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{{Christianity}}

{{Christianity}}

An '''Ecumenical Council''' (also sometimes '''Oecumenical Council''') or '''general council''' is a meeting of the [[bishop]]s of the church of the whole world who have come together to discuss matters of Church doctrine and practice.

An '''Ecumenical Council''' (also sometimes '''Oecumenical Council'''), or '''general council''', is a meeting of the [[bishop]]s of the [[Christian Church]] of the whole world who have come together to discuss matters of Church doctrine and practice.

The word is from the [[Greek language]] "{{polytonic|Οικουμένη}}", which means "inhabited", and was originally an other name for the territory of the [[Roman Empire]], because the earliest councils were all called in by [[Roman Emperor]]s. In later times it was used in the sense of "world-wide" or "general."

The word is from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word {{polytonic|Οικουμένη}} ''Oikouménē'', which means "inhabited" and was originally another name for the territory of the [[Roman Empire]] since all of the earliest councils were called by [[Roman Emperor]]s. In later times, it was used in the sense of "worldwide" or "general."

== List of ecumenical councils ==

== List of ecumenical councils ==