October 15, 2010

Bishops participating in the Middle East Synod have expressed a strong interest in fixing a common date for Easter, to be celebrated at the same time by Catholics, Orthodox, and other Christians.

Bishop William Shomali, an auxiliary of the Jerusalem patriarchate, said that agreement on a common date for Easter would be “a positive sign for Christians and also for non-Christians,” advancing the cause of unity among the faithful. The Catholic News Service reports that the topic of a common Easter date arose “repeatedly” during open-discussion periods at the Synod.

Since the calendar reforms of Pope Gregory XIII, Catholics and Protestants have celebrated Easter according to one schedule, while the Orthodox churches, using the old Julian calendar, use another date. The disparity between dates is a particularly vexing problems in countries where there are substantial populations of both Western and Eastern Christians—most notably in the Middle East.

So they would use the Eastern paschalion?

That'd be OK with me. I always like it when Julian & Gregorian calendar Pascha fall on the same day. Gives me a more concrete sense of solidarity with the Orthodox.

Slava Isusu Khrestu

Is there not something about the determination of Paskha not coinciding with Passover or coming before Passover?

The Catholics may all agree it would be a good idea, but, what will the Orthodox Churches say? I sometimes feel even in my parish that if it comes from the west and particularly from Rome then it has already two strikes against it.

But my personal opinion is something else. And there is always hope.

Z Bohom

Kolya

Suits me, too. My parish already celebrates Pascha by the Julian calendar.

It makes little difference to me as to the date as long as we come to some kind of consensus on the matter.
Stephanos I
If not now when? If not us, who?

There really is no reason all of the Catholic Churches of the Middle East should not use the Julian Paschalion. The Greek Catholics who use the Gregorian Paschalion originally used the Julian, and can unilaterally return to it without delay. The Latin Church in the region ought to switch to show solidarity with the other Christian Churches. It's such a simple matter, one wonders about the delay. If the Latin Church won't go along, the Eastern Catholic Churches ought to move without them, in keeping with the direction of the Liturgical Instruction that they remove as many differences as possible between themselves and the Orthodox Churches.

While the Liturgical Instruction is often invoked this way, that is not what it actually says. Rather:
[emphasis added] §21 link

It does note, however: §36

In all this the expediency of uniformity must be weighed against factual integrity: what is being gained against what is lost. The "appendix of the < Sacrosanctum Concilium>", for instance, would consider a fixed date for Pascha and would even entertain considering -- what follows the "unless" at the end -- even if grudgingly, something other than the seven day week. The seven day week takes us back to the first day of creation, a Sunday! Should that be abandoned in the civil calendar? Regarding the common celebration of Pascha, the Liturgical Instruction speaks of a "common spiritual climate." In one solution deferring to uniformity, it should be realized that the (physical) climate will be getting hotter and hotter.

I thought the late Pope John Paul II put Syria back on the Julian Calendar not long before he died.

How about tossing both calendars, and actually following the astronomical directives of the council?

Only one toss is necessary: For "actually following the astronomical directives of the council" one has only to use the Gregorian Calendar/Paschalion which does just that, or with only a few differences, use the Aleppo recommendation ( link ); see also the Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation response here.

I'm happy with the established calendar.

I and quite a few other people are happy with the Julian Calendar.

Fr. Serge

Spoke today with the Greek Orthodox priest and he said he saw it as we use the Nicean Formula along with the astronomical dating as a means of celebrating a common date.
Sounds very neuteral and plausable to me.
Stephanos I

I wonder how this would affect the secular date for Easter. As most countries that celebrate Easter as a Holiday which includes Good Friday, I wonder if they will adjust it to coincide with the Church. But I can see a huge push by the anti-Church groups against such a decision as it will be viewed as governments following Church rule.