Second Council of Nicaea

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Second Council of Nicaea
Date	787
Accepted by	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Church (Partially) Anglican Communion Old Catholic Church Lutheran Church
Previous council	Third Council of Constantinople (Catholic numbering) Quinisext Council (Orthodox numbering)
Next council	Fourth Council of Constantinople (Catholic Church) Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)
Convoked by	Constantine VI and Empress Irene (as regent)
President	Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople, and legates of Pope Adrian I
Attendance	308 bishops, 350 members total (including two papal legates)
Topics	Iconoclasm
Documents and statements	Veneration of icons approved
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The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by Old Catholics and others. Protestant opinions on it are varied.

The Council assembled in 787 AD in Nicaea (site of the First Council of Nicaea; present-day İznik, Bursa, in Turkey), to restore the use and veneration of icons (or holy images),^[1] which had been suppressed by imperial edict inside the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Leo III (717–741). His son, Constantine V (741–775), had held the Council of Hieria to make the suppression official.

The Council determined that the honorary veneration (timētikē proskynēsis) of icons was permitted, and that the true adoration (alēthinē latreia) was reserved for God alone. It further stated that the honor paid to the icon eventually passes over to the individual that it represents, thus, veneration of an icon could not be idolatrous as the iconoclasts believed. The iconodule position was not justified by Christological arguments (as in the Council of Hieria), rather, the antiquity of iconodulia and the Incarnation of Christ, which was said to make acceptable the depiction of Christ, were emphasized.^[2][3]