MEDIEVAL COUNCILS(2) The Lateran Councils

Isaac Padinjarekuttu

The five Lateran Councils were so called because they were held in the Lateran palace, the pope’s principal residence in Rome. Lateran I was called by Pope Callistus II in 1123 for the solemn confirmation of the Concordat of Worms, which ended lay investiture, the principal concern of the Gregorian Reform. It also decided to reform clerical discipline and forbade simony. It also forbade priests, deacons, and sub-deacons from keeping women in their houses except mother, sister or aunt, and any others who were above every suspicion. Lateran II was called in 1139 by Pope Innocent II for the reform of the Church. One of its important canons was regarding the law of celibacy. Marriage of clerics was declared invalid. It also forbade monks to study medicine and prohibited the charging of interest. Lateran III was called in 1179 by Pope Alexander III, and its most important decision was about papal election. It was reserved to the College of Cardinals and a two-third majority was declared necessary. It also had various disciplinary decrees: it forbade multiple benefices and decided that a candidate for the office of bishop should be minimum 30 years of age.

The best known and most comprehensive of the Lateran councils was Lateran IV (1215) which was convoked by the energetic Pope Innocent III. This was one of the most important of all medieval councils and the most wide-ranging in scope. It may be described as the Trent or Vatican II of the Middle Ages. It met in November 1215, having been summoned by Pope Innocent III for this purpose: “to eradicate vices and to plant virtues, to correct faults and to reform morals, to remove heresies and to strengthen faith, to settle discords and to establish peace, to get rid of oppression and foster liberty, to induce princes and Christian people to come to the aid and succour of the Holy Land.” Over four hundred bishops from throughout western Christendom attended, in addition to other representatives of church and state. At the final session on 30 November, 1215, its seventy-one decrees were approved. These decrees mainly concerned practical rather than doctrinal issues and dealt with practically every problem in the church at that time. Some idea of the councils concerns is provided by the headings of the decrees, like Pride of Greeks towards Latins, Different rites within the same faith, Heretics, Appointing preachers, Prohibition against new religious orders, Punishing clerical incontinence, Preventing drunkenness among the clergy, Prelates’ feasts and their negligence at divine services, Keeping chrism and the Eucharist under lock and key, On confession being made, and on communicating at least at Easter, Jews should be distinguished from Christians in their dress, Simony, Expedition for the recovery of the Holy Land, etc. A considerable number of decrees dealt with clergy and religious, their life-style, their education and training, their eating and drinking, their chastity, dress, occupations forbidden to them, etc. The concern of the church was to provide suitable pastors for churches; as for the laity, the decree on annual confession and communion was influential, making them obligatory. Unfortunately, true to the medieval spirit of fanatic passion for one’s own view of the truth, the attitude of the council towards the Eastern Churches and non-Christians (Jews and Muslims) was very negative. But any attempt to come to terms with the history of the western church must come to terms with this council. It issued a decree of some relevance in almost all the areas of Christian life. The final Lateran council was Lateran V (1512-1517) called by Poe Leo X (1513-1521) at the eve of the Reformation, to reform the Church and was concluded just three months before the Reformation began, with these words: Finally it was reported to us on several occasions through the cardinals and the prelates of the three committees of the Council that no topic remained for them to discuss and that over several months nothing at all had been brought before them by anyone.” One can only wonder at the lack of awareness which the Pope and his advisers displayed, because the epoch-making event of the Reformation was already underway in Germany, across the border, which Leo X dismissed as “squabble of monks in Germany.”

Isaac Padinjarekuttu
(Professor of Church History at Oriens Theological College, Shillong)

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