Second Council of Constantinople
council · 553 · Constantinople
Justinian's council of 165 bishops condemned the Three Chapters — Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret's writings against Cyril, and the letter of Ibas — hoping to win back the non-Chalcedonian east. Pope Vigilius resisted, was detained, and finally assented; the west took generations to receive it, and the east was not won.
The Second Council of Constantinople is the fifth of the first seven ecumenical councils recognized by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. It is also recognized by the Old Catholics and others. Protestant opinions and recognition of it are varied. Some Protestants, such as Calvinists, recognize the first four councils, whereas Lutherans and most Anglo-Catholics accept all seven. Constantinople II was convoked by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I under the presidency of Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople. It was held from 5 May to 2 June 553. Participants were overwhelmingly Eastern bishops—only sixteen Western bishops were present, including nine from Illyricum and seven from Africa, but none from Italy—out of the 152 total.
Justinian's bid to win back the anti-Chalcedonians by condemning the Three Chapters.
Fourteen anathemas against Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret's anti-Cyril writings and the letter of Ibas; Vigilius resisted, then assented; the east stayed unreconciled.
People
- Eutychius of Constantinople presided
- Evagrius Ponticus condemned
- Justinian I convened
- Origen condemned
- Theodore of Mopsuestia condemned
- Vigilius participant
- Didymus the Blind condemned
Documents
Glosses
- Who exactly was condemned in 553 The fifth ecumenical council anathematised Origen, and the three men usually named with him were not all named by it. Canon 11 of Constantinople II lists Origen alone among the ancient heretics it condemns. It is the…
What it decided
- The restoration of all things The punishment of the wicked and of the demons has an end, and all rational creatures are at last restored.
- Ever-virgin Mary is ever-virgin: before the birth, in it, and after it.
- The pre-existence of souls Souls existed before their bodies and are joined to them in consequence of an earlier fall.
In the disputes
- The Origenist dispute Three centuries after his death, propositions circulating under Origen's name — the pre-existence of souls, the restoration of all things — were anathematized by name at Constantinople.
- The Three Chapters Justinian condemned three long-dead Antiochene writers to conciliate the churches that had refused Chalcedon.
Wikipedia · Catholic Encyclopedia — Second Council of Constantinople · OrthodoxWiki — Fifth Ecumenical Council · The Seven Ecumenical Councils — Constantinople II, a.d. 553 (NPNF II/14)