Yesterday morning took place the XXXV Day of Theology, which this year was titled ‘The Council of Nicaea I (325). III. Projection and actuality’.
The inaugural lecture of this edition was delivered by the Archbishop of Seville, Monsignor José Ángel Saiz Meneses, Grand Chancellor of the Faculty. In his speech he emphasized that “Nicaea continues to be the ‘center of gravity’ of the Christian faith. In times when secularized versions of hope are multiplying -from diffuse spiritualities to technological utopias-, the Church confesses with serenity and firmness that only the Son consubstantial with the Father can save human beings with reality: Christ is not one religious option among others, but the very heart of reality”, he emphasized.
He asked that “the light of the Council of Nicaea may continue to illuminate the theological path of the Faculty and of the whole Church, so that, in the midst of our times, the confession that united the Fathers in 325 and that today unites us again in the same hope may always shine forth”.
Antonio Bueno, an ordinary professor of the Faculty, opened the series of lectures with a conference entitled ‘The current theological projection of the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed’. During his speech he stressed that the Nicene Creed “is the compass that guides the path of the Church towards full Christian unity, since it constitutes an essential doctrinal framework for Catholicism”. In this sense, he said that the content of the Constantinopolitan Nicene Creed evidences “that the Christian faith is, above all, Trinitarian, that it also has profound Christological implications and that it also confesses the divinity of the Holy Spirit”.
Next, Andrés Messmer, rector of the Theological Seminary of Seville, spoke on ‘The Nicene Trinitarian dogma: Foundation of the Council and of medieval theology’. Messmer pointed out that “by reciting the Creed as a confession of faith, we clearly identify with what makes us Christians, we proclaim the apostolic Kerygma and give structure to theology”.
Francisco Martinez, from the Spanish Center for Ecclesiastical Studies (Rome), gave a conference entitled ‘A Council for a divided Christianity’ . The Theology Day concluded with a round table moderated by the priest Miguel Ángel Núñez, diocesan delegate for Ecumenism, on ‘The ecumenical value of the Council of Nicaea‘.
With this new edition, the San Isidoro School of Theology reaffirms its commitment to research, dialogue and the dissemination of theological thought, offering the academic and ecclesial community a space for reflection on an event that, seventeen centuries later, continues to illuminate the faith and life of the Church.
Source: archisevilla.org
