Church leaders in the Middle East are asking for an end to separate
Easter and Christmas holidays among Christian traditions in the region.
The need to improve ecumenical and interreligious relations has been
at the heart of many of the addresses and discussions during the course
of the Vatican's Oct. 10-24 Synod for the Middle East. Many are urging
better communication among Catholics, other Christians, Jews and Muslims
and more knowledge of each other’s traditions as a way to reduce
conflict in the Middle East.
The issue of a common Easter and Christmas dates has come up
repeatedly as an obstacle to greater communion between Christians in the
region.
In all Christian traditions, the Easter holiday changes from
year-to-year based on the first full moon after the Spring equinox.
However, the holiday often is not shared because of a variation in the
calendars recognized in the different traditions.
The Orthodox Church
uses the older Julian calendar, while the Catholic Church, uses the
Gregorian calendar.
Church leaders in other parts of the world have taken steps to make
the holidays coincide in all traditions.
In a statement on Oct. 1, the
North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation said that the
key today to resolving the issue of a common Easter while remaining true
to tradition is to determine the date "using the most accurate
scientific instruments and astronomical data available," based on the
moon's position in Jerusalem.
Currently, dates differ by more than a month in their celebration of
Easter, but every once in a while they coincide.
In 2011, 2014 and 2017
the dates will be shared, for this reason, the joint consultation
stated, "time is of the essence."
The group called for Church authorities to reexamine the issue,
already under scrutiny for years, and make a change.
"For the mission of
the Church," they said, "a common celebration would support the unity
we already share and help to build it further in the future."
Many synod speakers pointed to this separation as an obstacle to
better relations between Christians in the Middle East and hoped for the
synod to provide the impetus for change.
Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of Alep, Syria told
participants that the common date for Easter is a "general request of
all Christians of the Middle East.' He said that the synod is the time
and place to give attention to the issue, study it and "translate it
into reality."
He hoped that the synod fathers, Catholic Church leaders from all
over the Middle East and bordering countries, might be able to make a
statement on the matter.
"Christians are waiting impatiently to see
their unity represented by this symbol."
This, he said, "could be the
first step towards the longed-for Christian unity."
Speaking of the many ways in which a shared Christian witness is
manifested in his country, Archbishop Yasser Ayyash of the
Greek-Melkites said that in Jordan all Christians have been successful
in celebrating Easter according to the Julian calendar and Christmas
according to the Gregorian for more than 40 years.
The director of Caritas in Jordan, Huda Musher, explained that "this
means that Christians share their celebrations and their sufferings. In
this way they become a single heart and a solid unity."
She thought that "the happiness of Christ Our Lord will be great if all Christians were to celebrate their feasts together."
Auxiliary Bishop William Hanna Shomali of Jerusalem of the Latins
hoped also for the unification of holidays.
He proposed to take it
another step further and establish a shared Lent and mutual observance
of abstinence and fasting. This additional unification would be "a
positive sign for Christians and also for non-Christians," he said.
Speaking with journalists at the Holy See's Press Office on Oct. 19,
Franciscan priest and protector of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista
Pizzaballa, said the issue of shared holidays is a "very pastoral and
concrete problem" that changes from place to place.
With mixed Catholic-Orthodox marriages among 80 percent of the
married population of the area, he said, the separate holiday make
things difficult for many. "No one" is interested in the two Easters, he
said, noting that some countries have established shared dates.
However, he noted, at least in Jerusalem, it is still "a problem that
has no easy solution."
It is because of the situation in the city, where "all of the fears
... and the weight of the past come out and become concrete. Until there
is a truly serene relationship of the single churches, all the way
through," he said, "it will be hard for Jerusalem also to achieve this
spirit."
Coptic Patriarch Antonios Naguib of Alexandria, Egypt, the "house
speaker" of the synod said in his report at the synod's midpoint that it
is "a pastoral necessity, given the pluralistic context of the region,
and the many mixed marriages between Christians of different ecclesial
denominations." He also asked how this "powerful witness of communion"
might be accomplished.
Forty-four proposals have been drafted from synod discussion topics
and include the call for greater communion between Christians in the
region. Among other initiatives for cooperation, there is the invitation
to work towards common dates for Christmas and Easter.
The Holy Father will examine all of the results of the Synod and
eventually make a declaration, in the form of an apostolic exhortation,
on his findings.
In the message or the apostolic exhortation, it remains
to be seen if a statement concerning common holidays will also be
included in which he implores compromise for greater union.
SIC: CNA/INT'L