“From Nicaea walking together towards unity. The beginning of a new beginning”
A webinar scheduled for Thursday 8th February, 2024, will offer insights and reflections on the Council of Nicaea and its still vibrant legacy for Christians today. In 2025, 1700 years will have passed since the first Ecumenical Council of Nicea (325 AD): a unique example of how people from different cultures were able to make shared decisions in difficult times. It was there that the foundations of Christian belief were laid: a precious heritage, to which the life and faith of the Churches have given witness over the centuries, influencing the path of human civilization. At Nicaea the method of calculating the date of Christian Easter was also decided: the Sunday following the first full moon after the beginning of spring. Later, the use of different calendars led to Easter being celebrated on different days in the East and West, so that only occasionally the date coincides (for example this year 2024 there are 15 days of difference). In 2025, all Churches will celebrate Easter on the same date. But today this anniversary assumes broader significance. We live in an age of conflict and distress. A time that needs new hope. A time that must rediscover the prophecy of a culture of Resurrection. On Thursday, 8th February, 2024, a webinar entitled: “From Nicaea walking together towards unity. The beginning of a new beginning” will take place. The webinar aims to highlight how, for the Church, the Council of Nicaea was the powerful beginning of this common witness, like a new Pentecost that illuminates all aspects of life and empowers the pursuit of universal fraternity. It implicitly calls for all the Churches, in East and West, to make a further effort to agree on a common date of Easter, which would give rise to a new beginning of shared testimony before the world. Offering a shared witness to the unity and mutual recognition of distinct and rich traditions of the one faith, would be a decisive contribution to the arduous and intense search for peace and to the challenging reconciliation between a happy global coexistence of humanity and the right to identity proper to each people. The webinar, prepared by scholars from different Churches, aims to disseminate, in a language accessible to all, the enormous legacy of the First Ecumenical Council of the Church: a legacy that, when embraced and lived out, has the strength to make a difference in the challenging times in which we live. The webinar opening will be opened by H.H. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, H.E. Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Dicastery for Christian Unity, Dr. Jerry Pillay, Secretary General of the World Council of Churches and Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance. There will then be inputs from representatives of various Churches. The webinar will take place from 13:30-16:30 CET. Simultaneous translation in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish will be available. To receive the link, complete this form Download the full programme 20240208-WEBINAR-EN