Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 2025)
- victorteh5
- Jan 28, 2025
- 3 min read
Christian leaders celebrate Nicene Creed’s 1,700th anniversary
Some 160 Christians from various denominations gathered at Saint Joseph’s Church (Victoria Street) to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea which produced the Nicene Creed – a key part of the liturgy common to Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Protestants which summarises the faith they profess.
The evening ecumenical prayer service was organised by the Archdiocesan Catholic Council for Ecumenical Dialogue (ACCED) and the Archdiocesan Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism Centre of Singapore (AIRDECS) on Jan 21, 2025 – during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Singapore – and hosted by the church’s rector, Fr Joe Lopez Carpio.
Among the gathering were 14 leaders and representatives from various Christian churches, communities, and institutions, and seven from the Catholic Church in Singapore, including Monsignor Peter Zhang CDD, the Vicar-General who represents the Archbishop on matters of Christian unity and interreligious relations.
These representatives took it in turn to lead the parts of the prayer service which comprised readings from Scripture, intercessory prayers, and hymns shared across denominations including the ancient Irish Be Thou My Vision and Anglican clergyman Michael Perry’s O God Beyond All Praising.
The Filioque
The participants also recited an ecumenical version of the Nicene Creed, which differs slightly from the version Catholics use at Sunday Mass.
The Creed, formulated at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD to build consensus in the early Church, has undergone changes over the centuries, not all of which are accepted by different Christians.
Since the sixth century, the Creed used by the Western Church – referring to the Catholic and Protestant traditions originating from Western Europe – gradually included the word ‘filioque’(Latin for “and the Son”) after the phrase “who proceeds from the Father”.
This was to emphasise Christ’s divinity in opposition to the ongoing Arian heresy at the time, which considered Jesus the Son to be both separate from, and inferior to, God the Father.
The Orthodox Churches in the East, however, did not agree with these changes – for various theological reasons. This, and other factors, eventually led to a break between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in 1054.
In 1965 however, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople lifted their mutual excommunications in the Catholic-Orthodox Joint Declaration.
While the word ‘filioque’ continues to be a point of disagreement today, popes in recent history – most notably Benedict XVI and Francis – have omitted it when reciting the Creed alongside Orthodox Christians in ecumenical settings.
Our common faith
“I was especially touched that the Nicene Creed was recited without the Filioque,” said Lutheran pastor Reverend Dr Samuel Wang, 53, who led one of the prayers at the service. “This is indeed a significant gesture towards Christian unity.”
Dr Wang, who brings first-year students of Trinity Theological College – a local Protestant seminary – on ecumenical visits to experience different churches’ worship traditions, said he hopes Christian theologians in Singapore could organise a forum to discuss the significance of the Filioque.
“There is a lot more in common among Christians, and we bring with us many interesting dimensions to this common faith,” said Dr Wang, who was recently appointed to represent the Lutheran World Federation to dialogue with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
Full-time National Serviceman Gabriel Tay, who said he attended an ecumenical prayer service for the first time, felt inspired when he saw Christians from different denominations pray together for unity.
“I attended a Christian junior college. When the school organised an information session on activities for Christian students available, a Catholic schoolmate told me I shouldn’t go, because he mistakenly believed that Catholics were not Christians,” recounted the 19-year-old.
“Tonight was a different experience,” said Mr Tay. “Everyone acknowledges each other as Christians sharing the same faith.”
ACCED Vice-chairperson Sister Leticia Candelario López FMVD, who was also part of the international team of 12 – representing the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the World Council Of Churches, and the ecumenical Bose Monastic Community in Italy – which prepared the Week of Prayer materials this year, said lay Catholics could take part in the 1700th-year celebrations by making friends with non-Catholic Christians and then participating in activities together.
“You could read the prayer materials together; there are reflection questions inside,” said Sr Leticia. “Also, you could invite each other to your churches, share about their histories, and get to know each other better.”