Dictionary/Ecclesiastical/Constance
From Saint Wiki
Ecclesiastical Dictionary
|
|---|
Constance (Council of ). The Council of Pisa had been unable to put an end to the great schism of the West in declaring Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII. deprived of the Pontificate, and naming Alexander V., who was succeeded by John XXIII. The latter, in accord with the Emperor-elect Sigismond, convoked the Council of Constance, which was opened November 5th, 1414. John XXIII. presided over the first two sessions, but the Council having requested his promise to abdicate the Pontificate, if the good of the Church required this, he gave this promise, but then fled secretly. One of the cardinals assumed the presidency, and, in the fifth session, they proclaimed the famous decree: "That the General Council, once assembled, holds its authority immediately from Jesus Christ, and that, consequently, every person, even the Pope, is obliged to obey it, in that which concerns the extinction of the schism and the general reformation of the Church in its head and members." This decree was never approved by Pope Martin V., and is contrary to sound doctrine. In the subsequent sessions, John XXIII. was deposed and submitted; Gregory XII. abdicated through his ambassador; Benedict XIII. was not only deposed, but excommunicated, and in 1417 (41st session), Martin V. was elected. He confirmed the forty-fifth and last session, and all that the Council had decreed in matters of faith. This Council also condemned as heretics Wycliffe, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague.
