Pope Francis said on Thursday he planned to visit Turkey’s İznik next year for the anniversary of the first council of the Christian Church, Reuters reported, citing the Italian news agency ANSA.
The early centuries of Christianity were marked by debate about how Jesus could be both God and man, and the Church decided on the issue at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
“During the Holy Year, we will also have the opportunity to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. I plan to go there,” the pontiff was quoted as saying at a theological committee event.
The city, now known as İznik, is in northwestern Anatolia, some 150 km (100 miles) southeast of İstanbul
The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip and the spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, had said the two men would celebrate the important recurrence together but no official confirmation had been made yet.
Based on the Lausanne Treaty signed in 1923, Turkey does not recognize Bartholomew’s “ecumenical” title, which means universal and relates to unity among the world’s Orthodox churches.
If Francis can make a visit to Turkey in 2025, it will be his second trip to the country since he was elected in 2013.
He paid a three-day visit to İstanbul and Ankara in 2014 aiming to build bridges with Islam and support the Christian minorities of the Middle East.
Despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him because of health issues, Francis, who will turn 88 on Dec. 17, completed in September a 12-day tour across Asia, the longest of his 11-year papacy.