I. General

A provincial council is a council for all the particular churches of an ecclesiastical province. They were ¶ already common practice in the 3rd century. Provincial councils, also called metropolitan synods, were first regulated for the whole church by canon 5 of the Council of Nicea in 325, which prescribed that they meet twice a year. The requirement was imperfectly observed and had to be renewed repeatedly. After the 6th century, concili…