Nicaea

In the wretched little town of Nisi Yugo-Slavia, will shortly be celebrated the 1,600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (TIME, Sept. 8) Although this town is in the domain of the Greek Catholic Church, the Roman pontiff and, indeed, all "Orthodox" Christian Churches show profound interest in this occasion. For it was the Council of Nicaea in 325 which scotched "the most dreadful heresy which has ever threatened the Christian Church." This was the Arian heresy that Jesus Christ was not divine but merely the most perfect of God's creatures. In committing to Cardinal Tacci Porcelli the task of due celebration, Pope Piux XI wrote: '"What heartfelt interest We feel . . . can be easily understood by anyone with even moderate knowledge of ecclesiastical history. . . . And may God grant that this commemoration help indeed, as is Our heartfelt wish, to bring about that those Oriental peoples who ar still held far off by schism may lay aside their prejudices and turn their hearts, and not in vain, towards communion of Faith with Us."