Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, backed the proposal for the permanent establishment of the celebration of Easter by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches on the same day.
Speaking after the divine liturgy for the feast of Saint Nicholas in Holy Church in Tsivali, Constantinople on Friday said that since next year the date of the celebration of Easter, coincides “we consider that we are given a golden opportunity to reach an agreement with brother [Pope] Francis regarding the permanent establishment of the celebration of Easter by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches on the same day and for the following years.
“We are optimistic that the Anglican Church and the other Protestant Confessions will certainly adopt such an agreement,” Bartholomew stressed.
Orthodox and Catholics celebrate Christmas on the same day. Why not Easter?
He noted that the majority of Orthodox Churches celebrate the great feast of Christmas on December 25th each year, the same date as the Roman Catholic Church, a common Easter date could be institutionalized at a pan-Christian level.
“The Roman Catholic Communities in Greece follow the Orthodox Canon for determining Easter, in order to celebrate it together with their Orthodox brothers. In Finland for many years the date of Easter has been common to all Christians in the country,” he added.
Bartholomew addressed those who are opposed to this prospect, emphasizing that this agreement will concern exclusively the issue of the day of celebration and not the co-celebration.
“The agreement in question will concern exclusively the issue of the day of celebration of Easter and certainly not a co-celebration with our brothers of the Roman Catholic Church, which co-celebration presupposes communion between our two Churches, to which, despite the progress of theological dialogue and the important steps that have been taken, we have not yet reached.
“It is incomprehensible and unacceptable that we continue today, at the beginning of the 21st century, to live with fanaticism, small-mindedness and prejudice. Our God is a God of love. And even if mistakes were made in the past, this does not mean that we should perpetuate them,” added the Ecumenical Patriarch.
In September the Synod of the Hierarchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate first proposed a joint date for the celebration of Easter.
Orthodox and Catholic Easter are on different dates
Orthodox Churches still use the Julian calendar for Easter, meaning that at certain times there can be a weeks-long lag behind the Gregorian. Due to this difference in the measurement of days, the last time the two great Christian denominations shared a date for the celebration was in 2017.
For purely astronomical reasons, the difference between the celebration of Easter for the two denominations will be getting wider and wider.
As a result of this widening gap, from 2700 onward, the celebration of Easter for the Greek Orthodox Church and the Western Christian churches will never coincide again.
The last time Easter celebrations will coincide is estimated to be in 2698. From then on, Orthodox and Western Christians will never celebrate the Resurrection of Christ together again.
Altogether, in the whole of the 21st century, the celebration of Easter will be held on the same day 31 times, but during every forthcoming century, this will happen more and more rarely.
Related: Why Orthodox and Catholic Easter Will Never Coincide After 2700
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