Questions about the Church's Councils

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Why do councils happen?

What are Catholic canons when it comes to the councils?

Are all Catholic councils and their canons binding on all Catholics today?

Appreciate it guys. Would like to learn more about the Church’s Councils. 😊
 
Councils happen for 2 reasons mainly. And the language differentiates them accordingly.
Ecumenical Councils when matters of Doctrine are in discussion. An example would be “The Trinity” or the “Nature of Christ”.
Typically these affect all the of the Church and the language states so.

On the other hand one may have a Synod of Bishops that only pertains to a “section” of the Church again to discuss and settle issues within the particular “church”. Here for example are councils that were called up by the Bishops of a specific region.
Hope this helps.
Peace!
 
And why do good councils happen to bad people?

But all joking aside, it’s my understanding that they are called in response to the emergence of some heresy to affirm the right thinking of the Church in the matter.
 
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Why do councils happen?

What are Catholic canons when it comes to the councils?

Are all Catholic councils and their canons binding on all Catholics today?

Appreciate it guys. Would like to learn more about the Church’s Councils. 😊
There are about 256 dogmas of faith, detailed in Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, by Ludwig Ott. Also there is Sources of Catholic Dogma, by Denzinger, older numbering, online:

http://patristica.net/denzinger/

Yes, binding:
http://www.vatican.va/content/john-...i_motu-proprio_30061998_ad-tuendam-fidem.html
 
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Councils happen for all sorts of reasons, though usually to address some issue or issues affecting the universal Church (if the council is ecumenical/general) or some locale (local or partial councils).

The definitive judgments of ecumenical Councils (or smaller Councils given universal authority by the Pope or entire college of bishops) in the realm of faith and morals, often in the form of canons, are binding for all time since they deal with immutable truths revealed by God and, since the faith is one, it must be the same always and everywhere.

Canons dealing with ecclesiastical laws and other disciplines are generally no longer–those that would be still in effect have been subsumed into the code of canon law.

The Code of Canon Law has all sorts of canons related to ecumenical Councils, and other synods and councils at every level. As an example, for ecumenical councils, see canons 338 to 341 here:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann330-367_en.html
 
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The First Ecumenical Council was called by the Emperor Constantine to bring about unity among the squabbling Christian bishops. Ecumenical means all the bishops of the world can attend, though that never really happens. It also means their decisions are for the whole world.

Synods are smaller gatherings for bishops of a particular area. Or smaller groups of bishops representative of all the bishops. A series of these synods have been held every 3 years since Vatican II to address particular issues in the Church. The next one will discuss Synodality, so not much point to saying more now.
 
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The Magisterium determines whether a Council is authoritative. I suppose the Gnostic Christians likely held councils too. But the Magisterium did not accept them as Councils.

The Anglican Communion holds periodic councils today. The Magisterium does not accept them as well.
 
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