Nicaea and the Church of the Third Millennium

Our Faculty Member, Dr Andrew Mellas, recently participated in the International Conference, ‘Nicaea and the Church of the Third Millennium: Towards Catholic–Orthodox Unity’ (Rome, 4-7 June 2025), which was convened by the International Orthodox Theological Association. The theme of the conference was inspired by the fact that this year marks 1700 years since the first ecumenical synod in Nicaea. Indeed, 2025 represents 60 years since the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, when the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch cancelled the mutual excommunications that the two Churches had exchanged in 1054. Moreover, this year marks 30 years since Pope John Paul II's landmark encyclical Ut Unum Sint, which portrays the journey that the Bishop of Rome and the Bishop of Constantinople have embarked upon as a dialogue of love.

Keynote presenters at the international conference included His Eminence Metropolitan Job of Pisidia (who represented the Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Cardinal Kurt Kock (who represented the Vatican). The conference explored three main themes: the faith of Nicaea, synodality and the date of Easter. A highlight of the conference was a private audience for delegates with Pope Leo XIV. Welcoming delegates to the Clementine Hall of the Vatican, Pope Leo reflected on how “the Council of Nicaea is not merely an event of the past, but a compass that must continue to guide us towards the full visible unity of Christians…on this eve of Pentecost, let us remember that the unity for which Christians long will not be primarily the fruit of our own efforts, nor will it be realized through any preconceived model or blueprint. Rather, unity will be a gift received as Christ wills and by the means that he wills, by the working of the Holy Spirit.”