Easter in the Holy Land: A common date in 2013
One of the earliest Christian controversies involved the proper date for Easter. It is usually called the “Quartodeciman” controversy, since it was about whether or not Easter ought to be celebrated on “14″ of the month Nisan. In modern times, the split was not about the Jewish lunar calendar, but about two different Christian calendars: the Gregorian (West) and the Julian (East). This division is the reason why almost all Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different date than those in the Roman Catholic Church. 
Last week, Giorgio Bernardelli of the “Vatican Insider” blog of La Stampa reported that change is coming for many Catholics in the Holy Land. In 2013, Catholics in parts of the Holy Land (excepting Jerusalem and Bethlehem) will celebrate Lent and Easter according to the Julian calendar. Bishops of the Latin rite have been asking for this for a number of years, as was reported by Catholic News Service two years ago at the synod about the Middle East. The idea is that, at the central moment of the liturgical year, the unity of Christians might be expressed. An unofficial translation of the Italian has been provided by Murray Watson on a Jewish-Christian relations listserv, and I post it here:
In 2013, the Catholic parishes of the Holy Land will celebrate Easter together with the faithful of the Orthodox churches on May 5, and not on March 31, as the rest of the world’s Catholics will
Giorgio Bernardelli, Roma
October 17, 2012
This is an important decision, as a major step in the ecumenical journey. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem has made this decision, by means of a decree published today. The idea had already been anticipated by Vatican Insider a few months ago, and represents a significant ecumenical precedent. In practice, the Julian calendar will be adopted instead of the Gregorian calendar, as regards Lent, Easter and Pentecost, responding to a request which had also surfaced at the Synod for the Middle East, which was celebrated in 2010.The idea is that, at least in the most central moment of the liturgical year, the unity among Christians might be able to be expressed, and might thus help to overcome the paradox of a division which, until now, has even had an impact on the level of the home, since weddings between the faithful of the Latin and Eastern rites are quite frequent in the Holy Land.
This provision has been adopted on an experimental basis for the year 2013, aware that in 2014, the date of Easter on both calendars will coincide (April 20), and so, for the next year, the issue will not arise. In the meantime, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land will draft a definitive decree, which it will present to the Holy Land for canonical approval; it is the hope of local bishops that, by 2015, the Vatican will have “given a green light,” and that this decision could thus become definitive [i.e., permanent].
Another important point concerning the places in which the experiment of a common Easter will be applied: it will be in the parishes of Israel, of the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchate. With, however, two important exceptions: Jerusalem and Bethlehem where, at least for 2013, the Gregorian calendar will continue to be followed (and where Easter will, therefore, be celebrated on March 31).
The reason for this restriction lies in the rules of the “Status Quo,” the old Ottoman-era edict which strictly regulates the schedule of liturgies and relations between the Christian denominations within the Christian holy places, which are shared by various denominations. Changing those rules in Jerusalem and Bethlehem appears, for the moment, to be only a dream. So, for pilgrims who come to the Holy Land, little should really change, at least in 2013.
This remains, however, a major and important sign: the Holy Land is one of the places where the divisions between Christians is most clearly visible. Sometimes, people have found themselves in the midst of scuffles in the basilicas, between religious of the various Christian denominations. This initiative (which was launched by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem) thus moves in the opposite direction, and has been undertaken as a response to a request which came primarily from the faithful themselves.
It is, however, worth remembering that, even beyond the particular context of the Holy Land, Benedict XVI himself has on several occasions expressed his hope that Catholics and Orthodox would soon be able to arrive at an agreement for the celebration of Easter on the same date throughout the world. Jerusalem, therefore, is beginning to open up the path, and hopes that it can, in turn, shed light on the ecumenical journey.
Is this one more accomodation towards those on the Catholic theological right?
More precisely, it is the eastern calendar, but not the Julian calendar. The western and eastern churches differed on the date of Easter long before the Roman Catholic Church adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century.
Let’s not be tea party Catholics [compromise] and celebrate Easter worldwide according to the Orthodox calender. And call it “new evangelization’.
If it helps some middle eastern Catholics, fine. But I just wonder if that’s the whole story.
The North American Theological Consultation between Roman Catholics and Orthodox put out a statement two years ago calling for a common celebration of Easter.
http://usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/dialogue-with-others/ecumenical/orthodox/celebrating-easter-together.cfm
Ann: Why do you suspect accommodation to the “Catholic theological right,” whatever that is?
In the Holy Land, one hears many stories of divisions, but they’ve got nothing to do with the ones in the US. They pre-date them by centuries. For example, here’s a funny AP story from a couple of years ago:
Greek Orthodox and Franciscan priests got into a fist fight Monday at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Christianity’s holiest shrine, after arguing over whether a door in the basilica should be closed during a procession. Dozens of people, including several Israeli police officers, were slightly hurt in the brawl at the shrine, built over the spot where tradition says Jesus was crucified and buried. Four priests were detained, police spokesman Shmulik Ben-Ruby said. Custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is shared by several denominations that jealously guard territory and responsibilities under a fragile deal hammered out over the last centuries. Any perceived encroachment on one group’s turf can lead to vicious feuds, sometimes lasting hundreds of years. Monday’s fight broke out during a procession of hundreds of Greek Orthodox worshippers commemorating the 4th century pilgrimage by Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, to Jerusalem. Church officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that at one point, the procession passed a Roman Catholic chapel, and priests from both sides started arguing over whether the door to the chapel should be open or closed. Club-wielding Israeli riot police broke up the fight, witnesses said.
In that context, agreeing on a common date for Easter is good news, I think, even it’s only outside Jerusalem.
If one looks for more to the story (whence the sudden ecumenical spirit?), I’m guessing that one indirect reason might be the serious decrease in the number of Christians in the Holy Land. Last time I was there, a Carmelite nun in Jerusalem told me that when they go out on the street, they wear the ordinary garb of regular Palestinian women, so that there is less of a risk. Risk of what? I asked. Of harassment such as being spat on, she said. For us here it’s hard to imagine that someone could see a Carmelite nun and want to spit on her (why on earth???), but that’s the atmosphere there. Maybe as their numbers are diminishing and relations with other groups are increasingly strained, Christians are starting to see more benefits to getting along with one another.
Maybe a new prospective “Vatican2 Catholic” rite, eager to demonstrate differences and distance from the dying Roman rite and its stick-in-the-mud hierarchal Catholics, could join with our orthodox brothers and sisters and celebrate the new Life of Easter in synchronistic harmony?
At the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (4 December 1963) there is an appendix entitled, “Declaration of the Second Vatican Ecumenical on Revision of the Calendar.” It reads in part:
“The Second Vatican Council recognizes the importance of the wishes expressed by many on assigning the feast of Easter to a fixed Sunday ….
The Council is not opposed to the assignment of the feast of Easter to a particular Sunday of the Gregorian Calendar, provided that those whom it may concern, especially other Christians who are not in communion with the Apostolic See, give their assent.” ( translation, Documents on the Liturgy: ICEL, 1982, p.27)
While this statement does not go as far as The World Council of Churches Agreement at Aleppo in 1997 and the further discussion of the WCC statement by Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic Christians in 2008=-2009, it signals a significant openness on the part of the Catholic Church concerning the date for the celebration of Easter.
Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
2008-2009
Amazing what you can’t do with one, uncertain finger. But my handwriting is quite good.
JAK –
The reason I think that the Eastern Churches are theologically conservative is because as far as I know (and it’s quite true that that’s not far at all) the Eastern theologians seem rather stuck in the early fathers and do not seem to engage in theological discussions with other Christians (even the medieval ones!) as Roman Catholic ones sometimes do. Yes, I know there are RC-Eastern Catholic discussions about re-integration, and that is indeed a theological matter, but where are the usual discussions between RC theologians and Eastern theiologians about such things as grace, salvation, ethics, political morality? It seems to me that RC theologians engage theologically with Protestants a lot more than they do with Eastern Catholics. I surmise that it’s because the Eastern theologians aren’t about to give an inch in any direction.
I think that Rome might be making this concession as yet another sign of its moving to the right — just a week or two ago it re-discovered a 1500 year old article of clothing for the Pope to start wearing again.
Ann: I agree that you don’t know much about the conversations with the Eastern Churches, which have been quite extensive and productive. For just one example, you could look at the results of the North American Catholic-Orthodox conversations available at: http://usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/dialogue-with-others/ecumenical/orthodox/orthodox-dialogue-documents.cfm.
That, of course, is apart from the conversations on the international level.
JAK —
I know that there have been discussions about re-integrating the two groups, but this doesn’t imply that there have been any theological discussions which were anything but conservative. In fact, the whole thrust of those conversations seem to be to return to the theology of the time of the schism. Or at least Pope Benedict talks that way.
Who are the non-conservative orthodox theologians? Do they have a history of dialoguing with both Roman Catholics and Protestants? Are the Orthodox even interested in the problems of historical criticism of biblical texts? Do they wrestle with the moral questions that the Catholic moral theologians argue about?
Maybe I’m just prejudiced in thinking of them as highly set in their theological ways, but why think differently? Have any of them, like at least some of the Western theologians, wrestled with the possibility of changed doctrines?
It’s more than just following the Julian calendar, though, where (Great) Lent is concerned because the days are counted differently in Eastern Christianity. I hope there’s a greater degree of synchronization than this article lets on.
Maybe reuniting Orthodox and Catholics is like zipping up a half-unzipped sweater: you have to start at the place where the two sides separated, and gradually work your way up.
It’s a lot easier to agree to a common Easter date than to admit errror when it comes to the Filioque.
In 2002 I visited the Palestinian Territories. In the village of Taybee, the sole entirely Christian village then left, this is what I heard from the parish priest:
Raed Abusahlieh:The total population of this village is not more than 1500 but we have more than 10,000 who are abroad because of the political, economical instability in the region. For this reason I can say to begin the problem number 1 for us is occupation, the problem number 2 is emigration and unemployment. Half of the people in this village are jobless; don’t have any kind of work especially in the youth sector.
Margaret Coffey: Problems like this have driven the Christian population of Taybee closer than they might have been. When this Mass ends, the three clergy of the parish, the Orthodox, the Melkite and the Catholic, will together visit the sick and the housebound. They do this every Sunday after their respective liturgies. In fact, they have decided to carry out all pastoral activities together – so, for example, in partnership they congratulate a newly married couple or offer condolences to the bereaved.
Raed Abusahlieh: I can add one more thing, you know the differences of the date of Easter: in this village since some years, we celebrate Christmas together according to the Latin calendar, the Gregorian calendar, 25th December, and we celebrate Easter together according to the Oriental calendar, the Byzantine calendar, which means we celebrate Easter with the Greek Orthodox, so that everybody will celebrate one Easter, not several Easters on several dates. Why? Because we are living in the midst of almost more than 20 completely Muslim villages and they complain and say how much Jesus is born, how many times he is crucified. Why do you have these different dates?
See: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/encounter/christians-in-the-holy-land—fate-or-future/3527050
Sometimes one might have to abandon an American lens in order to view the world and see!
Margaret: Taybee beer is excellent! Those Palestinian Christians developed a very marketable skill in that. However, I never found it anywhere other than the Notre Dame Centre in Jerusalem. I’d buy it here if I could find it.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_can_you_buy_Taybeh_beer_in_the_US