1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea

Approaching the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, you’ll start to hear a lot of really bad and stupid arguments. One is that Constantine originally supported the Athanasian line of thought against the Arian line and that’s why the Council decided the way they did. Here’s the the thing: no! And here’s why –

“The story of 1st Nicaea and (especially) its aftermath is not just not what e.g. Dan Brown claimed: it’s literally the opposite.
Constantine didn’t interfere at the council on behalf of what is now orthodoxy. If anything, he was sympathetic to Arianism, but mainly he was against a creed that would exclude the Arians: he wanted everyone to stop *fussing*. He was complicated, but *probably* at least on many levels wanted a Christianity that was a syncretistic popular religion to tie together the empire and provide continuity with paganism, an easy fuzzy-minded baptism of Sol Invictus.

That is what he didn’t get.

He *tried* to interfere theologically at one point after the council: he commanded Athanasius to rescind Alexander’s anathematization of Arius.

Athanasius responded thusly: “What concern had the emperor with it? When did a decision of the Church receive its authority from the emperor? Or rather, when was his decree even recognized? There have been many [local] councils in times past, and many decrees made by the Church; but never did the fathers seek the consent of the emperor for them, not did the emperor busy himself in the affairs of the Church….The Apostle Paul had friends among those who belonged to the house of Caesar, and in the writing to the Philipians he sent greetings from them: but never did he take them as associates in his judgment”.

In other words, Constantine was, for at least part of his life, *really trying* to be in a Dan Brown novel. Like, his level best. Not the part about deciding what books were in the Bible, but the part about patching together an imperially helpful compromise syncretistic religion. That religion would have been Arianism: a platonic high God with a Jesus who was a sort of highest in the created order Sol Invictus divine son. Who one was allowed to worship. This religion would have been amenable to all kinds of both gnostic and demi-pagan developments: you could bolt on an emanation or two; old gods could sneak back in as Arian “saints” to be worshiped, because if you could worship a created being in Jesus, why not worship other lesser created beings? As a treat?

Pages: 1 2

The first public address of Pope Leo

Pope Leo XIV, during his first Regina Coeli, on the Good Shepherd Sunday and the day of prayer for vocations, tells young people: “Do not be afraid” to accept the proposal from the Church!

And days after the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, Pope Leo XIV repeats, “No more war!” He called for an authentic, true and lasting peace in Ukraine, an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for humanitarian aid to be allowed in and all Israeli hostages freed.

Why be called Leo?

“I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labour…” (Address to Cardinals, May 10, 2025)

We have a pope

Today, the cardinals elected the 267th successor to St. Peter, Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost, OSA. He is the second American to be elected to the throne of St Peter following Francis. He is the first Roman Pontiff from the United States of America.

Eastern Christianity at the papal funeral

The Eastern Catholic patriarchs sing the Panikhida prayers at Pope Francis’s funeral. The heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches were also present at Pope Benedict’s, St John Paul II’s and St John XXIII’s funeral.

The presence of Eastern Christianity –Catholic and Orthodox– demonstrates eloquently the universality and diversity of the Universal Church, a church breathing with both lungs.

The youngest cardinals

The youngest cardinals at the Funeral of Pope Francis:

Left is Cardinal Américo Aguiar, Portugal, 51; Cardinal Mykola Bychok CSsR, Melbourne, 45; on the right is Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, IMC, Mongolia, 50.

Cardinal Mykola Bychok is the Eparch of the Ukrainian eparchy, Melbourne, Australia.

Photo courtesy of Cardinal Mykola Bychok.

Easter’s 8 weeks

The Pentecostarion lasts 8 weeks from Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord to the First Sunday after the Pentecost or Sunday of All Saints.

Pope Francis dies at 88

Statement of Kevin Cardinal Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church on the death of Pope Francis:

“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.”

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.