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Pope and Patriarch commemorate Nicean Creed

Pope and Patriarch commemorate Nicean Creed

Last updated on: November 28, 2025 at 7:52 pm by Father Pablo Migone

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Pope and Patriarch commemorate Nicean Creed 2025-11-28T19:52:01-05:00 Father Pablo Migone

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The Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew the First issued an invitation to the Pope and the heads of the ancient Apostolic Christian Churches to gather at Nicea in order to commemorate together the 1700 years of the Nicean Creed. During his first Apostolic Journey, Pope Leo XIV has traveled to Nicea today for a moving and significant ecumenical prayer service on the shore of Lake Iznik.

Though there is no consensus of where exactly within Nicea the Council of Nicea was held in 325, tradition points to the old Imperial Palace which once stood in the city, as well as the ruins of a church now underwater. The location chosen for today’s service was an overlook by the Lake of Iznik, built to view the foundation of the ancient church.

Though Pope Leo received quite a spotlight in the gathering, I very much enjoyed the opening words of Patriarch Batholomew which provided the historical context of the commemoration. A few times while he spoke, one can hear the bells of a thurible. It appears someone is quite ready to start incensing! Also, I was quite surprised that the Creed was recited by all present in English. I thought it would have been recited in both Greek and Latin, though English is probably the one common language among most of those present. The translation used must have been the one used in the Orthodox liturgy, since the language did not match the official Catholic translation for the English speaking world, and of course, did not include the filioque. It was recited in the way it was written in 325.

When I visited Nicea, I recited the Nicean Creed out lout with my nephew at the site of the Second Council of Nicea, the old church of Hagia Sophia, now a mosque. It was powerful to utter those very same words 1700 years later in the very same place where they were first announced.

Here the Patriarch’s words, which I transcribed:

Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

We are deeply moved that you have all responded positively to our humble invitation to honor, through this joined pilgrimage, the memory and legacy of the first ecumenical council held here at Nicea 1700 years ago. Despite so many intervening centuries, and all the upheavals, difficulties and divisions they have brought, we nevertheless approach this sacred commemoration with shared reverence and a common feeling of hope, for we are gathered here not simply to remember the past, we are here to bear living witness to the same faith expressed by the fathers of Nicea.

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. In Nicea, history bore witness to eternity, to the fact that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is true God of true God, consubstantial with the father – homousios to patri. Enshrined in the Nicean Creed, such expressions still represent to all the faith of the apostles.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, the name Nicea derives from the Greek work for victory, niki. When the fallen world thinks of victory, thinks of force and domination, but as Christians, we are ordered to think differently. Our paradoxical sign of victory is the unconquerable sign of the cross. This is foolishness to the nations, a sign of defeat. But for us, it is a supreme manifestation of the wisdom and power of God.

We do indeed celebrate victory in this place, but it is a victory not of this world, and not as the world gives. The Holy Spirit fittingly chose this place to grant the Church a heavenly and spiritual victory. The apostle John tells us, “this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.” As Christians, the apostolic faith which was expressed at Nicea is our victory. By this faith the tyranny of sin is abolished in our lives, the bondage of corruption is loosed and earth is raised to heaven.

The Nicean Creed acts like a seed from the whole of our Christian existence. It is a symbol not of a bare minimum, it is a symbol of the whole. Having the fervor of the faith of Nicea burn in our hearts, let us run the course of Christian unity that is set before us. Let us hope to the end, for the grace that is promised at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And finally, let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Trinity consubstantial and undivided. Amen.

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