By Father Fred Edlefsen

At Sunday Mass, we stand after the homily to say the Nicene Creed. The Creed was formulated at the Council of Nicaea – the first ecumenical gathering of bishops in history – in the year 325 AD. This year, we celebrate the Creed’s 1,700th anniversary. When we profess our Faith saying, “I believe…”, we are participating in one of the world’s most continuous and ancient rites. Additions to the Creed were made at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, affirming that the Holy Spirit, “the Lord, the giver of life”, is a co-eternal and co-equal divine Person along with the Father and the Son. This formulated the doctrine of the Trinity.

The Creed summarizes Catholic Faith in a brief narrative. Jesus told Peter: “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32). When the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, the Church was given a mission to unfailingly proclaim the Gospel until time’s end. The Holy Spirit assured the Church that it would infallibly proclaim the authentic Faith that the Apostles received from Jesus. Without this guarantee, Christ’s death and resurrection would have been in vain. If Faith fails, Christ’s mission fails. As Christ often said, “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50 and other Gospel passages).

The Council of Nicaea addressed a key question: Who was Jesus? Was he fully God and fully Man? Was he half-God and half-man? Was he just a man with divine powers? Was he God just appearing as man? If the Church got this wrong, it got everything wrong. Hence, the Creed solemnly declared that Jesus is “the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.” These words are the touchstone of everything we believe.

Pope Leo issued an Apostolic Letter, “In Unitate Fidei” (“In Unity of Faith”), on the Solemnity Christ the King, commemorating the 1,700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed ahead of his recent trip to Türkiye, where he visited Ankara, Istanbul, and Iznik (formerly Nicaea). The Pope said, “For centuries, this enduring confession of faith has been the common heritage of Christians, and it deserves to be professed and understood in ever new and relevant ways.”