Lateran Councils

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Lateran Councils Five ecumenical councils of the Western Church, held in the Lateran Palace, Rome. The first (1123) confirmed the Concordat of Worms of 1122. The second (1139) condemned simony and the marriage of the clergy. The third (1179) decreed that the Pope was to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the College of Cardinals. The fourth (1215) defined the doctrine of the Eucharist, officially using the term ‘transubstantiation’. The fifth (1512–17) introduced minor reforms in the wake of the Reformation.

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