Irene convened the Second Council of Nicaea on 24 September 787, restoring the veneration of icons in the Byzantine Church.
On 24 September 787, Irene’s government convened the Second Council of Nicaea, the ecclesiastical assembly that restored the veneration of icons after the long iconoclastic controversy. The council formally affirmed that icons could be honored without being worshiped in the way due to God alone, thereby overturning major iconoclast policy. Irene’s role in bringing the council together was central to the settlement.
The council mattered enormously for Byzantine religious life and for the wider Orthodox tradition. It provided the theological and institutional basis for the return of icons to public worship and gave imperial endorsement to icon veneration after decades of conflict. For Irene, the council was one of her greatest achievements: it demonstrated that a woman in imperial power could direct a landmark church settlement at the highest level. The event also revealed the political skill required to overcome entrenched religious factions, military anxieties, and the legacy of iconoclast emperors. Its long-term legacy endures in Eastern Orthodox theology and liturgy.