The documents of the council dealt directly with heresy and the heretics that perpetuated the heresy beginning with the opening statement , “ the most authoritative statement of its kind ,” 85 a profession of faith ,
We firmly believe and simply confess that there is only one true God , eternal and immeasurable , almighty , unchangeable , incomprehensible and ineffable , Father , Son and holy Spirit , three persons but one absolutely simple essence , substance of nature { 1 }. The Father is from none , the Son from the Father alone , and the holy Spirit from both equally , eternally without beginning or end ; the Father generating , the Son being born , and the holy Spirit proceeding ; consubstantial and coequal , co-omnipotent and coeternal ; one principle of all things , creator of all things invisible and visible , spiritual and corporeal ; who by his almighty power at the beginning of time created from nothing both spiritual and corporeal creatures , that is to say angelic and earthly , and then created human beings composed as it were of both spirit and body in common . The devil and other demons were created by God naturally good , but they became evil by their own doing . Man , however , sinned at the prompting of the devil ... 86
The council addressed that of which the Cathars denied vehemently , the validity of the sacraments and the ordained priesthood ,
There is indeed one universal church of the faithful , outside of which nobody at all is saved , in which Jesus Christ is both priest and sacrifice , His body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the forms of bread and wine , the bread and wine having been changed in substance ( transsubstantiatis ), by God ’ s power , into his body and blood … Nobody can effect this sacrament except a priest who has been properly ordained … the sacrament of baptism … brings salvation to both children and adults when it is correctly carried out by anyone in the form laid down by the church . If someone falls into sin after having received baptism , he or she can always be restored through true penitence . 87
The council further addressed the sanctity of marriage , “ for not only virgins and the continent but also married persons find favour with God by right faith and good actions and deserve to attain
85 John C . Moore , Pope Innocent III 1160 / 61-1216 : To Root Up and to Plant , ( IN : University of Notre Dame Press , 2003 ), 275 . 86 Fourth Lateran Council , http :// www . papalencyclicals . net / Councils / ecum12-2 . htm , accessed , February 5 , 2016 ,
n . 1 . 87 John C . Moore , Pope Innocent III 1160 / 61-1216 : To Root Up and to Plant , ( IN : University of Notre Dame Press , 2003 ), 240 .