Second Council of the Lateran facts for kids

The Second Council of the Lateran was an important meeting held by the Catholic Church. It was the tenth "ecumenical council," which means it was a big gathering of church leaders from all over the world. Pope Innocent II called this meeting in April 1139. About a thousand church officials, called clerics, attended. The main goal of the council was to fix problems caused by a disagreement, or "schism," that happened after Pope Honorius II died in 1130. This disagreement led to two people claiming to be pope, one of whom was called Antipope Anacletus II.

A Big Church Meeting in Rome

After Pope Honorius II passed away, a man named Petrus Leonis was chosen as pope by most of the cardinals. He took the name Anacletus II. But on the very same day, a smaller group chose Innocent II to be pope. This caused a big split in the Church.

In 1135, Pope Innocent II held a meeting in Pisa. This meeting confirmed that he was the true pope and spoke against Anacletus. When Anacletus died in 1138, it helped calm things down between the two groups. Even so, Innocent II decided to call another large council.

This council met at the Lateran Palace in Rome. Nearly a thousand bishops and other church leaders came. In his opening speech, Pope Innocent II said that anyone who had been given a church job by Anacletus or his followers would lose their position. He also officially removed King Roger II of Sicily from the Church. This was because the king supported the group that had caused the split.

The council also spoke out against the ideas of two groups, the Petrobrusians and the Henricians. These groups followed the teachings of Peter of Bruys and Henry of Lausanne. Finally, the council made rules to improve how church leaders acted and to make sure they followed church rules more strictly. Many of these rules were similar to ones made at earlier councils.

Important Decisions Made at the Council

The Second Lateran Council made several key decisions. These decisions are called "canons." Here are some of the most important ones:

• Canon 4: This rule told bishops and other church leaders not to wear fancy or showy clothes. They were asked to dress simply and modestly.
• Canons 6 and 7: These rules repeated earlier decisions. They said that priests, deacons, subdeacons, monks, and nuns were not allowed to marry.
• Canon 10: This rule said that people who did not pay their tithes to the bishops would be removed from the Church. Tithes were like taxes paid to the Church.
• Canon 12: This rule set specific times when fighting was not allowed. This was known as the "Truce of God." It aimed to reduce violence.
• Canon 14: This rule banned dangerous activities like jousts and tournaments. These events often put people's lives at risk. If someone died in such an event, they might not receive a Christian burial.
• Canon 20: This rule told kings and princes that they should talk with bishops when making decisions about justice.
• Canon 23: This rule protected legal marriages. It said that no one could wrongly say that a proper marriage was not valid.
• Canon 25: This rule said that no church leader could accept a church position from someone who was not a church official.
• Canon 27: This rule said that nuns and monks should not sing their prayers together in the same choir.
• Canon 28: This rule stated that a church should not be without a bishop for more than three years after the previous bishop died. It also spoke against certain groups who tried to stop monks from being part of bishop elections.
• Canon 29: This rule made it against the rules to use bows and slings (or perhaps crossbows) against other Christians.

Another decision confirmed that religious communities in a diocese had the right to help choose the bishop for that area.