental legislation requires

4081-484: The determination of priority between them. Canons consist of doctrinal statements and disciplinary measures—most Church councils and local synods dealt with immediate disciplinary concerns as well as major difficulties of doctrine. Eastern Orthodoxy typically views the purely doctrinal canons as dogmatic and applicable to the entire church at all times, while the disciplinary canons apply to a particular time and place and may or may not be applicable in other situations. Of

4158-498: The early centuries of the church, but Catholics also recognize fourteen councils in later times called or confirmed by the Pope. At the urging of German King Sigismund , who was to become Holy Roman Emperor in 1433, the Council of Constance was convoked in 1414 by Antipope John XXIII , one of three claimants to the papal throne, and was reconvened in 1415 by the Roman Pope Gregory XII . The Council of Florence

4235-590: The ecumenical councils were a continuation of earlier councils (also known as synods ) held in the Empire before Christianity was made legal. These include the Council of Jerusalem (c. 50), the Council of Rome (155), the Second Council of Rome (193), the Council of Ephesus (193), the Council of Carthage (251) , the Council of Iconium (258), the Council of Antioch (264) , the Councils of Arabia (246–247),

4312-486: The emperor, who decided ultimately to depose Cyril, Memnon and Nestorius. Nonetheless, the Orthodox accept Cyril's group as being the legitimate council because it maintained the same teaching that the church has always taught. Paraphrasing a rule by St Vincent of Lérins , Hasler states ...a teaching can only be defined if it has been held to be revealed at all times, everywhere, and by all believers. Orthodox believe that councils could over-rule or even depose popes. At

4389-566: The first seven Ecumenical Councils as "exercises of apostolic authority" and recognizes their decisions as authoritative; while member churches are not required to accept all theological statements produced by the Federation, but only to subscribe to the most basic Lutheran historical confessional documents, most do follow this recommendation. The doctrine of the infallibility of ecumenical councils states that solemn definitions of ecumenical councils, which concern faith or morals, and to which

4466-405: The idea of Ukraine being the canonical territory of the Polish Orthodox Church , although the Polish Orthodox Metropolitan Dionysius continued to claim jurisdiction over the Western Ukrainian territories formerly controlled by Poland between the World Wars . The UAOC's influence spread from Volhynia to the Dnieper Ukraine , where several parishes and monasteries joined the church, including

4543-431: The liberation of Ukraine from Nazi occupation, Ukraine Autonomous Orthodox Church's hierarchs joined the Russian Orthodox Church , with those outside of the USSR joining the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia . Synod A synod ( / ˈ s ɪ n ə d / ) is a council of a Christian denomination , usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word synod comes from

4620-410: The main Oriental Orthodox body, also felt unfairly underrepresented at the council following the deposition of their Pope, Dioscorus of Alexandria at the council. The Church of the East accepts two ecumenical councils, the First Council of Nicaea and the First Council of Constantinople, as well as a series of their own national councils, starting with the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410 AD. It

4697-422: The major superiors in the territory, some rectors of seminaries elected by the rectors of seminaries in the territory, and two members from each cathedral chapter, presbyterial council, or pastoral council in the territory (can. 443). The convoking authority can also select other members of the faithful (including the laity) to participate in the council in an advisory capacity. Meetings of the entire episcopate of

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4774-411: The new church was proclaimed under the canonical link to the Moscow Patriarchate and invoked the 1918 decision of the Russian Orthodox Church that granted autonomy to the Ukrainian Church. Despite recognizing the spiritual authority of the Moscow Patriarchate over Ukraine, they considered this authority suspended as long as the patriarch was under Soviet control. At the same time, the bishops rejected

4851-418: The other members of the diocesan synod act only in an advisory capacity. Those who must be invited to a diocesan synod by law are any coadjutor or auxiliary bishops , the vicars general and episcopal , the officialis , the vicars forane plus an additional priest from each vicariate forane, the presbyterial council, canons of the cathedral chapter (if there is one), the rector of the seminary, some of

4928-518: The pope. The pope serves as president of an assembly or appoints the president, determines the agenda, and summons, suspends, and dissolves the assembly. Modern Catholic synod themes: Meetings of bishops in the Roman empire are known from the mid-third century and already numbered twenty by the time of the First Council of Nicaea (325). Thereafter they continued by the hundreds into the sixth century. Those authorized by an emperor and often attended by him came to be called ecumenical, meaning throughout

5005-460: The purpose of church administration in the areas of teaching (faith and morals) or governance (church discipline or law). However, in modern use, synod and council are applied to specific categories of such meetings and so do not really overlap. A synod generally meets every three years and is thus designated an "Ordinary General Assembly". However, "Extraordinary" synods can be called to deal with specific situations. There are also "Special" synods for

5082-694: The results. Bishops belonging to what became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church accept seven ecumenical councils, as described below . Bishops belonging to what became known as the Church of the East participated in the first two councils. Bishops belonging to what became known as Oriental Orthodoxy participated in the first four councils, but rejected the decisions of the fourth and did not attend any subsequent ecumenical councils. Acceptance of councils as ecumenical and authoritative varies between different Christian denominations . Disputes over Christological and other questions have led certain branches to reject some councils that others accept. The Church of

5159-462: The seven councils recognised in whole or in part by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church as ecumenical, all were called by a Roman emperor . The emperor gave them legal status within the entire Roman Empire . All were held in the eastern part of the Roman Empire . The bishop of Rome (self-styled as "pope" since the end of the fourth century) did not attend, although he sent legates to some of them. Church councils were traditional and

5236-569: The superiors of religious houses in the diocese, and members of the laity chosen by the diocesan pastoral council, though the diocesan bishop can invite others to attend at his own initiative. (can. 463) National episcopal conferences are another development of the Second Vatican Council. They are permanent bodies consisting of all the Latin Church bishops of a nation and those equivalent to diocesan bishops in law (i.e. territorial abbots ). Bishops of other sui juris churches and papal nuncios are not members of episcopal conferences by law, though

5313-409: The synod can denote a regional meeting of representatives of various classes ( regional synod ), or the general denominational meeting of representatives from the regional synods ( general or national synod ). Some churches, especially the smaller denominations, do not have the regional synod tier (for example, the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS)). Historically, these were meetings such as

5390-467: The synod is a level of administration between the local presbytery and the national general assembly . Some denominations use the synod, such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada , Uniting Church in Australia , and the Presbyterian Church USA . However some other churches do not use the synod at all, and the Church of Scotland dissolved its synods in 1993, see List of Church of Scotland synods and presbyteries . The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church

5467-407: The top; bishops, clergy and laity meet as "houses" within the synod. Diocesan synods are convened by a bishop in his or her diocese, and consist of elected clergy and lay members. Deanery synods are convened by the Rural Dean (or Area Dean ) and consist of all clergy licensed to a benefice within the deanery , plus elected lay members. In the Presbyterian system of church governance

5544-406: The whole Church must adhere, are infallible. Such decrees are often labeled as 'Canons' and they often have an attached anathema , a penalty of excommunication , against those who refuse to believe the teaching. The doctrine does not claim that every aspect of every ecumenical council is dogmatic, but that every aspect of an ecumenical council is free of errors or impeccable. Both the Catholic and

5621-612: The whole world", from he oikoumene ge "the inhabited world" (as known to the ancient Greeks); the Greeks and their neighbors, considered as developed human society (as opposed to barbarian lands); in later use "the Roman world" and in the Christian sense in ecclesiastical Greek, from oikoumenos , present passive participle of oikein ("inhabit"), from oikos ("house, habitation"). The first seven ecumenical councils , recognised by both

5698-468: The world (as the world was thought of in Western terms). Today, Council in Roman Catholic canon law typically refers to an irregular meeting of the entire episcopate of a nation, region, or the world for the purpose of legislation with binding force. Those contemplated in canon law are the following: Plenary and provincial councils are categorized as particular councils. A particular council

5775-476: Was itself annulled at the synod held in 815 in Constantinople under Emperor Leo V . This synod, presided over by Patriarch Theodotus I of Constantinople , declared the Council of Hieria to be the seventh ecumenical council, but, although the Council of Hieria was called by an emperor and confirmed by another, and although it was held in the East, it later ceased to be considered ecumenical. Similarly,

5852-534: Was murdered, it is said by nationalists from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army , who saw this as an act of treason. After the murder of Metropolitan Alexy, the church was led by Archbishop Panteleymon (Rudyk) and the relationship with the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church remained tense throughout 1943–44, by which time the Red Army offensive pushed the German invaders out of Ukraine. Upon

5929-806: Was the formulation of Mary as the Theotokos which caused a schism with the Church of the East, now divided between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East , while the Chaldean Catholic Church entered into full communion with Rome in the 16th century. Meetings between Pope John Paul II and the Assyrian Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV led to a common Christological declaration on 11 November 1994 that "the humanity to which

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