Nicene Creed
Also known as: Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed Symbolum Nicaenum-Constantinopolitanum Credo
English Text
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.
Translation tradition: Roman Missal (ICEL 2011), as approved by USCCB
Latin Text
Credo in unum Deum,
Patrem omnipotentem,
Factorem caeli et terrae,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum,
et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
Deum verum de Deo vero,
genitum, non factum,
consubstantialem Patri:
per quem omnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos homines
et propter nostram salutem
descendit de caelis.
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
ex Maria Virgine,
et homo factus est.
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato;
passus et sepultus est.
Et resurrexit tertia die,
secundum Scripturas.
Et ascendit in caelum,
sedet ad dexteram Patris.
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria
iudicare vivos et mortuos,
cuius regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem:
qui ex Patre Filioque procedit.
Qui cum Patre et Filio
simul adoratur et conglorificatur:
qui locutus est per prophetas.
Et unam, sanctam, catholicam
et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
Confiteor unum baptisma
in remissionem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,
et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
Scripture: John 1:1–14; 1 Corinthians 8:6
When to pray: Every Sunday Mass and solemnities; replaces the Apostles' Creed at solemn celebrations.
History & Background
The Nicene Creed, properly called the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is the solemn profession of faith proclaimed at every Sunday Mass and on solemnities. Its first form was defined at the First Council of Nicaea (325), called by Emperor Constantine to refute Arianism, which denied the co-equal divinity of the Son. The expanded version — which added the sections on the Holy Spirit and the Church — was confirmed at the First Council of Constantinople (381). The Filioque clause ("and the Son") was added in the West from the 6th century and became a central point of theological debate between East and West. The Third Council of Toledo (589) officially inserted it for Visigothic Spain, and it gradually spread throughout the Latin Church.
The Meaning of the Nicene Creed
A Common Language of Faith
The Nicene Creed is not simply a list of doctrines to be memorised — it is, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, a 'sign of recognition and communion between believers' (CCC 188). When Catholics stand at Sunday Mass and say 'I believe,' they are doing something the Church has done since the Councils of Nicaea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD): pledging themselves publicly to the same faith handed down from the apostles. The Catechism says of this creed that it 'draws its great authority from the fact that it stems from the first two ecumenical Councils (in 325 and 381)' and that it 'remains common to all the great Churches of both East and West to this day' (CCC 195). It is the one creed that still unites Roman Catholics, Eastern Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and most Protestants in a shared profession.
What Does 'Consubstantial' Mean?
The single word most Catholics stumble over in the 2011 translation is 'consubstantial with the Father.' Before 2011, English-speaking Catholics said 'one in being with the Father.' The Catechism explains why the Church insists on this precise language: 'the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, that is, one only God with him' (CCC 242). The Greek word is homoousios — same substance or same nature. This was the Council of Nicaea's direct answer to Arianism, the heresy that taught the Son was a created, lesser being. 'Consubstantial' means the Son is not a demigod or a creature of a higher order; he is fully and equally God, sharing the one divine nature with the Father. The phrase 'begotten, not made' drives the same point home: the Son's eternal generation from the Father is utterly unlike God's act of creating the world from nothing.
The Holy Spirit and the Filioque
The Creed teaches that the Holy Spirit 'proceeds from the Father and the Son' — in Latin, filioque (literally 'and from the Son'). The original 381 text read only 'who proceeds from the Father.' As the Catechism notes, 'the affirmation of the filioque does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381 at Constantinople,' though Pope St. Leo I 'had already confessed it dogmatically in 447' (CCC 247). The Catechism acknowledges that the later 'introduction of the filioque into the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed by the Latin liturgy constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox Churches' (CCC 247). The underlying doctrine, however, is itself ancient: the Latin tradition confesses the Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son 'as from one principle and through one spiration' (CCC 246), while the Eastern tradition recognises the Father as 'the source and origin of the whole divinity' (CCC 245). The Catechism calls these two traditions a 'legitimate complementarity' which, 'provided it does not become rigid, does not affect the identity of faith in the reality of the same mystery confessed' (CCC 248).
Why the Nicene Creed Is Prayed at Sunday Mass
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal directs that the Creed be sung or said by the priest together with the people on Sundays and solemnities (GIRM 68). It follows the Liturgy of the Word as the assembly's corporate response to what has just been proclaimed and preached — GIRM 67 describes its purpose as enabling 'the whole gathered people' to respond to the word of God. Because the readings on Sundays and major feasts often touch on the deepest mysteries — the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the sending of the Spirit — the Church responds not with private reflection but with a solemn, unified act of faith. As the Catechism explains, 'whoever says I believe says I pledge myself to what we believe' (CCC 185). Reciting the Creed at Mass is therefore an act of worship: the congregation stands and together reaffirms the faith into which they were baptised.
Nicene Creed vs. the Apostles' Creed
The two creeds complement rather than contradict each other. The Apostles' Creed is the older baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome — 'a faithful summary of the apostles faith' and 'the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome' (CCC 194). The Nicene Creed is longer and more theologically precise, having been forged in the heat of doctrinal controversy to exclude specific heresies. It adds, for example, 'God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father' — all phrases absent from the Apostles' Creed but needed to rule out Arianism. At Mass, the Nicene Creed is the norm for Sundays and solemnities; the Apostles' Creed may be used in its place, particularly during Lent and Easter and at Masses with children. Both are expressions of the same apostolic faith; the Nicene Creed simply makes explicit what the Apostles' Creed states more briefly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do Catholics say the Nicene Creed at Mass every Sunday?
The Church prays the Creed at every Sunday Mass and on solemnities as a congregational response to the Word of God that has just been proclaimed. It is an act of worship: the baptised stand together and reaffirm the faith they share. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal directs that the Creed be sung or said by the priest together with the people on Sundays and solemnities (GIRM 68), and describes its purpose as enabling the whole gathered people to respond to the word of God (GIRM 67). The Nicene Creed is the normal text used on these occasions.
What does 'consubstantial with the Father' mean in the Nicene Creed?
'Consubstantial' translates the Greek homoousios, meaning 'of the same substance or nature.' The Council of Nicaea (325 AD) chose this word to affirm that the Son is fully and equally God — not a lesser or created being, as the Arian heresy claimed. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that 'the Church confessed at the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (325) that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, that is, one only God with him' (CCC 242). The phrase 'begotten, not made' in the same article reinforces this: the Son's origin from the Father is an eternal generation within the divine life, not a creative act.
What is the filioque and why is it controversial?
Filioque is the Latin phrase meaning 'and from the Son,' added to the Nicene Creed in the West so that it reads the Holy Spirit 'proceeds from the Father and the Son.' The original 381 text said only 'from the Father.' The Catechism notes that this affirmation 'does not appear in the Creed confessed in 381' and that its introduction into the Creed by the Latin liturgy 'constitutes moreover, even today, a point of disagreement with the Orthodox Churches' (CCC 247). Eastern theology stresses the Father as the source and origin of the whole divinity; Western theology emphasises the consubstantial communion between Father and Son. The Catechism calls the two traditions a 'legitimate complementarity' that does not affect the identity of faith in the same mystery confessed (CCC 248).
What is the difference between the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed?
Both creeds profess the same apostolic faith, but they differ in origin, length, and context. The Apostles' Creed is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome — shorter and used at Baptism, in the Rosary, and in the Liturgy of the Hours; the Catechism calls it 'a faithful summary of the apostles faith' (CCC 194). The Nicene Creed was formulated at the ecumenical Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) to address specific heresies, and it contains more precise Trinitarian and Christological language (such as 'consubstantial' and 'begotten not made'). The Catechism notes that the Nicene Creed 'remains common to all the great Churches of both East and West to this day' (CCC 195). At Sunday Mass the Nicene Creed is the norm; the Apostles' Creed may substitute, especially during Lent and Easter and at Masses with children.
Related Prayers
Source
https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html verbatim