On Sunday, September 21st, the New Jersey Area, joined by the Very Rev. Owen Moran, ChM, hosted a lecture at his parish on “The Creed – What We Believe and Live” commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea. The lecture at St. Vincent Martyr Church in Madison was delivered by the Most Rev. Arthur J. Serratelli, ChC, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Paterson, before a group of approximately 50 Knights, Dames and parishioners from St. Vincent Martyr and the Diocese. 

Bishop Serratelli posed and answered several intriguing questions about how the earlier and simpler Apostles’ Creed was adapted and expanded to address and condemn the heresy of Arianism, which denied Christ’s full divinity. The Council at Nicea in 325AD clarified the divine nature of Jesus Christ and his relationship with God the Father. The Creed was further expanded and refined at the Council of Constantinople in 381AD to address the divinity of the Holy Spirit as well. Through further clarifying refinements over the next 16+ centuries, the English translation of the Nicene Creed we recite today was last adopted by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) in 2011. 

Beyond his decades as a devoted priest and a distinguished educator, Bishop Serratelli also served on and led numerous boards and committees including the ICEL where he was elected for two terms as chairman. The Committee develops English translations of liturgical books of the Roman Rite that were initially written in Latin. He also served as an appointed full member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments and was twice-appointed co-chairman of it. Bishop Serratelli also served as a member of the Vox Clara, which reviews English translations of liturgical texts from countries around the world and makes recommendations as part of a more involved process.