The first eight councils, known as ecumenical councils, represented (and are recognized by) the universal Church, meaning the Christians of East and West. They are also unique in that they were convened by the Roman emperor. The first of these, in Nicaea in 325, was convened by Emperor Constantine, shortly after he had given freedom of worship to Christians, and ended the years of persecution.
We must note that at the beginning of the 4th century, the Bishop of Rome didn’t enjoy universal and unquestionable authority. But “only the emperor of Rome had, at that time, the means to impose his authority and laws on a vast territory covering both the East and the West,” explains Yves Chiron in his Histoire des conciles.
However, if the council, which ruled on dogmatic truths — i.e. on aspects of the Christian faith — was initiated by an emperor, there was a great risk of confusion between the political sphere and the theological domain. Still, it’s “wrong to see this as Caesaro-papism,” explains Chiron.
This 19th-century term refers to the concentration of temporal and religious powers in the hands of a single person (the Caesar or the pope) in the pagan Empire or in Latin Christianity.
In search of peace for the Empire
Admittedly, the emperor did not summon the bishops from all over the inhabited world (the oikoumene) because he wanted to watch heated debates on the divinity of the Son, provoked by the theories of Arius. He did so out of a concern for peace in his empire. He wanted this vast entity to be united by the Christian religion, which was a real revolution at the time.
Tradition places Constantine's epiphany in 312, during a vision that enabled him to take Rome from his adversary Maxentius. Systematically persecuted in previous years, Christians were given freedom to worship freely in 313, before Christianity became compulsory in 380.
For the Council of Nicaea, therefore, Pope Sylvester didn’t give his consent to the convocation and didn’t oblige the bishops to participate. However, his will was taken into account, and he was represented by the priests Victor and Vincent, with precedence. After the deliberations, he approved the decisions taken, giving them universal character.
The opening speech was delivered by Constantine. “As soon as the signal was heard announcing his arrival, all the bishops rose, and at that very moment he entered amid a crowd of distinguished persons and appeared like an angel of God.”
According to Eusebius of Caesarea, who recounts this in De vita Constantini, the emperor assured those present that the purpose of the meeting was to “put an end to the internal strife of the Church” and “end the scourge of dissension.”
Theological truth transcends political circumstances
However, although the discussions took place under the watchful eye of the Pontifex Maximus, who was then residing in Nicomedia, less than 44 miles away, “the council fathers of 325 were free to make their own choices,” says Charles Kannengiesser, a leading expert on the councils.
“We are not mistaken in maintaining the strictly ecclesiastical character of the Nicene doctrine, removed from the whims of princes, despite the spectacular political status of this synodal assembly,” he said in the journal Concilium in 1978.
Some bishops were not exempt from political concerns, sometimes acting as courtiers to the prince, sometimes as rivals among themselves.
“Where there are men, there is imperfect human nature,” said St. Francis de Sales. This “imperfect human nature” didn’t prevent grace from acting; on the contrary.
Theological truth goes far beyond the concrete conditions in which it is elaborated. Proof of this is that the substance of the Arian question did not overly concern the emperor, as long as peace was maintained. The emperor, who was not baptized until the very end of his life in 337, rehabilitated Arius after the Council of Nicaea.
