EP works toward a common date of Easter

[Maria]

London: The heads of the Christian churches are close to sealing a deal to fix the date of Easter, the Archbishop of Canterbury has revealed, ending more than a thousand years of confusion and debate.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby said the agreed date would be either the second or third Sunday of April.

Archbishop Welby, Pope Francis, the Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (head of the Greek Orthodox church) are all working towards a common date, he said. ...

http://www.smh.com.au/world/christian-c ... m769e.html

Lord have mercy.

What about the Holy FIre?

[Agios_Irineos]

The fruits of unrestrained ecumenism. After 2000 years, now Pascha is to be a fixed feast? I do strongly believe that this will be rejected by even the WO as a whole. If not, we'll probably see more people look to the True Orthodox.

[Cyprian]

Thank you for the article, Maria.

This year there is a five week gap between Easter and Pascha (March 27 vs. May 1 [N.S.]), and the following year, 2017, Orthodox Pascha and Easter both fall on April 16 [N.S.], the third Lord's Day (Sunday) in April, and then they do not coincide again until 2025. There will be seven straight years beginning with 2018 of Pascha and Easter on different dates. Perhaps partially for this reason, they are scheming to make 2016 the final year of divergent observances.

[Maria]

Thank you for the article, Maria.

This year there is a five week gap between Easter and Pascha (March 27 vs. May 1 [N.S.]), and the following year, 2017, Orthodox Pascha and Easter both fall on April 16 [N.S.], the third Lord's Day (Sunday) in April, and then they do not coincide again until 2025. There will be seven straight years beginning with 2018 of Pascha and Easter on different dates. Perhaps partially for this reason, they are scheming to make 2016 the final year of divergent observances.

Whatever excuse they can generate, they will.

[Barbara]

A 5 - week gap sounds so long> it must be one of the longest possible interludes between the 2.

Thanks for your good sleuthing, Cyprian. What you said makes sense, that it is being prepared for the one year that the 2 dates coincide. They surely don't want to wait until 2025 to push through their programme !

[Matthew]

The fruits of unrestrained ecumenism. After 2000 years, now Pascha is to be a fixed feast? I do strongly believe that this will be rejected by even the WO as a whole...

One would hope and think so, but I no longer believe anything can be safely filed in the "Unlikely File" with them... What happened with ROCOR and seeing how people who seem well-versed in anti-ecumenist arguments and patristic Truth, yet could flip flop so quickly and with such denial has shown me what can happen to people who should know better. I think things are even worse among the W.O.

[Archimandrit Nilos]

And old hat, not more.