Pope Leo XIV wants to continue search for Easter date for all Christians

Pope Leo XIV has repeated the offer of his predecessor Francis to seek a common Easter date for all churches. At a meeting with scholars and clergy from churches in the West and East in the Vatican on Saturday, he said: "In this year in which all Christians have celebrated Easter on the same day, I would like to reaffirm the openness of the Catholic Church to the search for an ecumenical solution that favours a common celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord."

The reason for the meeting was a four-day symposium at the Pontifical University "Angelicum" in Rome entitled "Nicaea and the Church of the Third Millennium: Towards Catholic-Orthodox Unity". The high-calibre theological conference focused on the Council of Nicaea in 325, which defined the foundations of the Christian faith and whose resolutions are still binding for almost all Christian churches today.

However, the common Easter date established by the Council 1,700 years ago was lost in later centuries due to a calendar reform in the Western churches. Only in some years, such as this year, does Easter fall on the same day in the Eastern and Western churches.

"Several concrete solutions"

Leo XIV said that "several concrete solutions" had already been proposed that would make it possible to celebrate the highest feast of Christians together while maintaining the principle of Nicaea. He did not say which one he had in mind.

On the theological legacy of the Council of Nicaea, the Pope said: "It is not just an event of the past, but a compass that must continue to lead us to the full visible unity of all Christians. The First Ecumenical Council is fundamental to the common path that Catholics and Orthodox have travelled together since the Second Vatican Council."

The anniversary of Nicaea is "a unique opportunity to emphasise that what we have in common is quantitatively and qualitatively much stronger than what divides us", said the Pope. (KNA)