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Glite Dictionary
Vatican I

Vatican I

1 9.5
A meeting of Catholic leaders in 1869-1870 that says the pope cannot be wrong when teaching on faith and morals
  • proper noun
  • /ˈvætɪkən aɪ/
translation icon : Vaticano I
  • In reviewing church history, scholars often reference Vatican I as a significant turning point in Catholic doctrine.

Examples

  • The first Vatican Council, or Vatican I, officially declared the doctrine of papal infallibility in 1870.

  • Both the vision and the vocabulary of Vatican I are juridical.

    Academic text (2002)

  • In doing so, it is reaffirming the teachings of Vatican I.

    Academic text (2010)

  • In the later article, as in the earlier, Kasper denigrates neither Vatican I nor the 1983 Code of Canon Law.

    Academic text (2002)

  • In fact, Vatican I did not present a distorted teaching either about the papacy or the episcopacy.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The restorationists interpret Lumen gentium in the light of Vatican I, seeing the 20th-century council as a prolongation of the 19th-century council.

    Academic text (2002)

  • More specifically, the tendency was to see Vatican I as resolving the dialectic that has existed over the centuries between papacy and episcopacy in a "victory for papalism."

    Academic text (2002)

  • Many theological debates center around the decisions made during Vatican I and their implications for the Church today.

Synonyms

First Vatican Council
vsVatican I
8.6

A meeting of leaders of the Catholic Church in 1869–1870 that said the pope cannot be wrong when speaking officially

is the shorter numeric title used for the same 1869-1870 council

Surface Forms

Vatican I main

Morphology

Vatican + I

The headword combines 'Vatican' (the institution/place) with the Roman numeral 'I' meaning 'one/first', so the phrase denotes 'the first Vatican (council)'. This naming convention using Roman numerals for numbered councils/events is common and thus immediately derivable for learners who recognise 'I' as 'first' (though it would be unclear if a learner does not know Roman numerals).

Etymology

Vatican I gets its name from the place and the number: it was the first big meeting of Catholic leaders held in the Vatican, and the Roman numeral I means 'one'. So Vatican I now refers to that 1869–1870 meeting and to its decision that the pope 'cannot be wrong' when he speaks officially.