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Concept
First Vatican Council
Summary
The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the Council of Trent which was adjourned in 1563. The council was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after four years of planning and preparation. It opened on 8 December 1869 and was adjourned on 20 October 1870 after the Capture of Rome. Unlike the five earlier general councils held in Rome, which met in the Lateran Basilica and are known as Lateran councils, it met in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, hence its name. Its best-known decision is its definition of papal infallibility.
The council was convoked to respond to the rising influence of rationalism, liberalism, and materialism. Its purpose was, besides this, to define the Catholic doctrine concerning the Church of Christ. There was discussion and approval of only two constitutions: the Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith (Dei Filius) and the First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ (Pastor aeternus), the latter dealing with the primacy (supremacy) and infallibility of the Bishop of Rome. The first matter brought up for debate was the dogmatic draft of Catholic doctrine against what it considered as the manifold errors due to rationalism. The council condemned rationalism, anarchism, communism, socialism, liberalism, materialism, modernism, naturalism, pantheism, and secularism. The Catholic Church was on the defensive against the main philosophical trends of the 19th century. Another main goal of the council was to define the powers and role of the pope.
As early as late 1864, Pope Pius IX had commissioned the cardinals resident in Rome to tender him their opinions as to the advisability of a council. The majority pronounced in favour of the scheme, dissenting voices being rare. After March 1865 the convocation of the council was no longer in doubt. Special bulls were reportedly issued with invitations to Eastern Orthodox and Protestant clerics as well as to other non-Catholics, but apparently none accepted the invitations.
Official source
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