Pope Leo XIV urges Christians to move beyond outdated theological disputes Pope Leo XIV has called on Christians to move beyond \u201ctheological controversies\u201d that no longer serve the cause of unity and to rediscover together the faith professed at the Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago. In a new apostolic letter, In unitate fidei (\u201cIn the Unity of Faith\u201d), released Nov. 23, the solemnity of Christ the King, the pope links the anniversary of the first ecumenical council to the Holy Year of 2025 and to his upcoming apostolic journey to T\u00fcrkiye, where he will commemorate Nicaea\u2019s 1700th anniversary and take part in an ecumenical event with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on Nov. 30 before traveling on to Lebanon. \u201cI would like this Letter to encourage the whole Church to renew her enthusiasm for the profession of faith,\u201d the pope writes, stressing that the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed \u201cfor centuries\u2026 has been the common heritage of Christians, and it deserves to be professed and understood in ever new and relevant ways.\u201d In a strong ecumenical appeal, Leo XIV says the Nicene Creed \u201ccan be the basis and reference point\u201d for a renewed journey toward full communion among Christians. \u201cIt 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,\u201d he writes. \u201cWe must therefore leave behind theological controversies that have lost their raison d\u2019\u00eatre 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,\u201d the pope continues. \u201cThe restoration of unity among Christians does not make us poorer; on the contrary, it enriches us,\u201d he adds, calling the goal of full visible unity \u201ca theological challenge and, even more so, a spiritual challenge, which requires repentance and conversion on the part of all.\u201d \u2018This Creed gives us hope\u2019 Linking Nicaea to today\u2019s crises, Leo XIV notes that the Holy Year is dedicated to the theme \u201cChrist our hope\u201d and that the Nicene Creed remains a source of confidence amid war, injustice, and suffering. \u201cIn this Holy Year, dedicated to the theme of Christ our hope, it is a providential coincidence that we are also celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea,\u201d he writes. That council, he recalls, \u201cproclaimed the profession of faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God. This is the heart of the Christian faith.\u201d \u201cIn these difficult times we are living, amid so many concerns and fears, threats of war and violence, natural disasters, grave injustices and imbalances, and the hunger and misery suffered by millions of our brothers and sisters, this Creed gives us hope,\u201d the pope says. Leo XIV presents the letter as an invitation for all Christians \u201cto walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting the gift they have received with love and joy,\u201d especially through the words of the Creed: \u201cI believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God\u2026 for our salvation he came down from heaven.\u201d Nicaea and the heart of the Christian faith The pope devotes much of In unitate fidei to explaining the historical and theological context of the Council of Nicaea, which met in 325 to address the Arian controversy over the divinity of Christ. The dispute, he notes, \u201cconcerned the essence of the Christian faith,\u201d namely the answer to Jesus\u2019 question in the Gospel: \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d In response, the Nicene Fathers confessed that Jesus is the Son of God \u201cin as much as he is of the substance (ousia) of the Father\u2026 \u2018begotten, not made, consubstantial (homoo\u00fasios) with the Father.\u2019\u201d \u201cThe Fathers of Nicaea were firm in their resolution to remain faithful to biblical monotheism and the authenticity of the Incarnation,\u201d Leo XIV writes. By adopting terms such as \u201csubstance\u201d and \u201cconsubstantial,\u201d which are not found in Scripture, the Council \u201cdid not\u2026 replace biblical statements with Greek philosophy,\u201d he explains. Rather, it sought \u201cto affirm biblical faith with clarity and to distinguish it from Arius\u2019 error, which was deeply influenced by Hellenism.\u201d \u201cThe Nicene Creed does not depict a distant, inaccessible and immovable God who rests in himself, but a God who is close to us and accompanies us on our journey in the world, even in the darkest places on earth,\u201d the pope writes. \u201cHis immensity is revealed when he makes himself small, laying aside his infinite majesty to become our neighbor in the little ones and in the poor. This revolutionizes pagan and philosophical conceptions of God.\u201d Leo XIV also highlights the Nicene emphasis on the full humanity of Christ, noting the clarification that the Word \u201cbecame man.\u201d Against teachings that suggested the Logos only assumed a body, he recalls that later councils made explicit that \u201cin Christ, God assumed and redeemed the whole human being, body and soul.\u201d Quoting St. Athanasius and the patristic tradition, the pope writes: \u201cDivinization, then, is true humanization (becoming fully human). This is why human existence points beyond itself, seeks beyond itself, desires beyond itself, and is restless until it rests in God.\u201d Only God, he adds, \u201cin his infinity, can satisfy the infinite desire of the human heart, and for this reason the Son of God chose to become our brother and redeemer.\u201d A call to examine conscience Beyond doctrine, Leo XIV insists that the Creed must shape Christian life. \u201cBoth the liturgy and the Christian life are thus firmly anchored in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed: what we profess with our mouths must come from the heart so that we may bear witness to it with our lives,\u201d he writes. \u201cWe must therefore ask ourselves: What about our interior reception of the Creed today? Do we experience that it also affects our current situation? Do we understand and live out what we say every Sunday? What do these words mean for our lives?\u201d \u201cIn this sense, the Nicene Creed invites us to examine our conscience,\u201d the pope continues. \u201cWhat does God mean to me and how do I bear witness to my faith in him? Is the one and only God truly the Lord of my life, or do I have idols that I place before God and his commandments?\u201d He ties this examination to care for creation and social justice, asking: \u201cHow do I treat creation, the work of his hands? Do I exploit and destroy it, or do I use it with reverence and gratitude, caring for and cultivating it as the common home of humanity?\u201d Echoing the Second Vatican Council, Leo XIV notes that \u201cfor many people today, however, God and the question of God have almost no meaning in their lives,\u201d and that Christians themselves bear some responsibility, since \u201cthey do not bear witness to the true faith; they hide the true face of God with lifestyles and actions that diverge from the Gospel.\u201d Instead of proclaiming a merciful God, he laments, \u201ca vengeful God has been presented who instils terror and punishes.\u201d Following Christ and loving one another At the center of the Creed, the pope writes, is the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and God. \u201cThe profession of faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and God is the center of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. This is the heart of our Christian life,\u201d he says. \u201cFor this reason, we commit to follow Jesus as our master, companion, brother and friend.\u201d Following Christ, he continues, \u201cis not a wide and comfortable path,\u201d but \u201cthis often demanding or even painful path always leads to life and salvation.\u201d \u201cIf God loves us with all his being, then we too must love one another,\u201d Leo XIV writes. \u201cWe cannot love God whom we do not see without loving our brother and sister whom we do see. Love for God without love for neighbor is hypocrisy; radical love for our neighbor, especially love for our enemies, without love for God, requires a \u2018heroism\u2019 that would overwhelm and oppress us.\u201d \u201cIn the face of disasters, wars and misery, we bear witness to God\u2019s mercy to those who doubt him only when they experience his mercy through us,\u201d he adds. Ecumenism as \u2018sign of peace and instrument of reconciliation\u2019 Recalling the teaching of Vatican II and St. John Paul II\u2019s 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint, the pope says that in a divided world \u201cthe one universal Christian community can be a sign of peace and an instrument of reconciliation, playing a decisive role in the global commitment to peace.\u201d He notes that, while full visible unity with Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and communities born of the Reformation has not yet been achieved, ecumenical dialogue \u201cfounded on one baptism and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed\u201d has already helped Christians recognize each other as brothers and sisters in Christ and rediscover \u201cthe one universal community of Christ\u2019s disciples throughout the world.\u201d \u201cWe share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel,\u201d he writes. \u201cTruly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us!\u201d \u2018Come, divine Comforter\u2019 The letter concludes with a prayer to the Holy Spirit for the renewal of faith and the healing of divisions among Christians. \u201cHoly Spirit of God, you guide believers along the path of history,\u201d Leo XIV prays. \u201cWe thank you for inspiring the Symbols of Faith and for stirring in our hearts the joy of professing our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Without him, we can do nothing.\u201d \u201cCome, divine Comforter, source of harmony, unite the hearts and minds of believers. Come and grant us to taste the beauty of communion,\u201d he continues. \u201cCome, 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.\u201d This article was originally published by CNA. Receive the most important news from EWTN Vatican via WhatsApp. It has become increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channel today EWTN Vatican on WhatsApp Victoria Cardiel Would you like to receive the latest updates on the Pope and the Vatican Receive articles and updates from our EWTN Newsletter. 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