Third Council of the Lateran

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Third Council of the Lateran
Date	1179
Accepted by	Catholicism
Previous council	Second Council of the Lateran
Next council	Fourth Council of the Lateran
Convoked by	Pope Alexander III
Presided by	Pope Alexander III
Attendance	302
Topics of discussion	Catharism and Waldensianism, church discipline
Documents and statements	twenty-seven canons, limitation of papal election to the cardinals, condemnation of simony
Chronological list of Ecumenical councils

The Third Council of the Lateran met in March, 1179 as the 11th ecumenical council. Pope Alexander III presided and 302 bishops attended.

Besides removing the remains of the recent antipope schism the council condemned the Waldensian and Cathar heresies and pushed for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline. Three sessions were held, on 5, 14, and 19 March, in which 27 canons were promulgated. The most important of these were:

Canon 1 stated that to prevent schisms in future, only cardinals should have the right to elect the pope, and two-thirds of their votes should be required for the validity of an election. If any candidate, after securing insufficient votes, should declare himself pope, both he and his supporters should be excommunicated.
Canon 2 annulled the ordinations performed by the heresiarchs Octavian (Antipope Victor IV), Guy of Crema (Antipope Paschal III), and John de Struma (Antipope Callixtus III).
Canon 3 forbade the promotion of anyone to the episcopate before the age of 30.
Canon 5 forbade the ordination of clerics not provided with any means of proper support.
Canon 7 forbade the exaction of money for burial of the dead, benediction, and the administration of the sacraments.
Canon 9 recalled the military orders of the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers to the observation of canonical regulations.
Canon 11 forbade clerics to receive women in their houses, or to frequent the monasteries of nuns.
Canon 19 set the penalty of excommunication for those who levied contributions on churches and churchmen without the consent of the clergy.
Canon 24 was a prohibition against furnishing the Saracens with material for the construction of their galleys.
Canon 27 enjoined on princes the repression of heresy.

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Ecumenical councils v • d • e</div>
Early	Jerusalem
Orthodox & Catholic	Nicaea I \| Constantinople I \| Ephesus \| Chalcedon \| Constantinople II \| Constantinople III \| Quinisext Council \| Nicaea II \| Constantinople IV
Eastern Orthodox	Constantinople V \| Synod of Jerusalem
Catholic	Sutri \| Lateran I \| Lateran II \| Lateran III \| Lateran IV \| Lyon I \| Lyon II \| Vienne \| Pisa \| Constance \| Siena \| Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence \| Lateran V \| Trent \| Vatican I \| Vatican II