There are scenes that the Fathers of the Council of Nicaea could not have imagined. On Friday afternoon, on the eastern shore of Lake Iznik, the muezzin's call to prayer carries far beyond the small Turkish seaside resort built on ancient Nicaea. The air is mild. The sun has broken through the clouds. The gray-blue of the water stretches to the mountains in the distance. Suddenly, in the autumn sky, several helicopters emerge above the vast expanse. The sound of their engines mingles with the Muslim prayer. The convoy disappears for a moment. But one of the aircraft returns to its course. Slowly, it circles a few cable lengths from the shore. The helicopter is white. Pope Leo XIV is on board.
From high in the sky, Peter's Successor contemplates the ruins of a basilica. Eleven years earlier, it was thanks to a similar flyover that the Turks stumbled upon the foundations of the Church of Saint Neophytus, named after a 4th-century martyr. It is believed to have been built shortly after the Council of Nicaea and today symbolizes the location of that council, thought to have taken place in a smaller structure on the same site.
At the time, the year 325, the Bishop of Rome did not make the trip. Pope Sylvester I instead sent two representatives to this gathering, which would go down in history as the first ecumenical council.
This time, the Patriarch of the West is present. Along the pathway leading to the ruins, Leo XIV walks beside Bartholomew, Patriarch of Constantinople, the primus inter pares — first among equals — of Orthodoxy. The successors of the two apostolic brothers Peter and Andrew conclude a procession joined by representatives of the patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. Together, the five of them form the pentarchy, the great Churches of the first millennium. Also walking across the wooden footbridge are delegates from communities that emerged from the Reformation or other schisms (Anglicans, Old Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Mennonites, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, etc.).
In Iznik, the sound of the muezzin has definitively given way to Christian hymns. The pilgrimage to Nicaea, which Pope Francis so wanted to make, has been accomplished.
Finding foundations
On the platform rising above the receded waters of the late, some 30 dignitaries took their places behind two icons. One represented the Fathers of the Council; the other, Christ Pantocrator, holding the Book of Holy Scriptures in his left hand and making a gesture of blessing with his right. Like 1,700 years ago, the figure of Jesus was central on this day. For it was precisely to clarify the nature of Christ that the council had been convened by Emperor Constantine.
Seeing his empire threatened by theological quarrels over the contested divinity of Jesus, the Caesar had gathered the bishops in his palace in Nicaea to agree on the foundations of the Christian faith. "What was at stake at Nicaea, and is at stake today, is our faith in the God who, in Jesus Christ, became like us to make us 'partakers of the divine nature,'" Pope Leo declared before these leaders of the Christian world.
And he quoted his own episcopal motto to emphasize that while the way forward is long, the foundation is strong:
Indeed, faith “in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages... consubstantial with the Father” (Nicene Creed) is a profound bond already uniting all Christians. In this sense, to quote Saint Augustine, in the ecumenical context we can also say that, “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one” (Exposition on Psalm 127).
Moments later, everyone recited the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The touchy doctrinal issue of the "Filioque," as omitted Meaning “from the Son” it refers to the Holy Spirit's procession. Unlike the Orthodox, Catholics profess that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, proceeds from God the Father “and from the Son,” an expression added years after the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople (381).
Despite the brisk breeze, a bright sun sets the waters of the lake ablaze with a thousand sparkles. The photo is beautiful, and already historic. But it does not tell the whole story of Christian unity. In reality, some Churches are conspicuous by their absence. In his message, the Pope does not shy away from referencing “the scandal of divisions” that Christians must yet overcome. On the bridge at Nicaea, a whole section of the Orthodox world is missing. The Patriarchate of Moscow, which claims 100 million faithful, was not invited to these commemorations. Having broken with Constantinople, a delegation would not have come, according to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
On the beach at Iznik, not far from the children's playgrounds and seaside restaurants, Dominican friar Claudio Monge puts things into perspective. “This is not the UN of Christianity,” says the religious leader based in Istanbul. “This event does not celebrate the progress made so far, but opens up new perspectives for the future.”
Pope Leo XIV says much the same thing. Echoing the words of his predecessor Francis, he urges:
We are all invited to overcome the scandal of the divisions that unfortunately still exist and to nurture the desire for unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed and gave his life.The more we are reconciled, the more we Christians can bear credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a proclamation of hope for all.
Moreover, it is a message of peace and universal fraternity that transcends the boundaries of our communities and nations
