Seventh Ecumenical CouncilDocumented
Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea II)
Ζ΄ Οἰκουμενικὴ Σύνοδος
- Date
- 787
- Location
- Nicaea
Restored the veneration of the holy icons and condemned Iconoclasm, distinguishing veneration (proskynesis) from worship (latreia) due to God alone.
Historical background
- After decades of imperial Iconoclasm, the council met under the empress Irene and Patriarch Tarasios to restore the traditional veneration of images.
Principal dispute
- Whether the making and veneration of icons is idolatry or the confession of the Incarnation.
Dogmatic result
- Icons were restored; honour paid to the image passes to its prototype; worship in the strict sense belongs to God alone.
Heresies and persons condemned
- Iconoclasm and the pseudo council of Hieria (754).
Later reception
- Received as the Seventh Ecumenical Council. St Theodore the Studite defended it as ecumenical against those who called it merely local.
Related saints
Related cases
Bibliography
- ACO, series secunda, tom. 3 (Concilium Universale Nicaenum Secundum).