ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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The Second Council of Nicaea (also known as the Seventh Ecumenical Council) was convened in 787 in the city of Nicaea under Empress Irene (the widow of Emperor Leo Hazar) and consisted of 367 bishops, representing mainly the eastern part of the church, and legates of the Pope.

The cathedral was convened against iconoclasm, which arose 60 years before the Council, under the Byzantine emperor Leo Isaurus, who, wishing to remove obstacles to peaceful neighborhood with Muslims, considered it necessary to abolish the veneration of icons. This trend continued to exist under his son Konstantin Kopronym and grandson Lev Khazar.

In the Orthodox Church, the memory of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council is celebrated on Sunday, falling at the end of the 1st decade or the beginning of the 2nd decade of October (according to the Julian calendar).

Preparation for the convocation of the Council
In order to prepare for the Ecumenical Council in 784, Irina organized the election of a new Patriarch of Constantinople instead of the deceased Patriarch Paul. During the discussion of candidates in the Mangavar Palace of Constantinople, after the empress’s welcoming speech, exclamations were heard in support of Tarasius, who was not a clergyman, but held the post of asikrit (imperial secretary). Irina wanted to see Tarasy as patriarch (“we appoint him, but he does not obey”), and he, in turn, supported the idea of holding an Ecumenical Council. The opposition present in the palace argued that the convocation of the Council was inexpedient, since the Council of 754 had already adopted a decision condemning the veneration of icons, but the voice of the iconoclasts was drowned out by the will of the majority.

Tarasius was quickly raised to all degrees of priesthood, and on December 25, 784, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, he was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, whom he remained for the next 22 years. After the appointment, the elected patriarch traditionally sent an exposition of his religion to all the primates of the churches. In addition, invitations were sent to the Ecumenical Council, written on behalf of Irene, her son Emperor Constantine and Tarasius himself. In Rome, Pope Adrian I was also invited to participate in the forthcoming Council:
He sent to Rome the conciliar epistles and the book of his religion, which was accepted by Pope Hadrian. The queen also wrote to the same pope and asked him to send her letters and husbands to attend the cathedral.

On October 27, 785, a reply was received from Pope Hadrian, who later, with a reduction of statements unpleasant to the Patriarchate of Constantinople (concerning mainly the primacy of Rome in the Christian Church), was read at the Council. The pontiff expressed that he considered it possible to restore icon worship only on the basis of patristic tradition, an excerpt from which he cited in his letter, but seeing jealousy about the Orthodoxy of the empress and patriarch, Adrian agreed to hold a Council under the following conditions:
solemn anathematization of the iconoclastic Council of 754 in the presence of papal legates;
provision by the Empress, Patriarch