ISTANBUL (RNS) — The Ancient Basilica of Neophytos lay buried beneath the surface of Lake İznik, in Turkey, for more than 1,200 years.
Drought and climate change have caused its stone outline to re-emerge from the waters over the past decade, in time for a special anniversary celebration: the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
According to some archeologists and historians, the basilica was the meeting place for the roughly 200 bishops convened by Emperor Constantine in 325 to confront a theological crisis and articulate the foundation of their shared Christian faith.
The gathering was known as the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, named after the ancient Bithynian city that once existed there. Not much remains of Nicaea — some 10,000 feet of broken walls, a few gates and the faint footprint of an imperial palace are scattered in the Turkish city of İznik. But what is now mostly rubble was the birthplace of the Nicene Creed — a statement of belief shared by almost all Christians today.
And it was before the newly resurfaced ruins of the Basilica of Neophytos that Pope Leo XIV joined with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and other Christian leaders on Friday (Nov. 28), hoping to recover the same spirit of unity that once …