In a move that could lead Catholics and Orthodox to celebrate Easter at the same time, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide has confirmed his support for finding a common date to celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople told media that conversations are underway between Church representatives to reach an agreement, Zenit reported this week.
According to an earlier report from Vatican News, the Patriarch is in favor of setting this common date for the year 2025, which will mark the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.
Previously, Orthodox Archbishop Job Getcha of Telmessos had also suggested that 2025 would be a good year to introduce a calendar reform.
A Council and Two Calendars
The First Council of Nicaea, held in 325, decided that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the beginning of spring, making the earliest possible date for Easter March 22 and the latest April 25.
Today, Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar to calculate the date of Easter instead of the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced in 1582 and is used by most countries in the world. The Julian calendar calculates a slightly longer year and is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
The President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, has supported the suggestion that Catholics and Orthodox work to agree on a common date to celebrate Easter.
Cardinal Koch said in 2021: "I welcome the initiative of Archbishop Job of Telmessos" and "I hope it will receive a positive response."
"It will not be easy to agree on a common date for Easter, but it is worth working for," he said.
"This wish is also very dear to Pope Francis and also to Coptic Pope Tawadros."
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A possible obstacle to a universal agreement could be current tensions between the different Churches. In 2018, the Russian Orthodox Church severed its ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople after Patriarch Bartholomew confirmed his intention to recognize the independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
This article was originally published in English by Catholic World Report (Article Link). It is republished and translated with the author's permission.