Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed
I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried.
And rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
And I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed represents one of the most important dogmatic and historical pillars of universal Christianity. Its genesis is rooted in the early centuries of the Christian era, a period of extraordinary theological ferment but also of profound doctrinal conflicts. The formula we recite today during Sunday liturgy is the fruit of a troubled synodal path, which began in 325 AD with the Council of Nicaea and was completed in 381 AD with the Council of Constantinople.
Historically, the convocation of the Council of Nicaea was desired by Emperor Constantine to restore doctrinal unity within the Roman Empire, which was strongly threatened by the spread of Arianism. Arius, a priest from Alexandria, Egypt, argued in fact that the Son of God was a creature, albeit an exalted one, and that there was a time when He was not. This position denied the consubstantiality (ὁμοούσιος, homoousios) between the Father and the Son. The council fathers, driven by the fervor to defend the full divinity of Christ, formulated an initial creed that was later expanded in 381 in Constantinople, where the divinity of the Holy Spirit was also explicitly and more clearly defined.
From a theological perspective, the Creed is much more than a simple mnemonic formula: it is a true map of salvation and a masterful synthesis of the history of Christian salvation. Structured in three main parts, it follows the baptismal tripartition: it addresses the Father Creator, proclaims the redemptive work of Jesus Christ — highlighting His descent from heaven, incarnation, passion, resurrection, and future parousia — and finally invokes the Holy Spirit, “the Lord and giver of life,” who works in the Church and through the prophets.
A liturgical and historical curiosity of great relevance concerns the addition of the term “Filioque” (and from the Son) in the section regarding the procession of the Holy Spirit. Introduced in the West starting from the Council of Toledo in 589 and subsequently adopted by Rome, this clause became over the centuries one of the main reasons for theological and ecclesiastical division between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the latter of which reject this addition, maintaining that the Spirit proceeds solely from the Father. Despite these historical divergences, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed remains to this day the greatest symbol of ecumenical unity, recognized and professed by the vast majority of Christians throughout the world.
