THE Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew announced today that Pope Francis plans to visit Turkey next year, on the occasion of the anniversary of the First Council of Nice.

During the first centuries of Christianity there was an intense debate about the divine and human nature of Jesus and the Church ruled on the matter at the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea, Bithynia in 325 AD. “His Holiness Pope Francis wishes us to celebrate this important anniversary together,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said from Lisbon where he is for an event.

Francis plans to visit the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople and then go to Iznik, the city where the First Council of Nicea took place. The Ecumenical Patriarch said a committee is being formed to organize the visit and the Vatican will contact the Turkish government soon.

Francis will be 88 in December. Traveling abroad is difficult for him given his health condition. He uses a cane or wheelchair to get around because he has a knee problem. In recent months he has avoided public speaking and canceled several important engagements on several occasions, including the Good Friday litany in March. However, he plans to travel to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore in early September and Belgium later that month.