Pope Francis expressed his desire on Thursday to visit Turkey in 2025 to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council in Christianity. The historic site of Nicaea is now known as İznik, located southeast of Istanbul. This visit is planned to coincide with Francis' significant Holy Year, a major event in Christianity that occurs every 25 years.
The Pope may use this momentous occasion—marking a council held before the 1054 Great Schism that divided the church into East and West—to extend an olive branch to Orthodox Christians. The Eastern Orthodox Church acknowledges Nicaea as one of the seven ecumenical councils.
Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christian world, mentioned in September that he anticipates Francis will visit to commemorate the anniversary in May 2025.
According to the Catholic Almanac, the Council of Nicaea, convened by Emperor Constantine I in 325 AD, brought together around 300 bishops. Its most notable achievement was the Nicaean Creed, a declaration of faith still recited by Christians today.
Pope Francis shared his aspiration to visit during a meeting with the Vatican's International Theological Commission, describing the Council of Nicaea as a "milestone in the history of the church and humanity as a whole."
This would not be Francis' first trip to Turkey, as he previously visited in 2014, meeting with Bartholomew on that occasion, as well as earlier in Jerusalem and multiple times at the Vatican.
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