The council of Nicea, who turns 1700 this 2025, was the theme addressed by Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicasteria for the promotion of the Christian Unity; and Bartolomé, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, during the Rimini Meeting that took place from August 22 to 27.
Both representatives were presented by Fr. Andrea D’Auria, director of the International Center for Communion and Liberation, who echoed the words of Pope Leo XIV: “The Nicea council It is a compass that must continue to guide us towards the full visible unity of Christians … Therefore, Nicea was not something abstract, but has to do with our faith today; concerns our relationship with God, with others and with ourselves. ”
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In his presentation, Cardinal Koch highlighted the importance of doctrinal issues addressed by the Council through the Declaration of the 318 parents:
“With her, the parents professed their faith in ‘One God, an omnipotent Father, creator of all the visible and invisible’ … and in the Synod letter to the Egyptians, the parents announced that the first real object of study was the fact that Ario and his followers were enemies of faith and opposed the law, and therefore they affirmed that they had unanimously decided to condemn with anatrine their doctrine Faith, his declarations and descriptions blasphemous, with which he insulted the Son of God, ‘”he said.
“These statements,” he added, “delineate the context of the creed formulated by the Council, which profess the faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, ‘consubstantial with the Father.’ Christian monotheism. ”
After a long dispute over the term Homousiosthe council of Nicea placed in the center of the profession of Jesus’ prayer to the Father: “The Christological Creed of the Council has become the basis of the common Christian faith. The Council is of great importance, especially since it took place at a time when Christianity was not yet torn by the numerous divisions that would arise later. The Niceno Creed is common not only to the eastern churches, the oriental churches, the churches, the churches, the churches. the Catholic Church, but also to the ecclesial communities born of the reform;
Only in this way is the unity in the Church possible: “In fact, to restore the unity of the Church, it is necessary that there be a sane on the essential contents of faith, not only between the churches and ecclesial communities of today, but also with the church of the past and, in particular, with its apostolic origin. The unity of the Church is based on the apostolic faith, which is transmitted in baptism and entrusted to each new member of the body of Christ”.
This is the foundation of Christological spiritual ecumenism that is based on the centrality of prayer: “Since unity can be found only in the common faith, the Christological confession of the Council of Nicea turns out to be the foundation of spiritual ecumenism. This is, obviously, a pleonasm. Christian ecumenism is spiritual or not ecumenism.”
“The ecumenical movement,” he said, “has been a prayer movement since its origins. It was the prayer by the Christian unity that raided the path for the ecumenical movement. The centrality of the prayer highlights that the ecumenical commitment is, above all, a spiritual task, assumed with the conviction that the Holy Spirit will complete the ecumenical work that has begun and will show us the path.”
Only in this way can ecumenism progress: “Christian ecumenism can progress with credibility only if Christians return together to the source of faith, which is only found in Jesus Christ, as the conciliar parents of nicea professed … Christian ecumenism cannot be anything other than the adhesion of all Christians to the priestly prayer of the Lord, and materializes when Christians deeply embrace the firm desire of unity. Ecumenism is not limited to an interpersonal and philanthropic dimension, but has a truly Christological inspiration and foundation, it cannot be anything other than participation in the priestly prayer of Jesus. ”
The importance of the Council of Nicea was also underlined by Patriarch Bartolomé, who immediately emphasized: “It is evident that said Council played and plays a primary role of strict adhesion to the sacred writing and the Orthodox Church remains firmly anchored in it. An cornerstone for the proclamation in the seventeen later centuries.”
The intervention of the Patriarch of Constantinople, which was historical, also developed current issues such as synodality and the unitary celebration of Easter.
“To be credible as Christians,” he said, “we must celebrate the resurrection of the Savior the same day. Together with Pope Francis, we have appointed a commission to study the issue. However, there are different sensibilities between the churches and we must avoid new divisions, not to feed more divisions.”
The Orthodox leader said that this requires a joint effort: “The effort to find a common date for Easter is an important pastoral objective, especially for couples and families of different denominations, and given the great mobility of people, especially during festivities.”
“With a common date for Easter, the deep conviction of the Christian faith that Easter is not only the oldest party, but also the most important of Christianity, and that the Christian faith is sustained or collapsed with the Pascual mystery, as the primitive church summarized this fundamental belief with the phrase: ‘removes the resurrection and destroying instantly the Christianity ‘.
Hence the invitation to deepen the Synodal Way: “The 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea must also be perceived as an invitation and an exhortation to extract an important lesson in history already deepen synodal thinking today in ecumenical communion, anchoring this in the life of the Church.”
“In fact, ecumenism also advances along the way to the recomposition of the unity of the Church only if it is carried out jointly and, therefore, Sinodal. The fundamental importance of synodality for ecumenical commitment is clearly demonstrated by two important documents, such as the study The Church towards a common visionwhich aspires to a multilateral and ecumenical vision of nature, the purpose and mission of the Church, ”he said.
Patriarch Bartolomé concluded by stating the importance of the joint study: “This vision is also shared by the International Theological Commission in its programmatic document Sinodality in the life and mission of the Churchwhich points out that the ecumenical dialogue has progressed to the point of recognizing synodality as a ‘revealing dimension of the nature of the Church’.
“This historical panorama makes us understand that the development of synodality in the life of the Church and ecumenism must be implemented with theological rigor and pastoral prudence. This lesson can also be learned by studying the council of Nicea,” he said.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in ACI Print.
Simone Baroncia