| vatican council | (n) each of two councils of the Roman Catholic Church |
| first vatican council | (n) the Vatican Council in 1869-1870 that proclaimed the infallibility of the pope when speaking ex cathedra, Syn. Vatican I |
| second vatican council | (n) the Vatican Council in 1962-1965 that abandoned the universal Latin liturgy and acknowledged ecumenism and made other reforms, Syn. Vatican II |
| Vatican Council | . (R. C. Ch.) The council held under Pope Pius IX. in Vatican at Rome, in 1870, which promulgated the dogma of papal infallibility. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] |