In the midst of the Jubilee proclaimed by Pope Francis—intended to rekindle the Hope that does not disappoint—the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in the history of the Church is also being observed. Convened in 325 in Nicaea by Emperor Constantine I to resolve theological disputes, this historic event is celebrated throughout Christendom as a milestone, for defining the Nicene Creed and affirming the divinity of Jesus Christ, as well as for its role in unifying the Faith and the unity of the Churches. After 1700 years, the Council of Nicaea still speaks to today’s Faith.

In this context, the Lombardy Delegation of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, following the monthly Holy Mass on Thursday, 6 November 2025 at 6:45 p.m. in the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro on Via Torino in Milan, Italy held a conference entitled The Council of Nicaea (325): Toward a New Anthropology That Will Define the Face of the West, given by Prof. Father Maurizio Ormas, Chaplain of Merit with Silver Star of the Constantinian Order and former Professor at the Pontifical Lateran University.

Additionally, on Saturday, 8 November 2025 at 10:00 a.m., a Visit took place organized by the Promoter of Cultural Activities, Prof. Edoardo Teodoro Brioschi, Knight Grand Cross of Merit, to the Special Collections of the Library of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. The library preserves a sixth-century Greek tablet of great cultural and religious value, as it is the only known example engraved on wood containing the complete text of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

The Council of Nicaea

Speaking of the Council celebrated in Nicaea 1700 years ago, in 325, might seem like a cultured remembrance of a venerable and important event, but nonetheless a relic of a distant past. In reality, the message of that Council is repeated every Sunday in the Creed of the Holy Mass, in what is called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Nicaea, therefore, as a rule of Faith, still has much to say to our being Christians—but even more surprisingly, it has much to say to our being human, since from Nicaea there begins a new way of understanding the human person in relation to reality, a new anthropology—as the theme of the conference states—that will define the face of the West.

Apostolic Visit Logo in Türkiye

The 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea has important ecumenical dimensions, already evident in the fact that the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, will travel to Nicaea to commemorate the anniversary together with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I. Today, the Holy See Press Office released the program of the Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to Türkiye and Lebanon, including a pilgrimage to İznik (Türkiye) on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, from 27 November to 2 December 2025, under the theme One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.

The Council of Nicaea

Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, stated:

“Of ecumenical relevance are, above all, the doctrinal issues addressed by the Council, summarized in the ‘Declaration of the 318 Fathers.’ In it the Fathers professed their faith in ‘one God, the Father almighty, creator of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, begotten, only-begotten, from the Father, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of the same substance as the Father, through whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth.’

If we keep these various aspects of the Council’s Christological confession in mind, it becomes clear—as an important imperative for today’s ecumenism—the need to celebrate its 1700th anniversary in the ecumenical communion of all Christian Churches, to rediscover and newly appreciate its confession of Faith in Jesus Christ.

This necessity is imposed for another reason as well. If we honestly observe the current context of faith in our regions, we must recognize that we find ourselves in a situation similar to that of the fourth century: we are witnessing a strong resurgence of Arian tendencies. Already in the 1990s, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger identified in a ‘new Arianism’ the real challenge contemporary Christianity faced. The spirit of Arianism is perceptible above all in the fact that even today many Christians are receptive to the human dimensions of the figure of Jesus of Nazareth, but struggle with the Christological confession that Jesus of Nazareth is the only-begotten Son of the Heavenly Father, and therefore with the Church’s Christological faith.

Often today, even within the Church and the ecumenical movement, it is very difficult to discern in the man Jesus the very face of God and to confess him as the Son of God, because he is often seen merely as a human being, however exceptionally good. But if Jesus, as many Christians today believe, were only a man who lived two thousand years ago, he would be irretrievably confined to the past, and only our human memory could bring him into the present—more or less clearly. In that case, Jesus could not be the only Son of God, in whom God himself is present among us.

Only if the Church’s confession is true—namely, that God himself became man and that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, and therefore shares in God’s presence that embraces all time—can we confess him today as ‘consubstantial with the Father.’ Christian faith today stands or falls with the Christological confession of the Council of Nicaea. Thus, to engage with this Council is important not only at the historical level. Rather, its creed remains timely, especially in today’s situation of Faith. Reviving its Christological confession is a challenge that must be embraced in ecumenical communion.”

The Holy Mass

On Thursday, 6 November 2025 at 6:45 p.m. in the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro on Via Torino in Milan, Prof. Father Maurizio Ormas, Chaplain of Merit with Silver Star and former Professor at the Pontifical Lateran University, presided over the Delegation’s monthly celebration of the Holy Mass, in the presence of the Delegate, Dr. Eng. Gilberto Spinardi, Knight Grand Cross of Merit, and Prof. Father Paolo Maria Giuseppe Lobiati, Chaplain of Merit.

Procession
Homily
Celebration
Group Photo

In his homily, Father Maurizio Ormas, referring to the passage from Revelation (Rev 15:1–7), introduced the theme of judgment, of the end, that is, of the purpose of life. Chapter fifteen arrives at the judgment; therefore it brings us close to the theme of the purpose for which humanity was created: to enjoy God fully and completely, to attain beatitude, and thus to be embraced by Him, who makes humanity fully participate in His life. This is also the theme of the Gospel of John (Jn 8:28–30). Jesus came to bring the life of God because He is the Word of God and speaks as the Father has taught Him. His word of mercy and salvation He speaks to us. The One who sent Him never leaves Him alone. Everything that belongs to the Father also belongs to the Son, and everything that belongs to the Son also belongs to the Father—except for one thing: Fatherhood belongs to the Father and not to the Son, and Sonship belongs to the Son and not to the Father; everything else is in common.

He emphasized the phrase: “Jesus said, ‘I am. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am.’” He applies to himself the name of God. He uses for himself the sacred name. He thus shows awareness of his own divinity—a divinity, however, that empties itself for the sake of humanity, for he alludes to his being “lifted up,” to his Cross: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am.” On the Cross, the power and salvation of God are fully manifested. The Father gives everything: the Son. And to love us completely, He gives us His Son, who accepts even the Cross for our salvation.

Father Ormas concluded with a remembrance of the late Chief Chaplain for Northern Italy of the Royal Commission for Italy, Father Fabio Fantoni, Chaplain Grand Cross ofJure Sanguinis, who died on Thursday, 30 October 2025, at the age of 62, and whose funeral was celebrated on Monday, 3 November 2025. Father Ormas recalled Father Fantoni’s accompaniment with style, patience, friendship, and dedication to the Constantinian Order, from the rebirth of the Order in Milan onward, expressing gratitude to all those who contributed to the Order’s revitalization and to whom he remains indebted, among them Father Fantoni.

Constantinian Knight’s Prayer

At the conclusion of Mass, the Director of Cultural Activities, Prof. Edoardo Brioschi, Knight Grand Cross of Merit, recited the Constantinian Knight’s Prayer, and then introduced the subsequent conference The Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.): Toward a New Anthropology That Will Define the Face of the West, delivered by Prof. Father Maurizio Ormas, Chaplain of Merit with Silver Star and former Professor at the Pontifical Lateran University, of which the transcript follows.

Lecture of Prof. Father Maurizio Ormas

The Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.):
Toward a New Anthropology That Will Define the Face of the West

The Council of Nicaea took place in 325 A.D., 1700 years ago. It was the first ecumenical council in the history of the Church. Only five Western bishops participated; all the others were Eastern. It was convened and presided over by Emperor Constantine the Great, who intended to restore peace among the Churches and also within the Empire, because the controversies up to that point—especially the eruption of the Arian controversy—threatened to divide the Empire, society, and thus the Roman State, whose peace and unity he saw himself as the guardian of.

Constantine had a very high opinion of himself. He had a high self-regard, both as Pontifex Maximus—a title emperors would continue to hold for a long time, as head of the pagan religion—and as a Christian ruler. He considered himself, and was called, the “13th Apostle,” and he described himself as “the bishop of those outside,” while he regarded the bishops as “those of the inside,” as he once said in a speech.

His high opinion of himself also led him to design his own tomb. Constantine’s tomb, in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, had a circular structure. There were twelve cenotaphs or steles (we no longer have them today—the church was destroyed after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453). Arranged in a circle were the cenotaphs of the Apostles, and in the center was his own tomb. He was buried in the middle of the Apostles, as the 13th Apostle.

Thus Constantine acted with great self-awareness, even in Christian matters.

In Nicaea, the imperial palace stood; he invited the bishops to gather there, paid for their travel, treated them as imperial officials, and hosted them in suitable—indeed luxurious—accommodations. This continued the attitude he adopted after the Edict of Milan: supporting the Church, restoring confiscated church property, rebuilding demolished churches, extending to Christian clergy the same privileges as pagan priests.

The Council was therefore held in the imperial palace. A not-precisely-known number of bishops attended. We have 220 signatures, plus that of the Bishop of Cordova, Hosius, who presided on behalf of the Emperor.

The atmosphere at the council was quite turbulent, but Arius and his supporter Eusebius of Nicomedia had the opportunity to speak, to explain their positions. They did so with the attitude of those who feel they are “on the right side of history,” given that the dominant culture supported them. They irritated the majority of bishops by their arrogance: for how, they argued, could one believe that God became flesh, that the man in whom God took flesh could be God, that he could blow his nose, eat, be hungry, thirsty, sweat like other humans? This seemed vulgar, beneath divine majesty. The very idea of God entering matter appeared unacceptable within the dominant Neoplatonic philosophy.

Thus Arius and Eusebius addressed the other bishops as though they had to “teach” them—an attitude that made them unpopular. Arius, despite this, was personally charismatic: white beard, white hair, a priest from Alexandria, well-liked, articulate, elegant—certainly not a second-rate figure.

The reason Arius provoked such a deep schism—first in the East but also somewhat in the West—was precisely because he was such a capable and influential figure. The aim of the Council was to resolve the divergences that began within the Church of Alexandria, to which Arius belonged, and then spread more widely: Was Christ born of the Father or created by the Father? Was He of the same nature or inferior? If created, was there a time when He did not exist? If so, He was not eternal.

The so-called educated classes largely supported Arius. And perhaps even today, many who consider themselves “educated” hold an Arian view without realizing it. The Platonic divine One seemed incompatible with multiplicity. A divine Son equal to God seemed unacceptable. It was easier to imagine an intermediate divinity—a Demiurge—or a man adopted by God and given exceptional powers.

What Arius lacked was the idea that God could be agape, self-giving love. If God gives Himself, He gives Himself entirely. For God to be love, God must be Trinity—love requires an interlocutor within the divine life. The divine Monad must be Trinity if God is love even before creation.

We may say the Nicene dogma proclaims an irreversible event and uses Greek philosophical language merely as a vehicle. Arius, by contrast, used philosophy to judge Christianity; the Nicene Fathers used philosophy to express Christianity.

We too are tempted to subordinate Christianity to the dominant philosophy rather than using philosophy to illuminate Christianity. This is the Arian temptation.

The anti-Arian bishops understood clearly: this was not just a terminological dispute. The reality of salvation was at stake. If Christ is not true God, we are still in our sins. His death and resurrection would not have the power to redeem. Only if the Son has the life of God can He communicate that life to us.

Without Christ’s divinity, Christianity becomes just another religion in which a distant God sends a messenger with instructions. But Christianity proclaims something unheard-of: the Creator of the universe enters into human life, sharing it fully—even suffering and dying. Without Christ’s divinity, Christianity would not have survived—and Islam, dependent in part on Christian revelation, would not exist either.

The Council therefore decided—by a large majority, with only two dissenting votes—that the Son is “of the same essence” as the Father. It rejected the idea that the Son was created, affirming instead that He is “begotten, not made,” “before all ages.”

In this way, Arianism was decisively rejected.