Leo XIV celebrates common faith with the Orthodox in Nicaea and invites Christian unity
On his first apostolic journey, Pope Leo XIV went to İznik, historic Nicaea, to commemorate the Council that 1,700 years ago established the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Pope Leo XIV in Turkey
Pope Leo XIV encouraged Turkey's small Catholic community in Istanbul on Friday before taking part in a prayer with the Orthodox to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, considered a founding milestone of Christianity.
On the second day of his visit to this country, the pope was received with fervor by hundreds of faithful gathered in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul. Many had woken up at dawn to see him. From there, he celebrated the common faith with the Orthodox and invited Christian unity.
Visibly moved, the pope instilled encouragement in priests and faithful, affirming that "the logic of the small is the true strength of the Catholic Church," in a country where Christians struggle with a strong sense of exclusion.
On his first apostolic journey, Pope Leo XIV went to İznik, historic Nicaea, to commemorate the Council that 1,700 years ago established the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The pope also reminisced about the past, referring to Arius and his Arian teaching, which claimed that Jesus Christ did not share the same divinity as God the Father, but was a creature created by Him.
"The #CouncilOfNicaea reminds us that Jesus Christ is not a figure of the past. He is the Son of God present among us, guiding history toward the future promised by God," said Leo XIV.
A call to fraternity
"The desire for full communion among all believers in Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the search for fraternity among all human beings," he stressed.
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