The Nicene Creed - a basis for unity and reconciliation

In November 2025 Pope Leo XIV joined the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and other Christian leaders in Turkey to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

In an Apostolic Letter to mark the anniversary -Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei on the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (23 November 2025) -., the Pope reflected on the pathway to unity and reconciliation among Christians.  An extract:

...we must walk together to reach unity and reconciliation among all Christians. The Nicene Creed can be the basis and reference point for this journey. 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... 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.

This does not imply an ecumenism that attempts to return to the state prior to the divisions, nor is it a mutual recognition of the current status quo of the diversity of Churches and ecclesial communities. Rather, it is an ecumenism that looks to the future, that seeks reconciliation through dialogue as we share our gifts and spiritual heritage. The restoration of unity among Christians does not make us poorer; on the contrary, it enriches us. As at Nicaea, this goal will only be possible through a patient, long and sometimes difficult journey of mutual listening and acceptance. It is a theological challenge and, even more so, a spiritual challenge, which requires repentance and conversion on the part of all... 
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The Letter ended with a prayer:

...Come, divine Comforter, source of harmony, unite the hearts and minds of believers. Come and grant us to taste the beauty of communion.
Come, Love of the Father and the Son, gather us into the one flock of Christ.
Show us the ways to follow, so that with your wisdom, we become once again what we are in Christ: one, so that the world may believe.
Amen. 

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