The celebration of Easter on the same day by different Christian denominations is possible only if Catholics and Protestants "join" the Orthodox, since it is the Orthodox Church that adheres to the established canonical rules regarding the determination of the date of Easter. This opinion was expressed by the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church to TASS, commenting on the call of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to establish a common date for the celebration of Eastern and Western Christianity.
Earlier, Patriarch Bartholomew called the separate celebration of the Resurrection of Christ by Christians a "scandal" contrary to common sense. He expressed hope that the upcoming unified celebration of Easter by Catholics and Orthodox in 2025 (April 20) will not be a coincidence, but the beginning of the establishment of a common date for the annual celebration by representatives of different Christian denominations.
"If the Catholic side - and the Protestant side, by the way, too - collectively, in the overall integrity of their communities, follow the line of behavior that is currently manifesting itself in the Holy Land, where Catholic, Protestant missions celebrate Easter together with the Orthodox every year, then this will be the return of Western Christians to adherence to the decrees of the First Ecumenical the cathedral. The Council decided to celebrate Easter after the Jewish Passover, since Christ the Savior rose after the end of the Old Testament celebration of Easter," said the candidate of theology, priest Anthony Borisov.
He recalled that this aspect is taken into account when determining the Orthodox Paschal. In turn, church publicist and missionary Hieromonk Makariy (Markish) noted that Patriarch Bartholomew has already proven himself anti-Christian in the recent past, recognizing, in particular, Ukrainian schismatics, and in this case his proposal is also far from harmless.
"It's not about practical convenience or conventions, but about ecclesiology, that is, about the life of the church. It is useful to remember that, according to the Creed, the church belongs to the objects of our faith," the clergyman noted. The celebration of Easter, he explained, refers to the key points of the doctrine and life of the church.
Orthodox Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ according to the Julian calendar (this year on May 5), Western Rite Christians - Catholics and Protestants - according to the Gregorian calendar (this year on March 31). In 2025, the 1700th anniversary of the convocation of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which developed criteria for determining the date of Easter, will also be celebrated. Pope Francis has previously stated that the Vatican is discussing with Constantinople a possible unified Easter for Catholics and Orthodox.
According to TASS materials