Council of Constantinople of 879–880
With papal legates present, the council confirmed Photios, who had already returned to the patriarchal throne in 877; annulled the condemnations issued in 863 and 869–870; affirmed the Creed without the Filioque; and recognized Nicaea II as the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
Historical context
Later Orthodox and Catholic assessments of this council differ. It should therefore not be called simply the eighth ecumenical council without identifying the tradition and reception claim being described.
Perspective note
Shared subject; this bundled record was originally written with an Orthodox-informed editorial lens.
Key points
- Photios returned to office in 877; the council confirmed rather than initiated that restoration.
- Papal legates attended the gathering.
- The council addressed earlier condemnations, the unchanged Creed, and the ecumenical standing of Nicaea II.
Scripture
- Acts 15:28 — The apostolic assembly's conciliar formula is invoked in official Orthodox explanations of the Church's councils.
Primary sources
As a later reception witness, the 2016 Encyclical calls it:
The 2016 Holy and Great Council names the gathering of 879–880 as a Great Council in its account of later Orthodox conciliar reception.
the Great Council (879-880) convened at the time of St. Photios the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople
Passage context and translation
The 2016 council surveys conciliar continuity after the ecumenical councils and names the gathering of 879–880 as an example of later Orthodox conciliar authority.
Before the excerpt
The Conciliar work continues uninterrupted in history through the later councils of universal authority, such as, for example,
After the excerpt
and also the Great Councils convened at the time of St. Gregory Palamas (1341, 1351, 1368)
Sources and further reading
- Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church — Encyclical of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church
The 2016 council surveys conciliar continuity after the ecumenical councils and names the gathering of 879–880 as an example of later Orthodox conciliar authority. - OCA: Saint Photios and the councils of 869–870 and 879–880