20th Ecumenical Council (Catholic reckoning) · Rome · A.D. 1869–1870
The twentieth ecumenical council: it defined the dogmatic constitution Dei Filius on the Catholic faith and reason, and Pastor Aeternus on the primacy and infallibility of the Roman pontiff.
Translated by Norman P. Tanner, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils (Georgetown University Press, 1990). Source: papalencyclicals.net. This modern critical translation is under copyright and is reproduced here from papalencyclicals.net, which has hosted it freely for many years. Tanner’s critical-apparatus footnotes are omitted; his introductions and the full conciliar text are retained.
Documents
- Sessions 1 and 2 — The decree of opening (session 1) and the profession of faith (session 2).
- Dei Filius — Dei Filius — the Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith (session 3), in four chapters with canons, on God, revelation, faith, and faith and reason.
- Pastor Aeternus — Pastor Aeternus — the First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ (session 4), in four chapters, defining the primacy and the infallible teaching office of the pope.
← Westminster Assembly (1643) · All Councils · Vatican II (1962) →