Pope Leo XIV, together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and other Christian leaders, visited Iznik in Turkey, where 1700 years ago the Council of Nicaea took place – an event that defined the foundations of the Christian faith. This is reported by Associated Press, writes UNN.
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Church leaders gathered on the shore of Lake Iznik to pray together for Christian unity and to honor the place where the Nicene Creed was formulated.
The Pope flew to Iznik from Istanbul by helicopter, arriving just as the Muslim call to prayer echoed from a nearby mosque. The solemn service became the central event of his visit to Turkey. Leaders of various denominations gathered near the archaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos, where, according to researchers, the council took place in 325 AD.
Representatives of the Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Malankara, Anglican, and Protestant churches took part in the prayer. Pope Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew led a procession over the ruins, symbolically uniting the traditions of East and West.
The Creed is not just a doctrinal formula, but an essential foundation of the Christian faith. Therefore, its development is organic, similar to the development of a living reality, gradually revealing and more fully expressing the essential heart of the unity of faith.
The event became one of the most notable gestures of rapprochement in recent years, emphasizing the common desire of different branches of Christianity for dialogue and the restoration of unity.