Cardinal says Pope Leo’s trip to Türkiye revives the spirit of Ecumenism – Crux

    
       
    
Greek pilgrims visit the Christian Orthodox Halki Theological school at the Christian Orthodox Holy Trinity Monastery, in Heybeliada island, Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Credit: Francisco Seco/AP.)
Pope Leo XIV will leave for Türkiye on Nov. 27 to mark the 1700^th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a trip one cardinal says will show “ecumenical fellowship” with the Eastern Orthodox Church.
“The Council took place in 325, at a time when Christianity had not yet been wounded by so many divisions and separations,” Cardinal Kurt Koch told Vatican Media.
The chief reason for the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 was a dispute between a priest-theologian called Arius and Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, over the nature of Jesus Christ.
Arius taught that since the Son comes from the Father, this means the Son is created, and not fully God. Athanasius countered that Christ was co-eternal and con-substantial with the Father, which is the common Christian belief.
The dispute between those two theological heavyweights burgeoned into a worldwide controversy that threatened to tear apart not only the Church but the Roman Empire in the fourth century.
Today, Nicaea is located in the town of İznik in Türkiye, once the center of the Orthodox Church. During his visit, Pope Leo is scheduled to meet with Bartholomew I of Constantinople.
The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church have been separated since 1054, and Koch – who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for Christian Unity – says the meeting is a step towards healing the division.
“The Council defined and established the Christian faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, which is held by all Christians. Reminding ourselves of this anew and deepening our faith together in ecumenical friendship is the great advantage of this event,” he told Vatican Media.
“That is why the Council concerns all Christians and can be celebrated in ecumenical fellowship,” the cardinal said.
“The Council of Nicaea is a great foundation on which faith has been established. And it can be deepened anew – because faith in the divinity of Jesus is not simply a given, but is still questioned today. And deepening it anew seems to me to be very important,” Koch said.
He says the meeting between Christian leaders will be a testimony that “we are one at the core of the Christian faith.”
“This also corresponds to Pope Leo XIV’s wonderful motto, In Illo uno unum. This means that we are many, we are diverse, but we are one in Jesus Christ. This motto, which he chose for the Catholic Church, applies equally to ecumenism,” the cardinal said.
After Pope Leo leaves Türkiye on Nov. 30, he will leave for Lebanon, where he will stay until Dec. 2.
Both Türkiye and Lebanon have Muslim majorities, although Christians are far more numerous in the latter country.
Koch says the pope’s visit to the region is one “of sympathy and solidarity with the difficult situations in these countries.”
“It is an encouragement for Christians – in Türkiye, Christians are a small minority. In Lebanon, there is a diverse community of Christians,” Koch also said, “with a strong Maronite presence, of course, who are living in a difficult situation, both politically and economically.”
The Maronite Church is a self-governing (sui iuris) Church in full communion with the pope, which traces its origins to Saint Maron, a fourth-century monk, and has played a profound role in the history of Lebanon.
Strengthening and encouraging them is certainly a concern of the Holy Father,” the cardinal told Vatican Media.
“And, of course, ecumenical dialogue and interreligious dialogue, the dialogue between Christians and Muslims, which is particularly important in Lebanon because the president there is Maronite and the prime minister is Muslim,” he said.
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