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→CHALCEDON, By Essam Tony
With nationalistic motives on the Eastern side, there were also some nationalistic motives on the western side. The Bishops of Alexandria were "leaders" in the first three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea, Constantinople, and Ephesus. Both the Councils of Constantinople and Ephesus, lead by the Alexandrian Church and its view lead to the excommunication of the respective bishops of Constantinople, which was the Capital of the Empire. The Dominance of the theologian arena by the Alexandrian church was a source of envy for the Western churches.
Moreover, in the Council of Ephesus the second ( the "fourth" council), c.449 A.D., that was headed by St. Dioscorus I, 25th Pope of Alexandria (Bishop of Alexandria), the Pope of Rome (Bishop of Rome), Leo was excommunicated. That was badly received in the cities of Rome and Constantinople (which had its own Popes Patriarchs excommunicated twice in the preceding 50 years, through councils steered by Coptic Popes). That Council of 449 A.D. was termed a "Council of thieves". In an attempt to overturn the decisions of the second Ephesean Council, the Bishops of the West, and the Emperor Marcianus intensified all their efforts to assemble a council of 600 Bishops in Chalcedon in 451 A.D., in what came to be known as the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. This Council overturned the canons of the Council of Ephesus the second, held two year earlier in 449 A.D., and asserted that the Bishopric throne of Rome is the first among the Christian World. The Council also excommunicated St. Dioscorus I, the bishop of Alexandria and exiled him. The Canons of the Council was documented in what came to be known as the "Tome of Leo", a document that was sent to all corners of the earth as the decision of the Council. The rally of the State in support of the Council was manifested in the number of attendants encouraged by Emperor Marcianus which reached 600 Bishops as compared to the 318 of Nicea, 150 in Constantinople, and 200 in Ephesus in the earlier three major Ecumenical councils.
In the final analysis of the Chalcedonean incident, the two parties appeared to have shared the same view, but disagreed on the semantics and the terminology each party saw befitting for the description of an agreed upon concept. The nationalistic ego was the reason behind the widening of a gap that could have bean, otherwise, mended.