Both western and eastern Christians will celebrate Easter on the same day this year.
And one ecumenical leader hopes that such a unified celebration will continue in the future.
In a letter to church bodies worldwide, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, renewed a call for a common Easter date.
Almost every year, “the Christian community is divided over which day to proclaim this Good News,” Kinnamon lamented. “Our split, based on a dispute having to do with ancient calendars, visibly betrays the message of reconciliation. It is a scandal that surely grieves our God.”
Protestant bodies and the Roman Catholic Church use the Gregorian calendar while Eastern Orthodox churches and Oriental Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar to observe Easter, typically on a later date. Rather than a difference in theological outlook, the conflicted Easter dates between western and eastern Christians are mainly due to the calendars and lunar tables employed, church leaders say.
I vote for giving Easter a set position, perhaps the first Sunday in April, instead of basing it on lunar calendars. Easter is the only holiday I can think of that wanders around in the calendar, and there is no good reason for it to wander.