At the end of November, Leo XIV will go to Nicaea for the 1700th anniversary of the council that was held there in 325. Its heritage is fundamental for the Church because it allowed for the writing the Symbol of Nicaea that Catholics profess each Sunday at the liturgy. During the Sundays of Lent, the Church transmits this very profession of faith to catechumens during different scrutinies in preparation for their baptism.
Who is Christ?
As the foundation of our faith received and passed on, the Council of Nicaea remains deeply relevant today because it clarifies the identity of Christ: Who is he? Is he a man; is he God?
Following Arius, the Arians denied the divinity of Jesus because it did not seem worthy to them that God would humble himself in becoming man. God would have to send an intermediary to save us: Jesus, a superman. This conception of God absolutizes his transcendance and renders him impersonal, distant, inaccessible…
To this point, the Council of Nicaea responds that the man Jesus is consubstantial to the Father, meaning that He is God. This truth of the faith allows for a true understanding of God because God renders Himself near to man and to his weakness in assuming his nature, taking his sin upon Himself, and in saving him by his death and Ressurection. God, in taking flesh, enters into history and remains present there in the Eucharist: “I am with you always until the end of the world” (Mt 28:20).
Gaze fixed on Jesus
Saint John Paul II invited us to “keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, the human face of God and the divine face of man” (Angelus January 11, 2004). This closeness of God in no way diminishes the proper reverence that man must maintain toward God.However, this fear of God must not fall into an Arian-like absolutization of divine transcendence “that prohibits real closeness to humanity.” “He is not a distant God acting through magical words and gestures.”
“The Jubilee of Hope and the anniversary of Nicaea bring us back to the fascinating beauty of God who becomes incarnate, humbles himself, and appeals to our freedom.” (Letter from the bishops of France on the occasion of the Jubilee and the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea)
