Transcultural, ecumenical and interreligious questions concerning the Council of Nicaea

Two-part international conference on the first ecumenical council 1,700 years ago to resume in Münster on 15 October – Cooperation between the University of Münster and the Pontifical Gregorian University – Researchers from nine countries to reflect on the significance of the Council and its varied reception over the centuries

From 15 to 17 October 2025, an international conference at the University of Münster will focus on the Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago. The Council declared that Jesus Christ was ‘of the same substance as the Father’ and thus in the full sense God. As Professor of Dogmatics Michael Seewald explains, the creed formulated in Nicaea is still of fundamental importance to the Catholic Church, as well as to Orthodox and most Protestant churches today. Seewald is organising the interdisciplinary conference with his colleague Philipp G. Renczes SJ, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The conference is being organised as a two-part event involving the University of Münster and the Pontificia Università Gregoriana in Rome. The first part took place in Rome in February 2025, and the second part will now follow in Münster. Held in the Castle’s aula magna, the conference will see researchers from nine countries reflect on historical, transcultural, ecumenical and interreligious questions that arise in relation to the Council of Nicaea and its varied reception over the centuries. (exc/vvm)