IZNIK – Archaeologists in Turkey have uncovered one of the most important finds from Anatolia’s early Christian era: a fresco of a Roman-looking Jesus as the “Good Shepherd.”

The painting was discovered in August in an underground tomb near Iznik, a town in northwestern Turkey that secured its place in Christian history as the place where the Nicene Creed was adopted in A.D. 325. Pope Leo XIV recently visited the town as part of his first overseas trip.

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At the time, the region was part of the Roman Empire, and the tomb in the village of Hisardere is believed to date to the 3rd century, a time when Christians still faced widespread persecution.

The Good Shepherd fresco depicts a youthful, clean-shaven Jesus dressed in a toga and carrying a goat across his shoul

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