The ecumenical council is again summoned to…

The ecumenical council is again summoned to meet, this time in Nicaea, since Constantinople is still distrusted.

The Second Council of Nicaea (the seventh ecumenical council of the Christian church) assembles on September 24, 787 at the church of Hagia Sophia.

It numbers about three hundred and fifty members; three hundred and eight bishops or their representatives sign.

Tarasius presides, and seven sessions are held in Nicaea.

At Irene’s urging, and with the support of Pope Adrian and Constantine VI’s representative, Nikephoros, the council declares that whereas the veneration of images is legitimate and the intercession of saints efficacious, their veneration must be carefully distinguished from the worship due God alone; this ruling effectively ends the Greek church’s policy of iconoclasm.

The papal legates voice their approval of the restoration of the veneration of icons in no uncertain terms, and the patriarch sends a full account of the proceedings of the council to Pope Adrian I, who has it translated.