Ecumenism" "
Over 300 million Orthodox Christians scattered all over the world celebrated Easter on Sunday, 5 May, roughly a month after the Catholic Easter. The date, which is also accepted by the Catholic Churches of oriental rite, is based on a decree of the ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. During his visit to the island of Ischia, John Paul II recalled the festivity. “My thoughts – said the Holy Father – go to our Orthodox brothers, who are today, according to their calendar, celebrating the feast of Easter. We join with all our heart in their jubilation at the resurrection of Christ, praying to our common Lord that all Christians may experience the joy of full unity as soon as possible”. In a message issued to mark the festivity, the Patriarch of Moscow Alexis II appealed to the faithful to combat “without respite the evil still present in the world”. In particular Alexis referred to the growing threat of terrorism. “In the search for solutions to the global problems that threaten us he writes our Holy Church is ready to play its part”. For his part, Archbishop Demetrius, who is linked to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the spiritual leader of some one and half million Greek-Orthodox believers in the USA, recalled the collapse of the Twin Towers in his Easter homily. “Last September he said we saw the dark and evil face of death and destruction. We felt our own fragility and vulnerability”. But the feast of the Resurrection “means the death of death, the end of our vulnerability”.
