Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged renewed Christian unity as he joined global religious leaders on the shores of Lake Iznik to commemorate 1,700 years since one of the most defining events in early Church history.
On day two of his visit to Turkey, the Pope travelled to Iznik — the ancient city of Nicaea — where he stood alongside Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, and other dignitaries at the historic site of the First Council of Nicaea.
Clad in ornate ceremonial vestments, the leaders gathered on a wooden platform overlooking the submerged remains of a 4th-century basilica, marking the spot where hundreds of bishops assembled in 325 AD to formulate the Nicene Creed — a foundational statement of Christian belief still recited across denominations today.
Bathed in warm sunlight, the congregation prayed in multiple languages, while a choir filled the air with a cappella hymns in English, French, Greek, Latin, and Turkish.
In his address, the American pontiff reflected on the Council’s historic role in unifying the early Church by rejecting the Arian doctrine, which questioned the full divinity of Jesus Christ. The anniversary, he said, offered “a precious opportunity to ask ourselves who Jesus Christ is for each one of us personally.”
“We are all invited to overcome the scandal of divisions that unfortunately still exist and to nurture the desire for unity,” Leo XIV said, before he and Bartholomew I jointly recited the Nicene Creed in English.
Though doctrinal differences triggered the Great Schism of 1054 — the historic rupture between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches — both traditions continue to foster dialogue and share moments of joint celebration, with Friday’s gathering marking another symbolic step on the path toward Christian reconciliation.
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