Pope Leo and Patriarch unite at historic church ruins : NPR

IZNIK, Turkey —On the second day of his inaugural international journey, Pope Leo XIV visited the location the place early Christian leaders met 1,700 years in the past for the First Council of Nicaea — the gathering that produced the creed nonetheless spoken in church buildings as we speak.

The primary American pope prayed alongside Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the non secular chief of the world’s Jap Orthodox Christians, amid the archaeological ruins of the lakeside church the place bishops met in 325 to resolve divisions threatening to tear the early Church aside.

“We should strongly reject using faith for justifying battle, violence, or any type of fundamentalism or fanaticism,” Pope Leo mentioned in his speech on the web site on the shore of the tranquil Iznik Lake. “As a substitute, the paths to observe are these of fraternal encounter, dialogue and cooperation.”
 
Pope Leo has used the journey to press for unity — amongst Christian denominations, and likewise amongst different religions and communities. In a speech alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, the Pope warned that the division and polarization seen on this planet as we speak is putting the very way forward for humanity at stake.
 
Emperor Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea, bringing bishops from throughout the Roman Empire to resolve a doctrinal disaster over the way to clarify Jesus’ relation to God. Christians had been persecuted for some 250 years, till a choice by Emperor Constantine allowed the trustworthy to worship in freedom throughout the Roman Empire. Constantine noticed a unified Church as important to stabilizing an empire rising from civil battle.

Pope Leo XIV takes half in a prayer service with Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, close to the excavations of the traditional Basilica of Saint Neophytos on Nov. 28, 2025 in Iznik, Turkey.

Chris McGrath/Getty Photographs Europe

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Chris McGrath/Getty Photographs Europe

The fiercest dispute got here from Arius, an Alexandrian priest who argued that Jesus, although exalted, was the very best created being, however not equal to God.

The council, whose bishops had gathered from throughout the Roman Empire, in the end rejected his teachings and affirmed that Jesus is “of 1 substance” with the Father — language that types the idea of the creed recited by catholics as we speak, which begins: “I consider in a single God, the Father almighty …”.

This aerial {photograph} exhibits stays of the sunken Byzantine Basilica of Saint Neophytos on the shore of Lake Iznik, which Pope Leo XIV visited on Friday, Nov. twenty eighth.

OZAN KOSE/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

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OZAN KOSE/AFP by way of Getty Photographs

The precise location of the council was solely found about 11 years in the past, when public employees taking aerial images of Lake Iznik shared photographs with Turkish archaeologist Mustafa Sahin. “It was beneath about eight ft of water,” he instructed NPR.

Locals know the ruins effectively; in low water, swimmers typically relaxation on the stones. Because the shoreline has since receded, the complete footprint of the basilica — its apse and dozens of graves — now sits on dry land.

The Church remained principally united till the Nice Schism of 1054, which cut up Catholic and Jap Orthodox Christianity over theological disputes and energy struggles between Rome and Constantinople – modern-day Istanbul.

On the historic web site on Friday, Pope Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew held a joint silent prayer over the uncovered ruins. Forward of the anniversary, Leo launched an apostolic letter emphasizing the creed as a “frequent heritage of Christians,” written when “the injuries inflicted by the persecutions of Christians have been nonetheless contemporary.”

On Saturday the Pope and the Patriarch will signal a joint declaration in a contemporary present of unity.