The footage you see on screen is the main reason for Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic journey.
Today it is Iznik, but 1,700 years ago, it was known as Nicaea. This was the place where the First Ecumenical Council ever was held. The pontiff traveled here by helicopter from Istanbul to celebrate an ecumenical prayer meeting.
Around twenty church leaders, presidents, and secretaries of Christian communities from around the world, both from the East and from the West, were present.
The Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, gave a welcoming speech in which he highlighted the shared sense of hope among Christians.
BARTHOLOMEW I
Patriarch of Constantinople of the Orthodox Church
We are here to bear living witness to the same faith expressed by the Fathers of Nicaea. We return to this wellspring of the Christian faith in order to move forward. We refresh ourselves at these inspired waters of rest, in order to become strong for the tasks that lie ahead. The power of this place does not reside in what passes away, but in what endures forever
Pope Leo XIV then took the floor and recalled one of the most important consequences of the Council of Nicaea: the birth of the Creed.
POPE LEO XIV
Faith in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, born of the Father before all ages […] of the same nature as the Father (Nicene Creed) is a profound bond that already unites all Christians. In this sense, quoting Saint Augustine, even in the ecumenical sphere we can say that ‘although we are many Christians, in the one Christ we are one.’
His words once again conveyed the message of the journey, which is none other than the message of unity.
POPE LEO XIV
We are all invited to overcome the scandal of divisions that, unfortunately, still exist, and to nurture the desire for unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed and gave His life. The more reconciled we are, the more we Christians can give a credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In this moving moment, the Pontiff also made a call for peace and urged not to confuse religion with any form of fanaticism.
POPE LEO XIV
The use of religion to justify war and violence, like any form of fundamentalism and fanaticism, must be firmly rejected, while the paths to follow are those of fraternal encounter, dialogue, and collaboration.
After the speeches were done, everyone together recited the Creed, an image that has already become a historic and unique moment in Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic journey.
By doing so, Pope Leo XIV fulfilled Pope Francis’s wish to celebrate the anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.
CRT
