the second council of nicaea met to restore the veneration of icons, which had been suppressed and banned by imperial edict of the byzantine empire. sabas, along with plato of sakkoudion, was leader of a group of monks who opposed the iconoclasts—sabas accused the empire of interfering with the independence of the church in the preparations for the council. sabas was a leading candidate to preside over the council, which ended being presided over by patriarch tarasios. sabas was strongly opposed to the readmission of iconoclast bishops as leaders of their sees.