Pope Francis confirms plans to visit Turkey for historic
Nicaea council anniversary
Pope Francis speaks to
members of the International Theological Commission at the Vatican on Thursday,
Nov. 28, 2024. | Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2024 / 06:30 am
Pope Francis told a group of theologians on Thursday he
plans to visit Turkey for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in
2025.
Bartholomew I, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of
Constantinople, anticipated that Francis would be making the trip in comments
to reporters in May. In September, he confirmed that the joint trip is expected
to happen at the end of May 2025.
The Council of Nicaea took place in the ancient city of
Nicaea in 325 A.D. in the former Roman Empire, which is now the present-day
city of İznik, in northwestern Turkey, about 70 miles from Istanbul.
“I plan to go there,” Pope Francis told members of the
International Theological Commission on Nov. 28.
The Council of Nicaea, he said, “constitutes a milestone in
the journey of the Church and also of all humanity, because faith in Jesus, the
Son of God made flesh for us and for our salvation, was formulated and
professed as a light that illuminates the meaning of reality and the destiny of
all history.”
Pope Francis met with the International Theological
Commission during their plenary gathering at the Vatican. He noted it is
important that the commission’s meeting includes drafting a document about “the
current meaning of the faith professed at Nicaea.”
“Such a document may be valuable, in the course of the
Jubilee year, to nourish and deepen the faith of believers and, starting from
the figure of Jesus, also offer insights and reflections useful for a new
cultural and social paradigm, inspired precisely by the humanity of Christ,”
the pope said.
The Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council in
the Church. It is accepted by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church,
the Oriental Orthodox Church, and other Christian communities that accept the
validity of early church councils.
It predates the Chalcedonian Schism — which separated the
Oriental Orthodox communion from Rome — by more than 100 years and predates the
Great Schism — which separated the Eastern Orthodox Church from Rome — by more
than 700 years.
During the council, the bishops condemned the heresy of
Arianism, which asserted that the Son was created by the Father. Arius, a
priest who faced excommunication for propagating the heresy, did not accept
that the Son was coeternal with the Father.
Pope Francis said during a meeting with a delegation of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in June that he wished “wholeheartedly”
to make the journey to Nicaea to mark the important anniversary with
Bartholomew I.
If he travels to Turkey, a trip that has yet to be confirmed
by the Vatican, it will take place amid a busy Jubilee Year for the pontiff.
“The Council of Nicaea, in affirming that the Son is of the
same substance as the Father, highlights something essential: in Jesus we can
know the face of God and, at the same time, also the face of man, discovering
ourselves sons in the Son and brothers among ourselves,” Francis said on
Thursday. “A fraternity, one rooted in Christ, that becomes a fundamental
ethical task for us.”
“Today, in fact, in a complex and often polarized world, tragically
marked by conflict and violence, the love of God that is revealed in Christ and
given to us in the Spirit becomes an appeal to everyone to learn to walk in
fraternity and to be builders of justice and peace,” he added.
In his speech to the theologians of the international
commission, the pope also emphasized the importance of synodality.
“I would say that the time has come to take a courageous
step: to develop a theology of synodality, a theological reflection that helps,
encourages, and accompanies the synodal process, for a new, more creative and
bold missionary stage that is inspired by the kerygma and involves all
components of the Church,” he said.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét