From Vatican News:
Ahead of his upcoming Apostolic Journey to Türkiye, Pope Leo XIV issued on Sunday, 23 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, the Apostolic Letter ‘In unitate fidei‘ on the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
The full Letter, which has the hope of “encouraging the whole Church to renew her enthusiasm for the profession of faith,” is broken down into twelve points, and can be read in its entirety HERE.
In 2025, the Catholic Church is commemorating the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 AD by Emperor Constantine I in the city of Nicaea.
Pope Leo’s upcoming Journey to Türkiye will take him to Ankara, Istanbul, and İznik, once known as Nicaea, for the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council.
The ecumenical council aimed to address theological disputes and establish a unified Christian doctrine, and its outcomes included affirming Christ’s divinity and formulating the Nicene Creed.
With this in mind, Pope Leo’s Letter, first and foremost, is a call to unity.
“In the unity of faith, proclaimed since the beginning of the Church,” the Pope begins his text, “Christians have been called to walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting the gift they have received with love and joy,” recalling, ‘This is expressed in the words of the Creed, “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God…for our salvation he came down from heaven.'”
The Pope remembered how this truth was so effectively formulated 1700 years ago by the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical gathering in the history of Christianity.
The Pope highlighted that ahead of his Apostolic Journey, he wished to draw the Church’s attention to the profession of faith.
“For centuries,” he said, “this enduring confession of faith has been the common heritage of Christians, and it deserves to be professed and understood in ever new and relevant ways. ”
In this Holy Year, dedicated to the theme of Christ our hope, the Pope called it “a providential coincidence” that we are also celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.
The Pope said the Council’s proclamation in 325 A.D. of faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God, “is the heart of the Christian faith.” “Even today, during every Sunday Eucharistic celebration,” he acknowledged, “we recite the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the profession of faith that unites all Christians.”
