VATICAN CITY.- This Sunday, the Pope Leo XIV He urged Christians to “leave behind theological controversies” already work for the unity of faithproposing a “future-oriented” ecumenism that promotes reconciliation and dialogue.
The apostolic letter titled ‘Unity of faith’ was published today, on the occasion of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaeahe first ecumenical council of the Churchand on the eve of Pope’s apostolic trip to Türkiye.
The importance of Christian unity
In the document, Leo XIV reflects on the importance of Christian unity and proposes an ecumenism based on “reconciliation, dialogue and the exchange of our spiritual gifts and heritage,” always oriented towards the future.
In the unity of faith, proclaimed since the origins of the Church, Christians are called to walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting with love and joy the gift received. This is expressed in the words of the Creed: “We believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, who…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex_es) November 23, 2025
“We must leave behind theological controversies that have lost their reason for being to acquire a common thought and, even more, a common prayer to the Holy Spirit“, so that it may bring us all together in one faith and one love,” writes Leo XIV.
To achieve this unity, the pontiff explains that a “patient, long and sometimes difficult path” will be necessary, requiring “repentance and conversion of all.”
“In the unity of faith, proclaimed since the origins of the Church, Christians are called to walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting with love and joy the gift received,” he adds.
Reflection on the Council of Nicaea of 325
The Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church emphasizes that the reestablishment of unity among Christians “does not impoverish us; on the contrary, it enriches us.”
In the apostolic letter, he reflects on the Council of Nicea of 325which marked a climactic moment at bring together Christians from East and West for the first time and in which an important theological agreement was reached of which the current “Credo” was born about the divinity of God and his son, putting an end to the Arians, who did not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ.
In this sense, Pope Leo
“It proposes, in fact, a model of true unity in legitimate diversity,” he says.
As I prepare to make an apostolic journey to Turkey, with this letter I wish to encourage throughout the Church a renewed impulse in the profession of faith, whose truth, which for centuries has constituted the shared heritage among Christians, deserves to be confessed and…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex_es) November 23, 2025
In his message, Leo XIV recognizes the “important advances” in ecumenical dialogue in recent years, although “full visible unity with the Orthodox Churches and the Communities born of the Reformation” has not yet been achieved.
However, he highlights that dialogue has made it possible to “recognize our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ in the brothers and sisters of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities.”
A single universal Christian community
The bishop of Rome insists that, in a world “divided and torn by many conflicts,” a single universal Christian community can be a “peace sign” and a “reconciliation instrument” that contributes “decisively to a global commitment to peace.”
Furthermore, he states that the unity of faith “offers hope in these difficult times,” amid “concerns, fears, threats of war and violence, natural disasters, injustice and hunger.”
The successor of Peter also remembers that, for many, God no longer has meaning in their lives, in part because “wars have been fought in the name of God, people have been killed, persecuted and discriminated against.”
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