He struggled with poor health, but Pope Francis announced last November that he would be visiting Nicaia (Iznik, Turkey) in 2025.
Pope Leo expressed his intention to fulfill his predecessor's plans shortly after his election.
Why did both men decide to go as pilgrims to Muslim cities that have not had an active Christian community for over 100 years?
For in that place, in 325 AD, a unified church laid the doctrinal foundations for believers of all ages to follow.
Iznik has been featured in this year's news as it has been 1,700 years since the Nicaea Council. Pope Francis made observance for this anniversary the keynote speech at the Jubilee Year of Hope, and expressed great hopes that church leaders might be achieved in 2025.
In the original historic moment, the Council of Nicaea was an opportunity for hope. Especially for Emperor Constantine.
It has been 13 years since he took over the Imperial throne in Rome. Within months of the early conquest of 313, he issued the Milan dict decree. Constantine wanted religious freedom to help him achieve unity and peace throughout the empire.
Constantine had not been baptized yet, but he trusted the Christian God in his victory. As the ruler of the Western Empire, he has an active interest in the issues of the church. He was troubled by differences among Christians and worried about the possibility of political instability.
He urged him to meet the bishop. Council To end the conflict. In North Africa, Christianity was rented by division from the time of persecution. From afar, Constantine summoned three councils there.
He also sponsored the Councils of Spain and Gaul (modern France) and did not escape the costs in encouraging attendance. Each bishop received free transportation. It is a carriage large enough to hold the high priest and his aides.
Constantine decided that these regional councils would be successful and was pleased to see the bishops collaborate and come to the consensus.
Meanwhile, his own strength has grown. The Empire was designed for the rules by four men. Caesar and his representatives in the West were with the duo corresponding to the East. However, in 324, Constantine took control of the lands in the eastern part of the land, and declared himself the sole ruler. He decided to bring unity to the Roman world. It's better to drive away the enemy.
However, he was horrified to find the Eastern church in the virtual state of the Civil War.
Arian, a priest of Alexandria in Egypt, preached that the Word of God (see John 1:1) was not God in the same sense as the Father was God. From scattered biblical poems, Arian argued that the Son of God was not equal to his father.
Therefore, he denied the perfect divinity of the Son of God, whom Arian described as a living creature, although the greatest of all living creatures.
Arian was skilled in sermons, and he had the knack for summarizing his doctrine with his slogans. The popular Diti said, “There was a time when he wasn't there.” In other words, there was a time when my son didn't exist.
The bishop of Alexandria, named Alexander, condemned Arian for undermining the most basic Christian doctrine: the Trinity and the Incarnation. Such beliefs were long enshrined in the liturgy and proved by his father.
As a result, Arian was exiled. But it traveled freely through him and formed alliances among the church and other leaders of the government. He gained support, but also learned against it. Soon his doctrine was dividing congregations across many lands. There was a dispute over the property of the church. Nearby bishops were divided into ways to handle the situation.
In such matters, Constantine was based on the advice of a Spanish bishop named Josius of Cordoba, through his long-standing rule. During the last years of Roman persecution, Hosius suffered and remained immovable due to his faith. Historians believe it was he who first convinced Constantine to commit to the Christian God. Hosius organized a regional council that was important to the emperor.
However, there was a high interest now. Arian's claim was struck by the doctrine of God. And the problem was international, not regional.
Hosius proposed an unprecedented event. Universal. Constantine agreed and chose to host it near his own summer home in the city of Nicaea, where his influence might be stronger.
The council was convened in mid-May 325 and closed a month later. The published minutes filled in volume 40, but none of them survived. Most of what we know about the Council of Nicaea is collected from the accounts of two witnesses. Eusebius of Caesarea, who had sympathy for Arianus, and Athanasius of Alexandria, who was Alexandria's young theological advisor.
The bishops gathered for a wonderful ceremony. Athanasius testified that 318 people were present. The Pope sent two representatives, but most came from the east as he was too old to travel.
The last one was Constantine himself, his robe shining in gold and jewels. He was humbled by respecting the old bishops who had suffered but still been wounded from persecution.
The emperor began with a speech thanking God for God's desire, the meeting of bishops in the universal church.
The bed then belonged to the bishop. He soon broke out in an oral brawl. According to Eusebius, “some people have begun to defend their neighbors and in turn to blame their neighbours. In this way, unnumbered claims were made by each party, causing violent controversy at the very beginning.”
Nicaea's dissonance is sometimes portrayed as a conflict between the apostle tradition and the heresy of Arian. But it wasn't that simple. Some bishops thought it was useless to explain the mystery of God. They preferred to stick to the language found in the Bible. Others opposed Arians, but were uneasy about the language used to blame him. Still others will be happy to use something convenient to hold a man.
According to Eusebius, Constantine listened patiently. And he skillfully led the debate towards a consensus – for weeks.
Constantine himself (says our witness) was the first to propose the use of the Greek word. Homoousios Explain the relationship between the Father of God and the Son of God. Homoousios It means “continuous.”
The term met resistance from several bishops. However, as they deliberated, it became clear that they were not working either.
Eventually, Nicaea's father created a profession of faith that was precisely coordinated with their doctrine.
We have been born to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one born of the Father… Light from Light, True God from True God, Tolerance with the Father was born, not made.
Arian was exiled.
The bishops then moved their other businesses quickly. Ultimately, the council's father published 20 norms that set out laws on issues of size and size.
They imposed a common date for Easter celebrations. They set a minimum time for preparation before adult baptism. They forbidden priests living with women other than their mothers and sisters. They argued that at least three bishops should be ordained as bishops.
These are important disciplinary issues, but now the importance and authority pale before the doctrinal content and binding of the beliefs that are now being recited by the masses on most Sundays.
The Council resolved the problems of the Church's troubles, achieved consensus, and brought unity.
That doesn't mean you found a simple fix. Arianism withered for centuries before it fades.
We look back at Nicaia from the comfort and clarity of the developed theology of the Council of Churches. We know and respect cooperative authority.
However, his father was unable to consult centuries of history and reflection. They are I made it That history. The Nicaea was the first of the general (or ecumenical) council. Since then, the Catholic Church has convened another 20.
So it's easy to see why Popez Francis and Leo wanted to go to Nicaia as pilgrims. And it's understandable that they have great hopes for the anniversary. Some of the old issues have come back to annoy us once again, like the ancient controversy over Easter dates. But we've also added a lot of new issues. All Christians need to improve their communion before they can share them.
History teaches hope. Pope Leo learned that lesson.
He said in May: “My election took place in the year 1,700th anniversary of Nicaea's first Ecumenical Council, which represents a milestone in the formulation of beliefs shared by all churches and church communities: to seek the reestablishment of perfect and visible communion among all those who profess the same faith in God, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
That is Nicaea's faith.
