Fourth Lateran Council

Fourth Lateran Council, (1215), the 12th ecumenical council, generally considered the greatest council before Trent. The council was years in preparation as Pope Innocent III desired the widest possible representation. More than 400 bishops, 800 abbots and priors, envoys of many European kings, and personal representatives of Frederick II (confirmed by the council as emperor of the West) took part.

The purpose of the council was twofold: reform of the church and recovery of the Holy Land. Many of the conciliar decrees touching on church reform and organization remained in effect for centuries. The council ruled on such vexing problems as the use of church property, tithes, judicial procedures, and patriarchal precedence. It ordered Jews and Saracens to wear distinctive dress and obliged Catholics to make a yearly confession and to receive Communion during the Lenten season. The council sanctioned the word transubstantiation as a correct expression of Eucharistic doctrine. The teachings of the Cathari and Waldenses were condemned. Innocent also ordered a four-year truce among Christian rulers so that a new Crusade could be launched. The Orthodox churches do not accept any of the five Lateran councils as truly ecumenical.