early ecumenical councils at Nicaea and Constantinople convened delegates from “the whole world” that was known at the time. From our perspective in the twenty-first century, however, that “whole world” didn’t extend farther than Asia Minor, what is now Greece and Turkey, and the Roman Empire. Vatican II was the first ecumenical council that brought in delegates from the whole globe. . In this context, what does council mean? Ecumenical councils are not simply meetings. They have a legislative force.