Things that make you go “hmmmm.”
The Catholic churches of the Holy Land plan to observe Easter according to the Orthodox calendar, the head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land has announced. The change could come as early as next year.
Father Pierbattista Pizzabella explained that the change was prompted by a desire to strengthen ecumenical ties between Catholics and Orthodox, and also by pastoral concern for the many families in the Holy Land that include both Catholic and Orthodox believers.
The Orthodox churches set their liturgical feasts according to the old Julian calendar. For some years the Orthodox observe Easter on the same day as Catholics; in other years the dates may differ by either one week (as it does this year) or 5 weeks. The change in the liturgical calendar for Catholic churches would not apply to the basilicas in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, which draw thousands of Catholic pilgrims for Easter and Christmas every year. Those basilicas are governed by agreements that date back to the Ottoman empire, and include detailed accords on when feasts are to be celebrated.
This is the same ecclesiastical organization which murdered and pillaged the East during the Crusades and took over Holy Orthodox Churches in lands where they dominated and “converted” them to what they call “Eastern Rite Catholics.” Rome cannot be trusted to be anything but Rome and a reflection of its history.
At a distance of a thousand years, little if anything can seriously be considered the same (‘Rome’ included).
Self-righteousness at a distance of a millennium is very easy and extremely cheap.
It seems to me that the Franciscans are simply making an attempt to be friendly and considerate.
As Christians we have to forgive. Yes we must have one date for Easter that is the will of God and we must be one as our Lord Jesus prayed to His Father. Lets not divide but bend towards each other and unite in heart and then we will see the miracle that is awaiting our earth and we will learn to love the Lord with one heart.
As Christians, we are to forgive each other. I thought the Catholic church already apologized for these horrendous actions. I’m hoping we can take Holy Communion in each others’s church in my lifetime.
I wonder what will be the implications for celebrations of each church’s Pashal Liturgies? Might this not create some logistics problems?
There is to be no compromise in matters of faith and the traditions received by the ecumenical councils. This is not about forgiveness, it is about living up to the name: “Orthodox.” Right-Believing-Worship. There can be no bending of the faith of our fathers and what has been handed down. If Rome wants to repent and come back, I believe she would be welcomed with open arms. But anything less than the TRUTH in dialogue is illusory, warm-fuzzies and a waste of both of our time. Rome is not NECESSARY for unity. The church is ONE HOLY CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC without her. She cannot ADD anything to the faith, and her divorcing herself from us takes nothing away. That said, I pray she comes to her senses.