The First Vatican Council, which had opened…
June 1870 CE
The First Vatican Council, which had opened on December 8, 1869, has been convoked to deal with the contemporary problems of the rising influence of rationalism, liberalism, and materialism.
Its purpose is, besides this, to define the Catholic doctrine concerning the Church of Christ.
There is discussion and approval of only two constitutions: the Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith and the First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ, the latter dealing with the primacy and infallibility of the Bishop of Rome.
The first matter brought up for debate is the dogmatic draft of Catholic doctrine against the manifold errors due to Rationalism.
Its best-known decision is its definition of papal infallibility.
The Roman Catholic church prescribes excommunication for those opposing the principle.
Convoked by Pope Pius IX on June 29, 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that had begun on December 6, 1864, this is the twentieth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the Council of Trent.
Unlike the five earlier General Councils held in Rome, which had met in the Lateran Basilica and are known as Lateran Councils, it meets in the Vatican Basilica, hence its name.