Under the cloudy skies of Lake İznik, 70 kilometers from Istanbul, Pope Leo XIV joined a solemn ecumenical prayer today at the ruins of the ancient Byzantine basilica of Saint Neophyte, submerged by an earthquake in the 8th century and rediscovered in 2014. The event, organized by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, marks the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD). This historic milestone united the early Church by condemning the Arian heresy and affirming the full divinity of Jesus Christ.

More than 100 Christian leaders from East and West gathered on a raised platform in front of the archaeological site, where the echo of Greek chants mingled with the call of the local muezzin, symbolizing interfaith dialogue in a predominantly Muslim country. Among the participants were representatives of the Greek Orthodox Churches of Antioch and Jerusalem, the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the Armenian Apostolic Church, as well as delegates from the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Evangelical Alliance, and the Mennonite World Conference. The Pope arrived by helicopter, circling the site three times in a gesture of blessing, wearing a red mozzetta, and walked in procession alongside Patriarch Bartholomew, who wore a velvet piviale.

In his welcoming address, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed profound emotion: “We are deeply moved that you have all responded positively to our humble invitation to honor, through this common pilgrimage, the memory and heritage of the first ecumenical council held here in Nicaea seventeen hundred years ago… We are not gathered here simply to recall the past or reflect only on history… We are here to bear witness to the same faith expressed by the Fathers of Nicaea… We return to this source of the Christian faith to move forward.” Bartholomew emphasized the etymological meaning of “Nicaea”—“victory” in Greek—not as worldly dominion, but as the paradoxical triumph of the Cross-over sin and corruption.

In his homily, delivered in English after a reading from the Gospel of John, Pope Leo XIV called for urgent reflection on the identity of Christ in the contemporary world. “The 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea is a valuable opportunity to ask ourselves who Jesus Christ is in the lives of women and men today,” he stated, warning against the risk of reducing him to “a kind of charismatic leader or superman, a misrepresentation that ultimately leads to sadness and confusion.” He recalled how Arius, in the fourth century, denied Christ’s divinity by considering him a created being, a “mere intermediary” between God and humanity, ignoring the Incarnation. “If God did not become man, how can mortals share in his immortal life?” This was at stake in Nicaea and is at stake today: faith in the God who, in Jesus Christ, became like us to enable us to ‘participate in the divine nature’, he emphasized, quoting St. Augustine: “Though we are many Christians, in the one Christ, we are one.”

The Pope linked this Christological confession to ecclesial unity: “The more reconciled we are, the more we Christians can give credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a proclamation of hope for all, a message of peace and universal fraternity that transcends the borders of our communities and nations.” In a world “full of violence and conflict,” reconciliation is not only a religious aspiration, but “a cry of all humanity.” Leo XIV firmly rejected “the use of religion to justify war and violence, as well as any form of fundamentalism and fanaticism,” and proposed instead “the paths of fraternal encounter, dialogue, and collaboration.” He invoked God as Father, recalling that “it would not be possible to invoke him as Father if we refused to recognize other men and women as brothers and sisters, they too created in the image of God. There is a universal brotherhood, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, religion, or opinion.”

The ceremony culminated with the joint recitation of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed—without the Filioque clause, added in the West—thus omitting a historical source of division between Catholics and Orthodox, followed by the Lord’s Prayer in various languages ​​and the lighting of candles before icons of Christ and the Council Fathers. The Pope concluded his prayer with a plea for “the abundant fruits of reconciliation, unity, and peace” that this anniversary may bring forth.

This gathering in the submerged ruins of Nicaea, convened by Emperor Constantine to unite 300 bishops for 30 days, evokes not only the formulation of the Creed that unites 2.5 billion Christians today, but also a prophetic call to heal the wounds of the past. On the second day of his apostolic journey to Turkey—the first of his pontificate—Leo XIV transformed a site of memory into a beacon of hope, recalling that the true victory of Nicaea lies in the fraternity that transcends divisions and conflicts.

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