Pope Leo XIV has called on Christians to move beyond “theological controversies” that no longer serve the cause of unity and to rediscover together the faith professed at the Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago. Source: CNA.
In a new apostolic letter, In unitate fidei (“In the Unity of Faith”), released yesterday, the solemnity of Christ the King, the Pope links the anniversary of the first ecumenical council to the Holy Year of 2025 and to his upcoming apostolic journey to Türkiye, where he will commemorate Nicaea’s 1700th anniversary and take part in an ecumenical event with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on November 30 before traveling on to Lebanon.
“I would like this letter to encourage the whole Church to renew her enthusiasm for the profession of faith,” the Pope writes, stressing that the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed “for centuries… has been the common heritage of Christians, and it deserves to be professed and understood in ever new and relevant ways”.
In a strong ecumenical appeal, Leo XIV says the Nicene Creed “can be the basis and reference point” for a renewed journey toward full communion among Christians.
“It offers us a model of true unity in legitimate diversity. Unity in the Trinity, Trinity in Unity, because unity without multiplicity is tyranny, multiplicity without unity is fragmentation,” he writes.
“We must therefore leave behind theological controversies that have lost their raison d’être in order to develop a common understanding and even more, a common prayer to the Holy Spirit, so that he may gather us all together in one faith and one love.
“The restoration of unity among Christians does not make us poorer; on the contrary, it enriches us,” he adds, calling the goal of full visible unity “a theological challenge and, even more so, a spiritual challenge, which requires repentance and conversion on the part of all”.
Linking Nicaea to today’s crises, Leo XIV notes that the Holy Year is dedicated to the theme “Christ our hope” and that the Nicene Creed remains a source of confidence amid war, injustice and suffering.
FULL STORY
Pope Leo XIV urges Christians to move beyond outdated theological disputes (By Victoria Cardiel, CNA)
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