FOURTH COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE

The 'Fourth Council of Constantinople' as an ecumenical council is a name given to one of two meetings in Constantinople: the first in 869-870; the second in 879-880. The second basically reversed the key decision of the first.

Contents

The Council of 869-870

The Council of 879-880

The status of Photius as a Saint

Notes

External links

The Council of 869-870

This Council, recognized as an ecumenical council by the Roman Catholic Church met from October 5, 869 to February 28, 870.
It 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.
This council was subsequently repudiated be the Universal Church at the Council of 879-880 as a latrocinium.

The Council of 879-880

After the death of Ignatius in 877, Photius mounted the See of Constantinople for a second time. A Council, comprising the representatives of all the five patriarchates, including that of Rome (all in all 383 bishops), was called in 879 and reinstated Photius as Ecumenical Patriarch.
The council also condemned any alteration whatsoever to the original Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, thereby condemning the addition of the Filioque clause to the creed as heretical — a view strongly espoused by Photius in his polemics against Rome. Late on, Roman Catholics came to separate the two issues and insist on the theological orthodoxy of the clause. According to Philip Schaff, "To the Greek acts was afterwards added a (pretended) letter of Pope John VIII to Photius, declaring the Filioque to be an addition which is rejected by the church of Rome, and a blasphemy which must be abolished calmly and by, degrees."
Whether and how far the council was confirmed by Pope John VIII is also a matter of dispute: The council was held in the presence of papal legates, who approved of the proceedings, Roman Catholic historian Francis Dvornik argues that Pope accepted the acts of the council and annulled those of the Council of 869-870. Other Catholic historians, such as Warren Carroll, dispute this view, arguing that the pope rejected the council. Philipp Schaff opines that the Pope, deceived by his legates about the actual proceedings, first applauded the Emperor but later denounced the council.Philip Schaff, Conflict of the Eastern and Western Churches
In any case, the Pope de facto accepted the reinstatement of Photius as Patriarch. However later, in the wake of further conflicts between East and West in the 11th century, the council was repudiated.
Though this council has been hailed by some Orthodox Christians as the "Eighth Ecumenical Council" it has not been universally accepted as such, though it is held in high esteem at least as a local council and is referred to as the First-and-Second Council by Byzantine canonists John Zonaras, Theodore Balsamon, Matthew Blastaris and others.

The status of Photius as a Saint

Photius is now considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church; in part for having refused to acquiesce to the decision of this council and what the Eastern Orthodox consider to have been overweening monarchical aspirations on the part of Rome's patriarch.
Photius is also considered a saint by Eastern Catholics, who praise Photius' personal life as virtuous and admire his remarkable talents, even genius, and the wide range of his intellectual aptitudes. Eastern Orthodox Christians argue that there is a logical contradiction between accepting a person as a saint and at the same time accepting a council that anathematized him.

Notes

External links

★ Philip Schaff's Church History: Conflict of the Eastern and Western Churches

★ Catholic Encyclopedia: Fourth Council of Constantinople (on the Council of 869)

★ Legion of Mary, Eight Ecumenical Council (on the Council of 869)

★ George Dion Dragas. The Eighth Ecumenical Council: Constantinople IV (879/880) and the Condemnation of the ''Filioque'' Addition and Doctrine (An Eastern Orthodox perspective on the Council of 879)

★ T. R. Valentine, The Eighth and Ninth Ecumenical Councils (An Eastern Orthodox perspective on the Council of 879)

★ The First-Second Council from the Rudder