Lateran Councils

The general name given to the numerous councils held Tbe first of these was convened A. D. 649 to consider the doctrine of the Monothelites. This council held five sessions, during which the writings of the leading advocates of the theory were examined and condemned, and all persons anathematized who did not confess their belief in the existence of both the divine and the human will in the person of Jesus Christ. The second of the councils, held in the years 1106, 1112, 1116, and 1123, settled the controversy between the pope, and the emperor as to the investiture of bishops, prescribed the methods of ordinations and elections, by which, although the pope apparently made large concessions to the emperor, he was, in fact, able to practically control the elections, and passed additional decrees to enforce the celibacy of the clergy. The third council, convened in 1139, condemned the antipope and deposed all who received office under him and promulgated thirty canons of discipline among which were several against simony, marriage, and Immorality among the clergy. The fourth council (1179) decreed that the election of the popes should be confined to the college of cardinals, two-thirds of the votes of which should be requisite for an election, instead of a majority, as had previously been necessary. It condemned the Albigenses and the Waldenses. The fifth council convened in the year 1215. It is usually called the fourth Lateran and was the most Important as marking the summit of the Papal power. It decreed that the doctrine of transubstantiation be one of the articles of faith, required all persons who had reached the age of discretion to confess once a year, arranged for the place of assembly and the time for the next crusade, and anathematized all heretics whose belief was opposed to the faith, decreeing that after their condemnation they should be handed over to the secular authorities, ex Communicating all who received, protected, or maintained them, and threatening all bishops with deposition who did not use their utmost endeavors to clear their dioceses of them. The sixth council (1512-17) abolished the Pragmatic Sanction and substituted a concordat agreed upon by Leo X. and Francis I. in which the liberties of the Church were greatly restricted. Some authorities recognize five only, omitting the first above stated and numbering the others from one to five.