Which Councils are Ecumenical?

Written by Francis Dvornik

Sunday, 10 December 2006 21:37

By Francis Dvornik
1966, Journal of Ecumenical Studies. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted by permission.
Which Councils are Ecumenical?

It is generally expected that, after the conclusion of the Second

Vatican Council the atmosphere will be favorable for dialogues
between the representatives of Roman Catholics and the leaders
of other Christian churches with a view to finding ways towards a
better understanding and a more intimate rapprochement which
could lead finally to a reunion.
Many Catholic leaders think that a dialogue with the Eastern
Orthodox Churches should begin as early as possible and hope
for positive results since there are no fundamental dogmatic
differences between the Roman and Orthodox Churches.
This may be true, but it is premature to expect a speedy
agreement between the Eastern Churches and Rome. There are
many other aspects in the constitution, historical development, the
mentality and spiritual life of Eastern Christianity which are not
sufficiently understood by the West, and which will make the
dialogue much more difficult than is expected by the optimistic
observer.
In this paper I would like to call attention to a difference between
the Catholics and the Orthodox which could be regarded as
minornamely, the number of ecumenical councils which are
accepted by these Churches. But it is not minor, for it bears within
it another question: by what criteria may a council be called truly
ecumenical?
It is known that the Orthodox recognize only seven councils as
ecumenical, the first being that of Nicaea (325) and the last the
second of Nicaea (787), which condemned the iconoclastic heresy

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regarding representations of Christ and the saints and the worship

of their images as unlawful.
The Roman Church added to the Seven Ecumenical Councils the
Synod of 869-870 which condemned the Patriarch Photius as a
usurper of the patriarchal throne of Constantinople and confirmed
the reinstatement of St. Ignatius in his stead, as the Eighth
Ecumenical Council. This Council called itself ecumenical because
it was convoked by an EmperorBasil Ias were all previous
ecumenical councils. The invitations to assist at it were addressed
to the bishops of the Empire and it was attended by the
representatives of Pope Hadrian II and four other Patriarchs. In
spite of this it was opened in the presence of only twelve bishops,
and its Acts were signed by only the one hundred and ten Fathers
who had responded to the repeated exhortations of the Emperor to
appear at its sessions. The reason for this meagre attendance was
that the great majority of Byzantine prelates considered the
accusations launched against Photius as unjust, since he had
been canonically elected by a local synod after the resignation of
Ignatius in 856. Because the majority of the clergy had ignored the
decisions of this Council Ignatius had difficulties in the
administration of his patriarchate. Fortunately, this situation was
cleared up when the Emperor brought Photius back from exile and
entrusted him with the education of his sons. Then both Ignatius
and Photius were reconciled. Another council was planned in
order to seal the reconciliation of the followers of Ignatius and of
Photius and to end the schism in the Byzantine Church. The
Emperor and Ignatius asked Pope John VIII to send his
representatives to the new council. Unfortunately, before the Papal
legates reached Constantinople, Ignatius died, and Photius was
reinstated as Patriarch. The Council took place in November of 879
and ended in March, 880. Photius was reinstated by the numerous
conciliar Fathers with the assent of the papal legates and the
representatives of the other Patriarchs. The Council of 869-870

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which had condemned Photius and his followers was abrogated.

This explains why we do not have the Greek original of the Acts of
this Council, but only a Latin translation made by the papal
librarian Anastasius who, in 870, was in Constantinople as envoy
of the Emperor Louis II. There exists also a Greek extract of the
Acts compiled by an opponent of Photius who had refused to
accept him as patriarch even after his reconciliation with Ignatius
and restoration by the Council of 879-880 confirmed by John VIII.
This extract was incorporated into the so-called anti-Photian
collection compiled in a very biased manner by a zealot who
wished to justify the refusal of the extremist party to accept the
decisions of the Council of 879-880 and to recognize Photius as
their legitimate Patriarch.
The Photian Council was also convoked by the Emperor Basil I,
and representatives of all five patriarchs were present together
with 380 Fathers. The Fathers were thus fully entitled to designate
the assembly as a holy and ecumenical synod. In the Acts this
council is called a holy Synod convoked under the most holy and
ecumenical Patriarch Photius for the union of the holy and
apostolic Church of God.
A similar title is given to this synod by the Patriarch Euthymius
(907-912). 1 In his treatise on synods the Patriarch gives it the
designation of holy and ecumenical synod, but it is called the
Eighthit merely remains the Union Synod. This means that it
was assembled in order to seal the union between Rome and
Constantinople, disrupted by the condemnation of Photius, which
had been regarded as unjust by the great majority of the Byzantine
clergy, and also to end a schism in the Byzantine patriarchate by
reconciling definitely the pro-Photian and the pro-Ignatian clergy.
Of course, no mention is made in this treatise of the Ignatian
Council of 869-870 which was cancelled ten years later by the

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synod of 879-880. Euthymius gives the ecumenical character only

to the preceding seven councils quoting the definitions of Catholic
doctrines which these councils had confirmed. This treatise was
written only about three decades after the Photian Council and its
author knew the Acts of this council in the version that has come
down to us.
It should not surprise us that Euthymius regarded only seven
councils as ecumenical. We can quote a document which reveals
that even Photius himself did not add to the seven ecumenical the
council which had reinstated him as the Eighth. In the Greek
Manuscript 47 of the National Library in Paris I found the text of a
profession of faith (fols. 231, 231a), composed by Photius, which
was to be recited by all candidates to the episcopate. The future
bishops had to subscribe to the Seven Ecumenical Councils and
profess their dogmatic definitions. Even if Photius had composed
this profession during his first patriarchate, there is no reason not
to suppose that he used this formula also after the council of
879-880. We shall see presently that Photius was primarily
interested in the ecumenicity of the seventh council and wished
that it should be solemnly proclaimed by the representatives of all
the patriarchs.
The treatise on synods composed by Euthymius was reedited in
the fourteenth century by Neilos Diasorenos, metropolitan of
Rhodes (1357). 2 Neilos was an ardent supporter of the Patriarch
Philotheus and of Gregory Palamas, the protagonists of the
hesychast movement.
3 The monk Barlaam, the
adversary of their doctrine on the living light of Mount Tabor which
the mystics were supposed to see when reaching the highest
degree of their ascetic practice, was condemned by a synod
convoked by the Patriarch John XIV Aprenos in 1341. This synod
marked the victory of the hesychasts and was regarded as an
important milestone by all adherents of this movement. It is not

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surprising that they placed it alongside the Seven Ecumenical

Councils, the basis of the orthodox faith.
Neilos therefore adapted the treatise of Euthymius to the needs of
the fourteenth century by adding to the seven councils that of
Photius (879-880) as the Eighth Ecumenical, and the synod of 1341
as the Ninth, giving also an extract from the Acts of this synod. He
was not alone in this practice. In the Greek Manuscript 968 (fols.
392-395) in the National Library of Paris, I found an anonymous
treatise on councils, also based on Euthymius tractate, in which
the Photian Council is added to the seven ecumenicals as the
Eighth, and that of 1341 as the Ninth. However, the author
concedes ecumenical character only to the first seven synods.
Another version of Euthymius treatise is preserved in the
Manuscript Historicus Graecus 34 in the National Library of Vienna
(fols. 359 ff.). 4 These two treatises must have been composed
soon after 1341 by anonymous zealots propagating the hesychast
doctrine. I would be tempted to date them before the writings of
Neilos, because they are not as emphatic concerning the
ecumenicity of the two last councils as was the Archbishop of
Rhodes who, because of his zeal for hesychasm, was promoted by
the Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos to an exarchos in 1366. He lost
this distinction under the Patriarch Makarios (1376-1379) who was
an adversary of the hesychasts.
As said before, it is not surprising that the hesychasts were
anxious to promote the synod of 1341 to that of an ecumenical
council, but why did they add to the seven councils described in
their prototype, the Photian Council as the Eighth? One is tempted
to perceive in these later editions an echo of the anti-Latin polemic
which was very acute in the fourteenth century. Did the Byzantines
of this period know that the Latins had added to the seven
councils the Ignatian synod of 869-870 which had unjustly, in their
opinion, condemned Photius? It is possible, although we find in

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the polemics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries very few

references to general councils. In the twelfth century Hugo
Etherianus or his brother Leo Tuscus was aware of the difference
between the Greeks and the Latins in the matter of general
councils. 5 But the Latins were, in general, not much interested in
the problem of the councils and their number. They insisted on the
primacy of the pope alone, and many of them were wary of
speaking about the councils, being uncertain how to reconcile
their authority with the papal primacy. Moreover, the case of
Photius played a very small role on the polemics of this period.
6
However, a strong echo of the anti-Latin polemic can be detected
in Neilos treatise on another point in contest: the question of
Filioque. He insists on the condemnation of the addition of
Filioque to the Creed said by the papal legates in their profession
of faith at the end of the Photian synod and he adds to his account
on the Photian council an extract from the famous letter of John
VIII to Photius in connection with the Filioque incident, which is
said to have been sent to Constantinople after the Photian council,
and the authenticity of which is doubtful. Moreover, it should be
stressed that many prominent supporters of hesychasm,
especially Gregory Palamas, Philotheos, Neilos of Rhodes, Neilos
Kabasilas, were very much engaged in anti-Latin polemics. Thus,
we must not exclude the thought that the addition of the Photian
council to the seven ecumenicals as the Eighth could be
interpreted as a condemnation of the Latin practice of regarding
the censures proclaimed against Photius by the synod of 869-870
as just and still valid.
It is possible that a similar operation was made in the new version
of the Synodicon Vetus. 7 Its first and most important version
contained in the Manuscript of Mount Sinai

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8
and edited, most probably on the basis of an older treatise by an
Ignatian between the years 886-891, regards the Ignatian council
as the Eighth ecumenical. The second version contained in some
manuscripts of the fourteenth century speaks of the Eighth
ecumenical as that of the union between Photius and John VIII.
9
However, there is also another explanation of the promotion of the
two synods to ecumenical councils. The partisans of the
hesychasts were naturally interested in stressing the importance
of the synod of 1341. When promoting it to an ecumenical council
they could not overlook the synod of union described in their
prototype. In the Byzantine tradition it was regarded as an
important assembly. They could thus not place their synod of 1341
immediately after the seven councils as the Eighth. This place was
given to the Photian synod, and the hesychast synod was
numbered as the Ninth. The Ignatian synod of 869-870, of course,
did not exist for them, as for all Byzantines, because it was
cancelled in 880.
In a similar way we can explain the designation of the Photian
synod as the Eighth ecumenical in the fourteenth century versions
of the Synodicon Vetus. Their prototype, reedited by an Ignatian at
a time when the Photian controversy was still a passionate topic,
stopped at the synod of 869-870 which he called the Eighth
Ecumenical. The Byzantines of the fourteenth century looked at
this incident from a long way off. If a council could be called the
Eighth Ecumenical it could be in their minds only the synod of
879-880, which had cancelled the Ignatian council. This explains
why in the new version of the Synodicon the Eighth council is that
which marked the reconciliation between Photius and John VIII.

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Which Councils are Ecumenical?

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These are the few exceptions from the general rule accepted by
the Byzantine Church which admits only seven ecumenical
councils, exceptions which might have been inspired by anti-Latin
trends in the fourteenth century or, at least, which show the
mentality of this period. Otherwise, in all official and private
documents from the eighth century to modern times it is stressed
that the Orthodox Church admitted only seven ecumenical
councils as the basis of the orthodox faith. This is particularly
documented by the numerous short treatises on councils which
are found in manuscripts in all major European libraries. 10 Some
of them can be regarded as a sort of catechism teaching the main
dogmas of the orthodox faith.
The conviction that only the first seven councils can be regarded
as ecumenical, and that this character can in no way be attributed
to the council of 869-870, was so firmly imbedded in Greek minds
that even those Greeks who had accepted the union with Rome,
concluded at the councils of Lyons and of Florence, hesitated to
accept the Latin practice of regarding the Ignatian council of
869-870 as the Eighth Ecumenical. This is especially illustrated by
two treatises on ecumenical councils written by Greek Uniats after
the Council of Florence. I found them in the Greek Ms. 1712 in the
National Library in Paris, and I published the main passages
concerning our question in Mlanges Eugne Tisserant. 11
After enumerating the seven ecumenical councils, and after
mentioning the synod of orthodoxy under Theodora, the widow of
the last iconoclastic Emperor Theophilus, the author of the first
treatise continues: The eighth holy and ecumenical synod was
held in Lyons under John the Pope of Rome. This synod was
convened against Photius who had become patriarch of
Constantinople in defiance of the canons. He had unjustly usurped
the throne when Ignatius the holy was still alive. Indeed, it was he
who effected the schism between the Greeks and the Latins. He

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denied that the most Holy Spirit proceeds also from the Son, but
only from the Father. Because of that the Synod condemned him
and defined that the Spirit proceeded from the Son as from the
Father.
The Ninth holy and ecumenical Synod was held in Constantinople
under Gregory, the Pope of Rome, and Bekkos, the patriarch of
Constantinople. This Synod also was assembled for the same
matter. After being assembled [this Synod] decreed in a very clear
and plain way that the Holy Spirit proceeded also from the Son as
from the Father, and presented it to the Church to believe [in], to
praise and to worship.
"The Tenth holy, great and ecumenical Synod was held in the city
of Florence, under Eugenius, the Pope of Rome, John
Palaeologus, the most glorious emperor of the Romans, and
Joseph, the patriarch of Constantinople. This also had convened
for the same matter. Because of that [the Synod] declared
solemnly that the Holy Spirit proceeded also from the Son in its
own definition, although this was not added to the symbol of the
faith in the Eastern Churches.
The second short treatise gives also first the description of the
seven ecumenical councils adding to them the council of Lyons as
the Eighth, that under the Patriarch Bekkos as the Ninth, and the
council of Florence as the Tenth. The author attributes the
convocation of the Council of Lyons to Pope John VIII whom he
regards as immediate successor to Pope Nicholas, omitting
Hadrian II, who was responsible for the condemnation of Photius
at the Council of 869-870. Both authors knew about the
condemnation of Photius by a synod, but had a very hazy idea
which synod it was. In this respect they were influenced by the
tradition deeply rooted in Byzantine minds that only the first seven
councils could be given the ecumenical character. None of the

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numerous treatises on councils, which they must have known,

said anything about the Ignatian synod of 869-870.
It was natural for a Greek Uniat to regard the two councils which
had proclaimed the union between the two Churchesthat of
Lyons (1274) and that of Florence (1438, 1439)as ecumenical and
to add them to the first seven councils. However, it was daring to
promote even the local synod convoked by Bekkos in 1277 to an
ecumenical council. One understands this promotion, because it
was this synod which had to proclaim the union concluded at
Lyons, in Constantinople.
The Orthodox Church is proud of this tradition. 12 We can detect
an echo of this glorious past of the Eastern Church in the
encyclical letter of the ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras written
in 1950 on the occasion of the feast of Orthodoxy, in which the
Patriarch thanked most solemnly his predecessors for having
preserved uncorrupted the faith proclaimed by the seven
ecumenical councils during the turbulent stages of history.
13
How and when did it happen that the Western Church abandoned
the primitive tradition, common to East and West, adding to the
first seven ecumenical councils the synod of 869-870 as the Eighth
Ecumenical? I studied this problem in my book on the Photian
Schism, 14 and I came to the conclusion that even the Roman
curia had accepted the decisions of the council which had
restored Photius, and which continued to recognize as ecumenical
councils binding all Christians, only the seven primitive synods.
Among other documents we can quote a letter of Pope Marinus II
(942-946) to Sicus, Bishop of Capua, and that of Pope Leo IX to
Peter, the Patriarch of Antioch. Both Popes knew only the seven
general councils. Equally important is the formula of the

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profession of faith which every Pope had to recite and sign after
his election. This formula is preserved in the so-called Liber
Diurnus,
15 a kind of school-book intended for the
training of papal notaries, containing copies of most of the
formulae and instructions. The official formulary used is in the
papal chancery. The formula for the profession of faith
enumerated originally only four councils, but the Fifth, Sixth and
the Seventh were added after these councils had been accepted in
Rome. The Seventh Council could have been added only after the
Photian council of 879-880. During this council Photius asked that
the ecumenical character of this council should be officially
recognized by the whole Church.
16 It can
be shown that before this date the Seventh Council had not yet
been added to the six ecumenical councils in Rome. The latest
edition of the formula containing the profession of faith of the
newly elected popes is preserved in the collection of Canon Law
composed by Cardinal Deusdedit during the reign of Pope Gregory
VII (1073-1085). He copied it from the Liber Diurnus which then
must have been reedited in the eleventh century, most probably
during the reign of Leo IX. It is very significant that in this new
edition of the formula only seven councils are enumerated as
ecumenical and binding upon all Christians. Also, the so-called
Cautio Episcopi
, or the profession form recited by bishops after their election,
contained in the new edition of the Liber Diurnus, enumerates only
seven ecumenical councils. All this shows clearly that up to the
end of the eleventh century the Roman chancellery recognized
only seven ecumenical councils, excluding the council of 869-870,
and that of 879-880. Both Churches were thus in perfect accord on
this important matter.
I have tried also to explain why the Ignatian Council had been
added in the West to the list as the Eighth Ecumenical. This
happened during the reign of Gregory VII, who had opened the

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Lateran archives to his canonists who were looking for new

arguments for the papal primacy and who were against the
intervention of laymen in the appointment of bishops and abbots.
They needed a strongly worded official document which they
could use in their fight against the investiture, or appointment of
clergy to ecclesiastical dignities by influential laymen. They found
such a document in Canon twenty-two voted by the Ignatian
Council, which forbade laymen to influence the appointment of
prelates. All canonists and reformists of the Gregorian period used
this canon as their most powerful weapon in their struggle for the
freedom of the Church in the election of prelates. To give more
weight to this argument they promoted the Ignatian Council to one
of the most important ecumenical synods, overlooking the Acts of
the Photian Council which had cancelled the Council of 869-70,
although the Acts of this council were also kept in the Lateran
Archives. Only Cardinal Deusdedit copied a part of the Acts of the
Photian Synod of 861 and of 879-880. He was followed by Ivo of
Chartres, who, in the famous prologue to his col1ection of Canon
Law, quoted a long passage of the letter of John VIII to Basil I
concerning the restoration of Photius in the "doctored" version
read at the council. 17
The controversy between Latins and Greeks concerning the
number of ecumenical synods was begun very late, only in the
fifteenth century, during the Council of Ferrara-Florence. During
the discussion on the Filioque use was made of the Acts of the
first councils. When, at the beginning of the sixth session,
Cardinal Julian Cesarini asked the Greeks to lend him the book
containing the Acts of the Eighth Council, 18 the metropolitan of
Ephesus answered that the Greeks did not possess these Acts.
This is understandable because these Acts were destroyed when
the Council of 869-870 was abrogated. But even were it [this
book] in our possession, said the metropolitan, we could on no
account be asked to number among the ecumenical councils a

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synod which not only was never approved, but was even
condemned, for the synod mentioned by Your Holiness drew up
Acts against Photius . . . , but another synod was subsequently
held which reinstated Photius and abrogated the first synod. This
council, also called the Eighth, met under Pope John. It also dealt
with the question of addition to the Synod, deciding that nothing
should be added. . . . Since then the Acts of that council were
annulled, it is not these, but rather the Acts of the subsequent
council that should be looked for. The Cardinal, surprised by this
outburst, assured the Metropolitan that nothing should be read
from the Eighth Council. However, five days later, in the course of
the seventh session, the Archbishop of Rhodes, speaking in the
name of the Latins, attacked the Metropolitan of Ephesus in a very
passionate way. He maintained that Photius was an enemy of the
Roman Church and was rightly condemned by the Eighth Council.
As to what you recently affirmed, continued the Archbishop,
namely, that a synod was summoned later and condemned the
Eighth Council, I say that this seems very unlikely. It will not do to
come forward with any doubtful argument to prove the contrary,
that the synod did pass such a condemnation, for neither the Pope
nor his representative were present. Because the Latins had no
knowledge of such a synod, therefore, the council you mentioned
never took place.
19
In spite of this sharp encounter, the question of the number of
ecumenical synods was left open. The Greeks continued to count
only seven ecumenical councils and in the council's definitions
every reference to the Eighth Council was intentionally omitted. It
should be stressed that even the Greek Uniats did not accept the
Latin thesis concerning the Eighth Council. This is illustrated by
the attitude of the Greek Bishop Bartholomew Abraham of Crete.
Because the Latin text of the Acts of the Council of Florence was
lost, the Archbishop of Ravenna asked the Bishop of Crete to
translate the Greek Acts into Latin. He did it in an abridged form,
but in his preface he called the Council of Florence the Eighth

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Ecumenical. He did so with the full approval of the papal

chancellery given to the translation under Pope Clement VII
(1523-1534), in 1526. This title was given to the Council of Florence
also by one of the first editors of conciliar Acts, Laurence Surius,
in 1567, although with some hesitation.
20
Most of the famous theologians of the fifteenth and sixteenth
century were impressed by the edition of the Acts of the Florentine
Council by the Bishop of Crete, although some of them remained
faithful to the Latin tradition designating the Ignatian Council as
the Eighth Ecumenical. Therefore, they referred to the Council of
Florence as the Ninth. This can be traced in the writings of Fantino
Vallaresso, Juan de Torquemada, Reginald Pole, Antonio Agustin,
Gasparo Contarini, Michael Eparco. 21
From the beginning of the seventeenth century, however, another
practice had started. First of all, the Ignatian Council came more
and more into prominence among church historians. In 1602
appeared the tenth volume of the Annates Ecclesiasticis by the
first modern Catholic historian Cardinal Cesare Baronius who
vehemently rejected the title given to the Council of Florence,
arguing that this title should be given only to the Council of
869-870 which had condemned Photius who, in Baronius eyes,
was the most dangerous enemy of the Roman Primacy and a
detested Father of the schism between East and West. In 1604 M.
Rader published in Innsbruck the Acts of this council with the
anti-Photianist collection which was regarded as containing the
most reliable documents concerning the affair of Photius. This
was intended to end the practice inaugurated by the Bishop of
Crete.
On the other side already the Archbishop of Rhodes in his speech

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during the seventh session of the Council of Florence, when

refusing the Greek thesis concerning the annulment of the Eighth
Council, hinted that from the Eighth Council on many important
assemblies were convoked by the Popes, meaning the Western
councils, the four Lateran, those of Lyons, Vienna and Constance.
These councils more and more attracted the attention of the
canonists. For example, the famous Spanish canonist Antonio
Agustin (1517-1586) counted nine councils common to Greeks and
Latinsthe Ninth the Council of Florenceand seven Latin
councils, namely, the Third, Fourth and Fifth Lateran, the Second
of Lyons, that of Vienna, of Constance and of Trent. Jacobazzi
(1538) also added to the eight first councils the Latin assemblies,
but left out in his list the first and second councils of Lateran and
that of Basel.
All these hesitations and uncertainties concerning the number of
ecumenical councils were put aside by Bellarmin. In the first
volume of his main work Disputationes de Controvertus
Christianae Fidei
(Innsbruck, 1586-1593)
Cardinal Robert Bellarmin added to the eight first councils all
Western assemblies, giving to the Council of Florence the
sixteenth place. He had some reserve concerning the validity of
the Council of Basel. At the same time he gave a new definition of
a general council, and discussed the conditions which would give
a council its ecumenical character and authority binding on all
Catholics. The first condition was the convocation by a Pope who
should preside in person or through a representative. He
mentioned also that at the first councils all five patriarchs were
present representing the bishops of their patriarchates. Now,
however, defined Bellarmin, the absence of the oriental patriarchs
does not affect the ecumenicity of a council convoked by the
Pope, because these patriarchs are heretics, or certainly
schismatics. Bellarmins definition put aside the most important
objection which could be raised against the ecumenical character

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of the councils held in the West from the twelfth century on. His
work was reprinted several times and the Cardinal became a
leading authority on theological and conciliar matters. No wonder
that another editor of the Conciliar Acts, S. Bini (Cologne, 1606),
following Bellarmin, regarded the designation of the Council of
Florence as the Eighth, which had been retained, although with
some reserve, by his predecessor Surius, as spurious and
declared that the designation Sixteenth should be substituted
for Eighth. What hastened this new trend in conciliar matters
was the preoccupation of the canonists to assure the ecumenical
character to the Council of Trent (1545-1565), opposed and denied
by the Protestants. To achieve this it seemed necessary to add to
the old list of ecumenical councils also the Latin councils held in
the West. When Pope Paul V had ordered a new publication of the
Conciliar Acts, a special congregation was formed to direct the
preliminary work of the editors. Examining the differences
concerning the Council of Florence, the congregation decided in
its session of October 21, 1595, that the Council of Florence
should not be called the Eighth, but the Sixteenth Ecumenical
Counci1.
22 The way
for such a decision was prepared by Bellarmin and Bini. So it
happened that the
Collectio Romana
, the Roman edition of the Conciliar Acts, with the preface of I.
Simond (
Concilia Generalia
4 vols. Rome 1608-1612)
23
accepted Bellarmins numbering of the ecumenical councils and
their example was followed by all editors of Acts of the following
period up to the present time.
This decision is, of course, not a pronunciamento on dogmatic
matters. It was made rather for practical reasons and was based

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on works of canonists and theologians of that period. It had not

solved the problem of the Ignatian and the Photian councils,
making its solution rather more difficult; There is only one way to
achieve an understanding. The Western Church has to revive the
tradition which she herself had followed up to the twelfth century,
and the memory of which was alive in the West up to the
seventeenth century, as is illustrated by the history of the Council
of Florence, and recognize only the seven primitive councils,
excluding the so-called Eighth.
Concerning the Western councils, the Orthodox will have two
objections to the value the Latins give them. According to the
orthodox teaching, only a council which makes a dogmatic
decision can be regarded as ecumenical. 24 All other councils are
local. This was one of the reasons that the councils of 869-870 and
of 879-880 were not regarded as ecumenical because they were
convoked to decide on a matter of discipline and canon law. When
we apply this ruling we see that many of the Western councils do
not qualify.
As to the acceptance of Western councils by the Orthodox, let us
recall the words which Nicetos, the Bishop of Nicomedia,
addressed in 1136 to Anselm, Bishop of Havelberg, during their
discussion of the Roman primacy. 25 The Roman Church, whose
primacy among its sisters we accept, to which we give the first
place of honor as president of a general council, separated itself
[from us] . . . . When therefore, because of these circumstances,
this Church assembles a council with its Western bishops, without
our knowledge of what is happening, it is right that its bishops
should accept its decrees and observe them with the veneration
due to them. . . . But, we, although we are in accord with the
Roman Church concerning the Catholic faith, how could we,
because we do not keep assemblies at the same time she does,
accept decisions which had been taken without our advice, and of

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which we even do not know anything?

These words recall another mark or character which a council
must have in order to be called ecumenical, according to the
Orthodox Church, namely that all five patriarchs should be present
at such an assembly and that its decisions should be accepted by
the whole Church. Because of this reason, says the Greek
specialist of canon law, H. Alivisatos, 26 the Eastern Church,
although it considers itself a continuation of the primitive and
indivisible Church, has abstained from convoking an Eighth
Ecumenical Council for the reason that it would not be accepted
as such by the Roman Church. A council which is not accepted in
unanimous fashion does not possess the character of catholicity.
In the discussion of this and other problems dividing Eastern and
Western Christianity we should recall the recommendation given
by the Fathers during the fourth session of the Synod of Union
(879-880). 27 The holy Synod said: Every Church has certain old
usages which it has inherited. One should not quarrel and argue
about them. Let the Roman Church observe its usages; this is
legitimate. But let also the Church of Constantinople observe
certain usages which it has inherited from old times. Let it be
likewise so in the Oriental sees. . . . Many things would have not
happened if the Churches had followed this recommendation in
the past.
Francis Dvornik (Roman Catholic), has been on the faculty of the
Charles IV University of Prague, College de France, Cambridge
University and Harvard University. His many books include: The
Photian Schism: History and Legend
;
The Idea of Apostolicity in Byzantium
and
Byzance et la Primaut

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1 The treatise is preserved in Ms. Arundel 529 of the British

Museum. See my book, The Photian Schism (Cambridge, 1948),
pp. 383, 456-457.
2 See K. Krumbacher, Geschichte der Byzantinischen Literatur
(Munich, 1897), p. 109, and H. G. Beck,
Kirche und Theologische Literatur im Byzantinischen Reich
(Munich, 1959), p. 787.
3 Cf. G. Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State (New
Brunswick, 1957), pp. 456ff.
4 Cf. F. Dvornik, pp. 384, 420, 456.
5 Ibid., p. 347. (See also below, footnote #25).
6 Ibid. 348ff., 397ff.
7 Published by J. Pappe in J. A. Fabricins Bibliotheca Graeca
(Hamburg, 1809), vol. 12, pp. 360-421.
8 Sinaiticus Graecus, No. 418 (1117), fols. 357a-365a. Cf. F.
Dvornik,
The Patriarch Photius in the Light of
Recent Research
(Munich, 1958), pp.
35ff.
9 A new edition of the Synodicon and its versions on the basis of
all available manuscripts is being prepared by John Parker.
10 Cf. Dvornik, The Photian Schism, pp. 452ff. Only one such

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treatise has been published by Ch. Justellus in his

Nomocanon Photii . . . Accessere ejusdem Photii, Nili metropolitae
Rhodi et Anonymi tractatus de synodis oecumenicis
(Paris, 1615). This treatise and that of Neilos are reprinted by G. A.
Rhallis in his
Syntagma
(Athens 1885-1889), p. 370-374, 389-395.
11 Studi et Testi, No. 232 (1964), vol. 2, pp. 93-101.
12 Cf. H. Alivisatos, Les Conciles Oecumnique V, VI, VII et VIII,
Le Concile et les conciles
, edition de Chevetogne (1960), p. 120.
13 It was published in the official review of the Patriarchate, Ortho
doxia
(1950), No.2, p. 39-41. A French translation appeared in the
Istina
(1954), No. 1, pp. 46, 47.
14 Ibid., pp. 314ff.
15 Cf. Ibid., pp. 318ff., 435ff.
16 At the beginning of the fifth session Photius asked that Rome
and all other Patriarchs should regard the council of 787 as
ecumenical and should add this council to the six others. All
representatives of the patriarchs did so solemnly when signing the
decisions of the Photian Council. Mansi,
Concilia 17, col. 493,
508ff.
17 I discussed lvos prologue in my book, The Photian Schism, pp.
302-308. On pp. 335-341 I quoted some canonists who had copied
parts of lvos prologue. Since then I found lvos prologue with the

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letter of John VIII in several other collections of canon law which

are not yet published. This shows that Ivos prologue with the
papal letter rehabilitating Photius exercised a greater influence on
Western canonists than has been thought.
18 Mansi, Concilia, vol. 31, cols. 528-551; cf. Dvornik, The Photian
Schism
, pp.
362ff.
19 Cf. also Quae supersunt Actorum Graecorum Concilii Florentini
, part I, ed. J. Gill (Rome 1953, Concilium Florentinum, series B.
vol. V, 1), p. 90.
20 See Dvornik, The Photian Schism, pp. 364ff. More detailed
description is given by V. Peri, II numero dei concili ecumenici
nella tradizione cattolica moderna,
Aevum
37 (1963), pp. 472ff., and
I consili e le chiese
(Rome, Cultura 29, 1964), pp. 55ff.
21 See V. Peri, I Concili e le Chiese, p. 57.
22 The history of this edition was examined in detail by Peri in his
study
Il Numero dei Concili, pp. 484ff. He used the archives of
the Vatican and reproduced the most important decisions of the
Congregation.
23 On the Roman Edition see for details V. Peri Due protagonisti
dell Editio Romani dei concili ecumenici.
Studio Testi, 237, pp.
131-232. See also G. Leonardi Per la storia delledizione romana.
Ibid
. pp. 583-637.

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24 Already in 1177 Hugo Etherianus, or his brother Leo Tuscus,

gave such a definition of an ecumenical council according to the
Greeks. See the quotation in Dvornik,
The Photian Schism, p.
347. This definition is given in many Greek manuscripts containing
treatises on councils. Let me quote here the Ms. 1319 of the
Bibliotheque National in Paris. The Ms. is of the thirteenth century.
On fol. 9 we read: The Ecumenical Councils are [Synods] which
were assembled on the order of an Emperor, which included
bishops from all the Roman Empire, which discussed a problem of
the faith and proclaimed a symbol of faith. All other councils are
local. This Ms. gives the list of general and also local synods.
25 Dialogi, Migne, Faires Latini, vol. 188, col. 1217ff. (chs. 7-8).
26 Ibid., p. 120.

Francis Dvornik, Which

Councils are Ecumenical?
urnal of Ecumenical Studies
3(2), 1966, pp. 314-328.
27 Mansi, XVII, Col. 489.

Jo

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