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The Armenian Apostolic Church on Saturday commemorates 18 pontiffs participating in the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, Qahana.am reports.

It was the first ecumenical council of the Christian church convened in the Bithynian city by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. 318 prominent bishops representing the Universal Church participated in the council.

Constantine I hoped a general council of the church would solve the problem created in the Eastern church by Arianism, a heresy first proposed by Arius of Alexandria that affirmed that Christ is not divine but a created being. Pope Sylvester I did not attend the council but was represented by legates.

The council condemned Arius and, with reluctance on the part of some, incorporated the nonscriptural word homoousios (“of one substance”) into a creed to signify the absolute equality of the Son with the Father.

Aristakes, the son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, also participated in the first Ecumenical Council. The doctrinal formulation adopted by the council, which is known as Nicene Creed, was brought to Armenia by Aristakes and was presented to St. Gregory the Illuminator.

The Nicene Creed and the passage added by St. Gregory the Illuminator are up to date used in the rites of the Armenian Apostolic Church without any change. Aristakes brought to Armenia also 20 canons adopted by the Council of Nicaea, which were also ratified by St. Gregory the Illuminator.