Pope Leo XIV marked a defining moment of his first trip to Turkey on Friday, joining Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Christian leaders from East and West in a rare and deeply symbolic gathering at the ancient site of the A.D. 325 Council of Nicaea. Standing over the lakeside ruins in Iznik — where bishops once met to craft what would become the Nicene Creed — the leaders prayed for renewed unity across Christian traditions.
The event commemorated the 1,700th anniversary of the council, whose creed remains one of the most widely accepted statements of faith among Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and many Protestant denominations. Surrounded by archaeological remains newly exposed by receding waters, Pope Leo and Patriarch Bartholomew recited the creed together, calling it a shared foundation and a powerful reminder of Christianity’s common roots.
Pope Leo said the creed remains “fundamental” to the journey toward full communion, urging Christians to overcome centuries of division. “We are all invited to overcome the scandal of the divisions that still exist,” he said, emphasizing Jesus’s own prayer for unity.
Patriarch Bartholomew described the creed as “a seed for the whole of our Christian existence,” stressing that the leaders had gathered not simply to remember history but to bear witness to a shared faith that can guide the future.
The Council of Nicaea took place during a pivotal era when Christianity was emerging from persecution and before the East–West split of 1054. The anniversary commemoration — featuring alternating Catholic and Orthodox hymns — marked a historic gesture toward healing that divide.
Earlier in the day, Pope Leo met clergy at Istanbul’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit and faced a brief protest from an Islamic political group. But the central moment of his visit came in Iznik, where the stone outlines of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos provided a powerful backdrop for a prayer dedicated to unity across global Christianity.
