By Michael Pakaluk.

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Now for today's column...

More than one important thing took place on June 19th. On that day in 325 in the city of Nicaea (present day Iznik, Turkey), the first world-wide (or "ecumenical") council of the Catholic Church adopted a "symbol" that authoritatively expressed the ancient Christian faith. This was the first symbol formulated by the Church, after the Symbol of the Apostles. The Catechism excellently explains this perhaps unfamiliar terminology:

The Greek word symbolon meant half of a broken object, for example, a seal presented as a token of recognition. The broken parts were placed together to verify the bearer's identity. The symbol of faith, then, is a sign of recognition and communion between believers. Symbolon also means a gathering, collection or summary. A symbol of faith is a summary of the principal truths of the faith and therefore serves as the first and fundamental point of reference for catechesis (n. 188).

Today, then, is the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed. For the record, here is the original:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father (ek tês ousias tou Patros), God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, one in substance (homoousion) with the Father; through whom all things came to be, both in heaven and on earth, who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down, and assumed flesh, and was made man; he suffered and arose on the third day, ascending into heaven, and is coming to judge the living and the dead.

And in the Holy Ghost.

But those who say: "There was a time when he was not;" and "He was not before he was made;" and "He was made out of nothing," or "He is of another substance" or "essence," or "The Son of God is created," or "changeable," or "alterable" - they are condemned by the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 preserved a fuller version of this creed as composed by the Fathers at the Council of Constantinople in 381, which affirmed additionally the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This fuller version is what we say in Church on Sunday and is sometimes called the "Nicene-Constantinopolitan" Creed.

The anathemas at the end of the original version, and also a clause that apparently was removed at Constantinople ("begotten. . . from the substance of the Father"), make it perfectly clear that this creed was intended to reject the teaching that Arius, in the event, was forced, finally, to evince clearly, namely, that Christ was simply the highest created being, but not God.

I've heard it said that Catholics are bad at celebrating anniversaries and that, therefore, we ought to make a big fuss at commemorating the 1700th anniversary of Nicaea. But what does this mean? Does it mean that in this century, in 2025, if we were "good at celebrating anniversaries," in 2025 we would celebrate Nicaea, in 2031 Ephesus, in 2051 Constantinople, in 2063 Trent, in 2065 the Second Vatican Council, and in 2070 the First Vatican Council - for starters? This is silly.

Also, it seems frankly un-Catholic. In 1925, Pope Pius XI was occ...