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\n Father Frans Bouwen, a missionary with the African Missionary Society, has been in Jerusalem for over 50 years. \/ Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Bouwen<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Vatican City, Apr 16, 2025 \/ 15:27 pm (CNA).<\/p>\n
Father Frans Bouwen, a missionary with the African Missionary Society \u2014 better known as the White Fathers for the color of their habit \u2014 and one of the most renowned Catholic voices in ecumenical dialogue, holds that \u201cthere are no real theological reasons\u201d to justify Christians celebrating Easter on different dates.<\/p>\n
Catholics and Protestants commemorate the resurrection of Jesus following the Gregorian calendar, while the Orthodox follow the Julian calendar. However, this year will be different. Thanks to the two calendars coinciding, all Christians will celebrate Easter together on Sunday, April 20.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no real theological reasons for celebrating Easter on different dates, but sometimes the calendar seems to have become sacred,\u201d the priest told ACI Prensa, CNA\u2019s Spanish-language news partner, noting that the desire to share the Easter holiday is especially felt in areas where Catholic and Orthodox communities coexist.<\/p>\n
In Jerusalem, a holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, there are currently some 591,000 Jews and barely 13,000 Christians. However, the small Christian community is made up of different churches: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian, and Protestant.<\/p>\n
In this sense, in the Holy Land, \u201calmost all Christian families are made up of Catholic and Orthodox faithful who wish to celebrate together and form a community united in witness, most often remaining small numerical minorities amid a majority of believers of other religions, Muslims, or Jews,\u201d explained Bouwen, who was a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.<\/p>\n
In fact, nowhere else in the world do Eastern and Western Christian traditions coexist as closely as in the small space that delimits the Old City of Jerusalem, the place where Christ died.<\/p>\n The Belgian priest, who has lived in Jerusalem since 1969, emphasized that ecumenism \u201calready exists as a primarily local reality,\u201d alluding to the \u201csensus fidei,\u201d that spontaneous instinct of the faithful that drives communities to seek unity naturally, without theological diatribes.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks to recent advances in ecumenical relations, the diversity of liturgical traditions is no longer seen as a scandal but as a living testimony that the Gospel has been able to reach many different languages \u00e2\u20ac\u2039\u00e2\u20ac\u2039and cultures, which have been able to perceive, express, and celebrate the Christian faith and life according to their own innate genius,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that they all gather around Calvary and the tomb of Christ manifests their common roots and fundamental belonging,\u201d added the priest, who has served on international commissions for theological dialogue with Orthodox churches.<\/p>\n The Gregorian and Julian calendars coincide periodically. Thus, the Status Quo, the unwritten law governing holy sites shared by two or more Christian communities, also determines the scheduling of celebrations for Easter at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.<\/p>\n \u201cIt rigorously stipulates how liturgical celebrations should be carried out by the various churches, fully respecting the rights of each. The fraternal spirit that currently marks these celebrations shows that, also around the holy sites, there has been notable ecumenical progress in recent years,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n In fact, both in Jerusalem and in other areas of the Holy Land, \u201cthere have been several attempts to achieve a common celebration of Easter at the local level,\u201d due primarily to the influence of their neighbors.<\/p>\n \u201cFor several decades, in Egypt, Jordan, and Cyprus, Catholics have celebrated Easter with the Orthodox of these countries \u2014 that is, according to the Julian calendar,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n After noting the positive results of the common celebration of Easter, \u201cmany faithful and pastors in the Holy Land began to promote the desire to do the same in the Holy Land,\u201d Bouwen added.<\/p>\n Specifically, there were two attempts in 1995 and 2016, thanks to a joint initiative of the Catholic bishops and the Anglican and Lutheran churches. However, the results were not as hoped for.<\/p>\n \u201cMany international Catholic religious congregations preferred to continue celebrating Easter together with their brothers in Western countries. The Maronite community also did not join this initiative,\u201d Bouwen explained.<\/p>\n These past attempts did not include a joint celebration at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher because there was no time to address the complexities imposed by the Status Quo.<\/p>\n In fact, as new divisions arose within the Catholic Churches, the idea of \u00e2\u20ac\u2039\u00e2\u20ac\u2039celebrating Easter in the Holy Land together with other Christian churches \u201chas been abandoned for the time being,\u201d Bouwen said.<\/p>\n The presence of the holy places poses an additional obstacle. \u201cFollowing the Julian calendar at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in years when the dates do not coincide with the Gregorian calendar would mean that Holy Week pilgrims from Western countries would not find any Holy Week celebrations in Jerusalem,\u201d the Belgian missionary pointed out.<\/p>\n Thus a common celebration of Easter would impose \u201ccertain time and freedom of movement limitations on the celebrations of the different churches within the Holy Sepulcher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExtending this arrangement to all years would require careful negotiations, as it would imply a change in the Status Quo. Therefore, a worldwide agreement would undoubtedly help enormously,\u201d Bouwen commented.<\/p>\n Similarly, if the holy places were excluded, Catholics in the Holy Land would end up celebrating Holy Week on different dates at the Holy Sepulcher and in the rest of the parishes.<\/p>\n In any case, at this time, there are some parishes north of Jerusalem where Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans continue to celebrate Easter with the Orthodox, that is, according to the Julian calendar.<\/p>\n Furthermore, due to the difficult situation in the Holy Land, with the war between Hamas and the Israeli army, \u201cit has not been possible this year to plan joint celebrations to rejoice together with the calendars coinciding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome plans had been considered, but the situation remains too volatile to organize extraordinary events beyond the traditional celebrations, which already require great efforts on the part of the churches. Joint celebrations, however, are being planned for the time of Pentecost,\u201d Bouwen explained.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Bouwen assured that local Christians are \u201chappy and eager to show their joy at the opportunity to bear witness to their faith together and celebrate Holy Week and Easter together in their mixed faith families.\u201d<\/p>\n The Council of Nicaea, held in 325, attempted to unify the calculation of the date of Easter with a single criterion, and in fact Easter was celebrated jointly for 1,300 years.<\/p>\n However, in the 16th century, the calendar reform introduced by Pope Gregory XIII marked a new division among the Christian churches.<\/p>\n In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, particularly in the Middle East, due to historical and political circumstances, \u201cthe different churches have often lived isolated from one another due to communication difficulties,\u201d Bouwen explained.<\/p>\n Furthermore, he noted that \u201cliving as minorities and facing oppression or even persecution in certain periods, the churches were able to preserve their identity and faith thanks to their fidelity to traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n For this reason, liturgical and popular traditions \u201chave become markers of identity that kept the community united in a hostile environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Both the date and the ways of celebrating Easter are an integral part of these traditions, which is why the Oriental Orthodox Churches have historically felt \u201cthat they must hold fast to them in order to remain faithful, as individuals and as communities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChanging customs and dates has historically been perceived as a threat,\u201d Bouwen pointed out.<\/p>\n According to the priest, the opportunity to celebrate Easter simultaneously, thanks to the Gregorian and Julian calendars coinciding, serves to strengthen the hope and commitment \u201cfor a growing communion in faith and life.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed out that the commemoration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea constitutes \u201ca symbolic and practical opportunity for rapprochement among the Christian churches,\u201d recalling the foundations of the Christian faith.<\/p>\n Bouwen concluded that despite \u201cmany advances in ecumenical dialogues, most of the fruits of these dialogues still await effective acceptance by the churches.\u201d<\/p>\n Esta historia <\/em>fue publicada originalmente<\/em><\/a> por ACI Prensa, socio de noticias en espa\u00f1ol de CNA. Ha sido traducida y adaptada por CNA.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/christianpure.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/dsc-6625.jpg?quality=80&ssl=1\")
Attempts at a common celebration<\/h2>\n
The holy places pose an obstacle<\/h2>\n
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Possible joint celebrations for Pentecost<\/h2>\n
Oriental Orthodox view changing the date of Easter as a \u2018threat\u2019<\/h2>\n
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