jan 13, 1215 - Fourth Lateran Council

Description:

which consisted of approximately 800 monastic leaders, 400 bishops, and a number of secular rulers, approved number of canons, including requirements for membership in the Roman Catholic Church and declarations against heretics.

The council determined that membership in the Roman Catholic Church required that all adult Catholics receive the sacraments of confession and communion (the Eucharist) at least once a year and accept the doctrine of transubstantiation (belief that the bread and water used in Mass become the body and blood of Jesus Christ). The council also proclaimed papal primacy, forbade the establishment of new religious orders, and established rules regulating the conduct of clergy.