Thousands of Orthodox and Catholic faithful processed through the streets of Punchbowl in south-west Sydney and gathered at St Charbel’s College to celebrate Palm Sunday together. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
It was the first time since 2017 because of the alignment in Easter in both the Gregorian calendar used by the Catholic Church and the Julian calendar by the Orthodox Church.
The ecumenical procession brought together St Demiana and St Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Church, St Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, St John the Beloved Melkite Catholic Church, and St Charbel Maronite Catholic Church in a powerful demonstration of Christian unity.
Clergy and special guests from each church were present, including three of the four bishops: Coptic Orthodox Bishop Daniel, Antiochian Orthodox Reverend Father Dr John El Karaan, Melkite Catholic Bishop Robert Rabbat, and Maronite Catholic Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay.
“It’s about time. The desire of my heart, that of the Holy Father, and different leaders in the Church is to celebrate Easter together,” Bishop Tarabay said.
“We feel sad every time we celebrate Easter at different times as Catholics and as Orthodox.”
Each Church walked from their parish to St Charbel’s carrying drums, chanting prayers, and waving palm and olive branches, as they journeyed together toward the school for traditional prayers and hymns.
The yearning for unity is not new. Before the Council of Nicaea in 325, different Christian communities celebrated Easter on different dates. The council decided that for the sake of unity and Christian witness, Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox —together.
This effort at unity, however, faced significant challenges. The greatest of these came with the Schism of 1054, which saw the East and West break communion, in what had been a largely united Christendom.
In 1582, a major calendar reform introduced by Pope Gregory XIII created yet another point of division when he sought to correct an error in the Julian Calendar. The Orthodox Church remained on the Julian calendar, and the Catholics began to use the Gregorian calendar resulting in the varying Easter dates.
Over the past century, however, the desire for reunion has steadily grown among both leaders and the faithful.
“The dialogue to come to some kind of understanding, mainly about the sacraments, has seen progress so this unity, it’s not new, it’s a journey that has started and we need to continue to make some practical steps towards that unity,” Bishop Tarabay said.
FULL STORY
It’s about time we celebrate together (By Christina Guzman, The Catholic Weekly)
