The Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena hosted, on the afternoon of this Thursday, November 20, at 8:00 PM, an ecumenical celebration on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The event, convened under the motto «One Lord, one faith». The meeting is framed within the 128th session of the Plenary Assembly of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), which is being held this week (November 18 to 21) in Madrid.
A joint celebration of various Christian Churches
The ceremony, structured in four parts, was prepared jointly by representatives of different Christian Churches. It was accompanied by biblical readings, songs, and moments of silence and prayer. The commemoration sought to emphasize the unity of the Christian faith, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, and the importance of the Creed as a doctrinal expression shared by numerous confessions.
The event began with words of greeting from Mons. Ramón Darío Valdivia, president of the Episcopal Subcommission for Interconfessional Relations and Interreligious Dialogue of the CEE, and from Cardinal José Cobo, Archbishop of Madrid, who recalled that «God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.»
Shared reading of the ecumenical declaration
The ecumenical declaration prepared on the occasion of the anniversary was proclaimed jointly by representatives of the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Spanish Evangelical Church, and the Russian Orthodox Church, the latter in charge of the fourth part and the conclusion centered on the Creed.
Each block of the ceremony was introduced by Rafael Vázquez, director of the secretariat of the Episcopal Subcommission for Interconfessional Relations and Interreligious Dialogue. The four moments bore the titles: «We believe in one God, the Father»; «We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ»; «For our sake he was crucified and rose again»; and «We believe in the Holy Spirit»—and as in every ecumenical act for at least 30 years, the Filioque is omitted—.
Participation of various confessions and proclamation of the Creed in Greek
During the celebration, biblical readings were interspersed by members of the Anglican Church, the Catholic Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Serbian Orthodox Church, and other communities. One of the highlights was the sung proclamation of the Creed in Greek, a sign of communion with the tradition of the early centuries of Christianity.
A text agreed upon and approved by the CEE
The Episcopal Subcommission for Interconfessional Relations and Interreligious Dialogue, presided over by Mons. Ramón Valdivia, was in charge of agreeing on the Ecumenical Declaration of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed elaborated jointly by the Catholic Church and various Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant Churches present in Spain. The document was approved by the bishops in the recent Permanent Commission of the CEE, held between September 30 and October 1.
The text reaffirms the shared faith in the Most Holy Trinity, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the action of the Holy Spirit, and underscores the dignity of the person created in the image of God, the centrality of the Gospel in Christian life, and the common commitment to peace, justice, and the defense of the most vulnerable. The declaration, approved by the Permanent Commission of the CEE, also highlights the importance of advancing toward greater visible unity among Christians and of proclaiming the faith with renewed missionary impetus.