WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2025

A Cathedral Commons Forum with the Rev Canon Rich Weyls

This past summer marked the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea (325). Martin Luther considered it "the most sacred of all councils." The decrees of the Council helped us find language to describe what we mean when we say "God." We will explore the historical context of the Council while reflecting upon its rich theology in order to discover significance for today. Rather than being a list of intellectual propositions, the Council is a gift to the church and an act of praise to God.

UPDATE: The slides for this presentation can be seen here. 

The handout with the original text of the Creed as adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325 can be seen here.

Canon Rich closed the forum with a prayer to the Holy Spirit written by Pope Leo XIV in his Apostolic Letter on the occasion of the 1,700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Here is that prayer: 

Holy Spirit of God, you guide believers along the path of history. We thank you for inspiring the Symbols of Faith and for stirring in our hearts the joy of professing our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Without him, we can do nothing. Eternal Spirit of God, rejuvenate the faith of the Church from age to age. Help us to deepen it and to return always to the essentials in order to proclaim it. So that our witness in the world may not be futile, come, Holy Spirit, with your fire of grace, to revive our faith, to enkindle us with hope, to inflame us with charity. Come, divine Comforter, source of harmony, unite the hearts and minds of believers. Come and grant us to taste the beauty of communion. Come, Love of the Father and the Son, gather us into the one flock of Christ. Show us the ways to follow, so that with your wisdom, we become once again what we are in Christ: one, so that the world may believe. Amen.

Pope Leo's remarks at the joint liturgy in İznik (Nicaea) with Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I can be heard here.  

A complete video of the forum is now available below.