conciliarism
, in the Roman Catholic
church
, a theory that a general
council
of the church has greater authority than the
pope
and may, if necessary,
depose
him. Conciliarism had its roots in discussions of 12th- and 13th-century canonists who were attempting to set juridical limitations on the power of the
papacy
. The most radical forms of the conciliar theory in the Middle Ages were found in the 14th-century writings of
Marsilius of Padua
, an Italian political philosopher who rejected the divine origin of the papacy, and
William of Ockham
, an English philosopher who taught that only the church as a whole?not an individual pope or even a council?is preserved from error in faith.
The 15th century saw serious attempts to put the conciliar theories into practice. The
Council of Constance
(1414?18)
invoked
the doctrine to depose three claimants to the papal throne; it then elected Pope
Martin V
as sole
legitimate
successor to St. Peter, thereby effectively healing the Western (Great) Schism (1378?1417). Though this council is recognized by
Rome
as the 16th
ecumenical
council, neither was it
convened
by a legitimate pope nor were its declarations ever formally approved in their totality; the council’s condemnation of
John Wycliffe
and
Jan Hus
(pre-Reformation reformers) was approved, but not the decree
Sacrosancta
espousing conciliarism. The faction-ridden
Council of Basel
, which opened in 1431, reaffirmed
Sacrosancta.
The theory has continued to live on, and its theses have influenced such doctrines as
Gallicanism
, a French position that advocated restriction of papal power.
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The
first Vatican Council
in 1870 explicitly condemned conciliarism. The
second Vatican Council
(1962?65)
asserted
that the pope as a member and the head of the college of bishops forms with it at all times an organic unity, especially when the council is gathered in a general council.