FATHERS OF THE FIFTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

The Orthodox Church recognizes seven Ecumenical Councils. All of them took place in the first millennium. Each Ecumenical Council is celebrated as a liturgical feast. This is a key characteristic of Orthodoxy. The Fifth Ecumenical Council took place in 553. All other Ecumenical Councils had the goal of purifying the Church’s teaching from errors that had arisen and literally excommunicating heretics. The Fifth Council is the only one of the Seven Ecumenical Councils that had the goal of returning to the Unity of the Church those who separated themselves from it. But this is precisely what did not happen.

1 On August 7, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council. Many similar celebrations are held throughout the year in honor of the Ecumenical Councils. Initially, each of the seven councils is celebrated separately. There is a common celebration for all seven Ecumenical Councils, as well as a feast for the first six. Every Orthodox Christian should be aware of this, because the “Ecumenical Council” as a holiday and liturgical commemoration is a fundamental and essential feature of Orthodoxy.

2 According to Orthodox understanding, an Ecumenical Council is a gathering of bishops from throughout the Roman Empire, as well as some bishops from abroad. Since the division of the Roman Empire into two parts and the subsequent disappearance of the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium, there have been only seven Ecumenical Councils worldwide. The Ecumenical Council is of such enormous importance in Orthodoxy that, as a historical event, doctrinal decision, and canonical phenomenon, it requires detailed explanation and interpretation.

3. In the liturgical calendar, the celebration of the Ecumenical Council is referred to as the commemoration of the “Holy Fathers.” This designation, however, should not be misunderstood. After all, it is not a feast in honor of the council participants, who are venerated as “official” saints. It is a feast of the Ecumenical Council as an inspired event that shaped human history. It is a commemoration of the councils as events in which the Holy Spirit objectively and predominantly revealed his historical presence in the Church in the form of decisions on dogma, morals, and canon law. All participants are fathers, and the Church remembers them with gratitude.

4 At the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries, there were already around 2,000 Orthodox bishops in the Roman Empire. But not everyone received an invitation from the emperor to the Ecumenical Council, and not everyone attended—for health, political, or logistical reasons.

5 It is known that Saint Augustine, bishop and father of, was invited to the Council of 431 in Ephesus by Emperor Theodosius the Younger, who then reigned in Constantinople. Augustine’s authority was immense among his contemporaries, his theological scholarship unparalleled, and his diplomatic skill remarkable. But by the time the invitation to the Council reached his episcopal city of Annaba, in present-day Algeria, Augustine had already died on August 28, 430. Had he attended the Council, the history of the Church and the world might have taken on a better dimension.

6 The Fifth Ecumenical Council was convened by Emperor Justinian the Great, who reigned from 527 to 565. It took place in Constantinople from May 5 to June 2, 553. 164 Fathers, including eight Western bishops, participated. The most important outcome of the council was the partial condemnation of three recent bishops and theologians: Theodore of Mopsuestia (350–428), Theodoret of Cyrus (393–457), and Ibas of Edessa (+457). These three bishops were involved, and the very first document criticizing their teaching consisted of three paragraphs. In church history, this process has been called the “Condemnation of the Three Chapters.” Paradoxically, it was this decision, the most important of the council, that proved to be the most controversial and tragic. First, each of these three authors was a theologian and a bishop. They all died at peace with the Church; the local churches in which they worked venerated them not only as saints but also as Church Fathers.

7 By the middle of the 6th century, it was clear that the Church of Alexandria in Egypt, the Church of Ethiopia, the Church of Armenia, and half of the Church of Antioch in Syria had separated themselves from universal communion. They had to be reunited one way or another. Emperor Justinian and his entourage were convinced that condemning these three Doctors would restore the unity of the entire Church. But nothing of the sort happened.

8 Since Orthodoxy considers the ecumenical councils infallible, we cannot consider any of their fundamental decisions to be erroneous. The Church is a community of interpreters. It is necessary to find a correct, orthodox, and convincing explanation for the council’s decisions. This is the most complex theological hermeneutics.

9 “I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh,” writes the Apostle Paul (Romans 9:3). To win the Jews to the Church and give them faith in Christ, Paul was prepared to curse himself. It was an enormous, incomprehensible price. Perhaps that is exactly what the Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council did. They gave up something absolutely fundamental in order to integrate the brothers into the unity of the Church. Had this happened, Christianity would have been united and might indeed have spread among all peoples and throughout the entire earth. World history knows many tragedies. This is perhaps the least known. The commemoration of the Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council is a holiday full of tears.