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An ecumenical council (or oecumenical council; also general council) is a conference of the bishops of the whole Church convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice. The word derives from the Greek language "?????ยต???", which literally means "the inhabited world", which first referred to the Roman Empire and later was extended to apply to the world in general. Due to schisms, the acceptance of these councils varies widely between different branches of Christianity. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches jointly held the first eight Ecumenical councils (meeting from the 4th to the 9th century). They accept as Ecumenical the first seven but differ on the identity of the eighth. While the Eastern Orthodox Church has not generally accepted any later synod as Ecumenical, the Roman Catholic Church continues to hold Ecumenical Councils of those bishops in full communion with the Pope. Those churches that parted ways with the other over christological matters, only accept the first few councils, the Oriental Orthodoxy churches the first three, the Assyrian church the first two as Ecumenical.
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