On the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the two Christian leaders pledged to unify their churches while warning world leaders to halt the spread of war and care for the environment.
Catholic, Orthodox, and most historic Protestant groups accept the Nicene Creed. Despite later schisms over doctrine and other factors, Nicaea remains a point of agreement — the most widely accepted creed in Christendom.
The Chicago-born pope was responding to a range of geopolitical questions, including what kind of spiritual rights migrants in U.S. custody should have, U.S. military attacks on suspected drug traffickers off Venezuela, and the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East.
The first American pope weighed in on a controversy roiling the Chicago diocese, telling journalists the Catholic Church’s political positions include more than opposing abortion.
The audience marked the first by history’s first American pope with the Israeli head of state. Leo spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July after an Israeli shell slammed into the only Catholic church in Gaza.
The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and belongs to the Augustinian religious order caught the world by surprise when he was elected to be the 267th pope.