Patriarchal Message on the Celebration of the 1700th Anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council

Message of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’,

to the archpastors, pastors, deacons, monastics, and all faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church

on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council:

Beloved in the Lord hierarchs, reverend presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!

Today, on the Seventh Sunday after Pascha, the Orthodox Church prayerfully commemorates and glorifies the labors of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, which was held in the year 325 in Nicaea - a small city not far from Constantinople. This year marks the 1700th anniversary of that epochal event in the history of the Church.

About three hundred bishops and their representatives came from nearly all corners of the Christian world to participate in the deliberation of one of the most pressing theological issues, which for decades had provoked fierce disputes and literally torn the Church apart. The minds of many had been seized by the error of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius, who claimed that the Son of God is not true God, but merely His highest creation. In making this claim, Arius attempted to rationalize the faith and reduce the great mystery of godliness - the Incarnation (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16) - to an abstract philosophical concept.

The Arian heresy struck at the very heart of the Christian faith, distorting the Gospel message of the world’s salvation - the salvation for which the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth (cf. John 1:14). The Church rejected this false teaching by the conciliar mind and formulated the essential dogma of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father, which we confess in the Nicene Creed, proclaimed at every Divine Liturgy. As the eminent Church historian Professor Vasily Vasilievich Bolotov wrote, “The Nicene Creed was so precise that it could not be reinterpreted - it could only be accepted or rejected” (Lectures on the History of the Ancient Church, Vol. 4).

The history of the Church is not merely the subject of academic study or a record of long-past events - a collection of tales from distant antiquity, like the faded pages of a dusty book. In the Church’s history lives and acts the Holy Spirit, Who guides us into all truth (cf. John 16:13). This is why the study of Church history - which I strongly urge you all to undertake - helps us better understand many phenomena of contemporary religious life, teaches us to distinguish the essential from the incidental, to discern spirits (cf. 1 Cor. 12:10), and to comprehend the wise providence of God for His Church.

From the beginning of its historical existence, the Church has been and remains a community of believers in Christ, who experientially apprehend and live out unity in the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, when we, with one voice and one heart, confess faith in the Holy Trinity and partake of the one Chalice of Christ. The Holy Spirit teaches the Church to respond to the challenges of the times with conciliar wisdom and fraternal dialogue. Thus it was at the first council of the apostles in Jerusalem, which became a turning point in the spread of the Good News and established the universal mission of the Church. Thus it was at the Council of Nicaea in 325, which secured a dogmatic victory over the heresy of Arius and rejected it as contrary to the very foundations of Christian faith. Thus it was at the subsequent holy councils. And thus - we believe and hope - it will continue until the end of the age.

Today, as the Orthodox world faces a time of great difficulty, when deep theological reflection on ecclesiological issues is required, we affirm once more with conviction: the most vital decisions, which affect the very foundations of the Church’s being, her faithfulness to apostolic teaching and canonical order, and her saving vocation as “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), must be made collectively - “in the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).

We unceasingly bear witness to this and pray that, through the intercessions of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, the Bountiful God may look mercifully upon His Church and grant His faithful children strength and wisdom, courage and steadfastness - that they may remain the salt of the earth and the light of the world (cf. Matt. 5:13-14), His bold witnesses even unto the ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8), until the coming of Christ.

Calling upon all of you, my dear ones, the peace and blessing of God, I wish you growth in love and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Whom be all glory, honor, and worship with the Father and the Most Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

+KIRILL,Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’

1 June 2025