Symposium commemorating anniversary of Council of Nicaea opens in Romania

Patriarch Daniel’s speech on the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. Photo: basilica

The International Theological Symposium dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council “The First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325): The Orthodox Faith – The Basis of Church Unity” has opened in Bucharest, reports basilica.ro. The academic event is taking place at the Patriarchal Palace from May 14 to 17, 2025.

In his keynote speech, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Daniel, emphasized the foundational importance of the Council of Nicaea in shaping Christian doctrine.

“The First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea of 325 was not just an episode of doctrinal confrontation with the heresies of the time, but also a fundamental and necessary step in the dogmatic formulation of the Orthodox faith and its confession as a saving truth,” said the Patriarch of Romania.

He reminded attendees of the historical context of the Council, which was convened “after three centuries of fierce persecutions and hostility toward Christians in the Roman Empire, as well as in a context marked by intense theological controversies.”

According to His Beatitude Daniel, the Council’s decisions carry enduring soteriological significance: “the Holy Fathers of Nicaea stated that if Jesus Christ is not fully God, humanity cannot receive salvation or eternal life. Thus, the purpose of confessing the faith in the divinity of Christ is the salvation of people, achieved through their union with Christ in Baptism and the Eucharist...”

The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church stressed the contemporary relevance of the Nicene Council’s teachings: “In an era when the unity of faith is often confronted with the numerous ideologies of the contemporary world, with aggressive secularism, and with the increasingly dominant moral relativism, a deep understanding of the sources of Patristic thought and of the major events in the history of Christianity, which have strongly and authoritatively affirmed the saving truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a constant theological necessity and a pastoral and missionary duty for all the servants of the Church, to guide the faithful on the way of salvation.”

The symposium’s academic program includes lectures on the historical context of the First Ecumenical Council, the Trinitarian and Christological teachings of the Nicene Creed, its liturgical reception, and its canonical relevance today.

The event is organized by the Romanian Patriarchate in collaboration with “Justinian the Patriarch” Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University of Bucharest, with the support of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs. It brings together representatives of government institutions, various Christian denominations, hierarchs, clergy, theology professors, and experts from Romania and abroad.

“The organization of this symposium on the occasion of the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate expresses the desire of the Romanian Orthodox Church to promote faithfulness to the truth of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose divinity was solemnly and synodally confessed by the Holy Fathers gathered in Nicaea in the year 325,” concluded Patriarch Daniel.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had resolved to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council.

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