The Third General Council of the Lateran
The Beginning of the End for the Cathars, 1179 A.D.
It is in the Third General Council of the Lateran that the famous Cathars are finally mentioned. And the recommendations in their regard are profoundly merciless and rather violent. Specifically, the General Council actually goes to the lengths to insist that no one associate with them, do business with them, give them a Christian Burial and even to meet violence with violence: a sad beginning to a tragic end for this heretical sect.
A Great Pope Emerges, Alexander III
In the years before the Third General Council of the Lateran, much is remembered about a few unique and unusually holy personages in the Catholic Church. Among them is Pope Alexander III who is remembered as the pope who was one of the “Chief Founders of the Roman all-powerfulness over the clergy of the church, with a very high idea of his office, ruling the clergy by the aid of trustworthy assistants, and thanks to means of government . . . steadily being improved, intervening everywhere throughout the Church by his legates, setting in order and controlling the jurisdiction of the archbishops . . . and everywhere seeking to strengthen the links that bind the Holy See to various local establishments.” The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325 – 1870 – By Philip Hughes
Canon Law Has its Beginnings through Gratian, a Monk and Lawyer
In the beginning of the twelfth century, a legally educated monk created the very first complete book on laws of the church which was called Corpus Iuris Canonici in Latin and held up as Catholic Church law book up until the year 1918 A.D. which is quite an accomplishment. Canon Law began from this man’s work.
Accomplishments of the Third General Council of the Lateran
About 300 bishops attended this General Council and quite a few laws and rules came down from it, despite the fact that the actual acts of the council did not survive. We do know Twelve Canons were proposed which the bishops rejected. A critic of the council openly challenged them that there were too many rules and laws already and that it would be to go back to the gospels and follow the leadings of the Lord.
But the Pope had another agenda which was to ensure that laws which had been enacted regarding the election of popes would be upheld because of the problem of anti-popes in the past one hundred years or so. It was made clear that the majority of the pope's decision would be final, and if there was another candidate who perhaps owned a third of the votes, he would be an anti-pope and excommunicated if he did not fall in line. If they were not to repent before death, Holy Viaticum would be denied them.
A whole series of laws were meant to eradicate all the power plays which had occurred in the church regarding the clergy, priesthood, bishopric and papacy. Alexander III was not messing around. He laid out every possible thing that could be misconstrued and then followed through illegally and contracted a plan of action which would be acceptable in every circumstance and make simony and any kind of corruption really difficult to pull off anymore. Frankly, historians credit Alexander III as being one of the top six popes in history because of his insistence on the cleaning up of the scandals within the clerical culture. He even made note to insist that Knights Templar and Knights Hospitalers were definitively under the rule of the local abiding bishop, because they had also swayed away and developed some of their own societies outside of the church.
Canon 18 completely defined the role of the training of parochial clergy, and made it almost impossible for scandal to occur in this arena again.
Unfortunately, a pretty strong decree was put out against the very popular Cathars, which unfortunately, was likely the beginning of their end. But on an opposing more positive note, Alexander III insisted on bringing forth laws regarding lepers – the first time this had been brought up in a council – insisting that lepers were to be allowed to have churches of their own, cemeteries and were entitled to their own priest. No tithes could be legally asked of any leper.
So again, a contradiction of good and evil, but in the view of historians – despite the Cathar condemnation – Alexander III is held in high esteem.
The Second General Council of the Lateran, 1139 A.D.
The Fourth General Council of the Lateran, 1215 A.D.
Sources: The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325 – 1870 – By Philip Hughes, The General Councils: A History of the Twenty-One Church Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II – By Christopher M. Bellito, The Documents of Vatican II – By Walter M. Abbott, S.J. and the Very Reverend Monsignor Joseph Gallagher, A Short History of Christian Doctrine: From the First Century to the Present – By Bernard Lohse, The Reform of the Liturgy – Annibale Bugnini, www.catholicdigitalstudio.com/councils.htm
St. John Lateran Basilica
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