Working towards common Easter

Past May 15 an important international ecumenical seminary was held in the Catholic University of Ukraine in Lviv, that brought together Christian Church dignitaries to reflect on the quest for a common date for Easter, celebrated on different days by Christians of Western and Eastern rite. The representatives of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church attending the meeting issued a final statement highlighting the importance of the “Aleppo document” adopted in 1997, which presents the proposal drawn up by theologians and scholars of the Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic Churches.“A long-lasting and difficult question”, historical data. The quest for a common date for Easter celebration has been long and difficult. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Christian Church leaders were called to heal the divisions between Churches. To this regard, “the common celebration of one of the most important Christian feasts” is viewed as an important issue. The question has been the object of research for many years. Initially, Catholics and Protestants had proposed to fix Easter on the second Sunday in April. This solution was proposed to Eastern Churches but a study Commission tasked with the question by the Orthodox Churches, that convened in Chambésy in 1977, rejected the proposal since “the idea of fixing a date for Easter” “opposed ancient traditions”. On that occasion the proposal was made to celebrate Easter following calculations indicated in the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. A proposal: the “Aleppo document”. Twenty years later, in 1977, the World Council of Churches in conjunction with the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Council of Churches in the Middle East organised a consultation in Aleppo, Syria, where theologians representing Catholic, Protestants and Orthodox Churches agreed to adopt the decision of the Orthodox Conference called 20 years earlier, describing it as “the most acceptable and truly traditional” solution. The proposal was hence inserted in the “Aleppo Document”. Churches propose to calculate the date of Easter following the rules set by the first Council of Nicaea, i.e. to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection on the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring equinox; calculating astronomic dates by means of accurate scientific techniques; and to use the Meridian of Jerusalem as the basis for these calculations. The real “knot” of the problem. During the meeting in Lviv participants retraced the difficult road the Churches undertook in the past years. The final statement issued at the end of the meeting states that the Aleppo Document can serve as “a concrete and effective step leading towards the common celebration of Easter, which shows to the world Christians’ yearning to bear witness to the words of the Gospel: ‘May all be one'”. Participants said they are “aware that the main problem does not consist in the calculations”. Rather, it is necessary to address “the complex relations and the lack of trust among the different Christian denominations due to long-dated divisions. This is one of the reasons why the various solutions proposed fail to be adopted. It is necessary that major efforts be made to promote mutual trust and reconciliation”. In the document participants recall that in 2010 and in 2011 Easter falls on the same day for Eastern and Western Churches. Hence the appeal to Churches, “to do their utmost to ensure that his coincidence becomes the rule”. A climate of understanding. In a message to the participants in the Colloquium, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity described the Aleppo document as “one of the most interesting proposals made until today” adding, “While it’s difficult to reach a solution that is accepted by everyone, we can prepare the grounds so that one day this may become a reality”. Father Milan Zust, representative of the Vatican Dicastery at the conference, conveyed the same view. “The most important thing is not an agreement on a common Easter date, or a date in which the Churches will be in full communion, although this reflects our deepest wishes. What counts the most is to be engaged in this direction, and do all that we can, each one according to his skills and responsibilities, in order to promote mutual understanding”.