Will "Pope" Francis change the date of Easter?
Vatican City, Jun 19, 2015 / 03:53 am (CNA).-
Speaking
to a global gathering of priests, Francis signaled an openness to
changing the date of Easter in the West so that all Christians around
the world could celebrate the feast on the same day.
The "Pope" on June 12 said “we have to come to an agreement” for a common date on Easter.
His comments came in remarks to the World Retreat of Priests at the
Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. The event drew priests from five
continents.
The "Pope" joked that Christians could say to one another: “When did
Christ rise from the dead? My Christ rose today, and yours next week,”
adding that this disunity is a scandal(??).
The Orthodox churches normally celebrate Easter a week after the
Catholics. Some Orthodox leaders have also reflected on the dating of
the Christian holy day. In May, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II wrote
to the papal nuncio in Egypt suggesting a common date for Easter.
Historian Lucetta Scaraffia, writing in the Vatican daily newspaper
L’Osservatore Romano, said the "Pope" is offering this initiative to
change the date of Easter “as a gift of unity with the other Christian
churches.”
A common date for Easter, she said, would encourage “reconciliation
between the Christian churches and …a sort of making sense out of the
calendar.”
She noted that the proposal could help reinforce the identity of
persecuted Christians, particularly those in the Eastern churches that
are at risk of disappearing.
Scaraffia wrote that the simultaneous celebration of the Resurrection by
all Christians “would increase the importance of the central feast of
the faith in a moment when changes seem to be suddenly coming throughout
the world.”
“The Pope’s remarks implicitly underscore an important fact: in the
countries where Christian identity is being overshadowed, the marking of
time continues to be tied to the life of Jesus,” she added. “We also
know also that the calendar is not only a convention but also something
profound and symbolically relevant.”
Scaraffia said Easter and related feasts “constitute a distinct aspect
of the liturgical year because they are connected with a cycle of time
that repeats every year and marks the returns of the seasons.”
She also pointed out that the date of Easter is established based on the
cycle of the moon, just as the Muslims and Jews establish their
important feasts with the lunar calendar.
Where will this eventually head according to the New Age Plan?
The Gospel story is about resurrection. Easter will be one of the three major Spiritual Festivals and Christmas
and Good Friday will slowly die out of our consciousness. Resurrection will be the emphasised goal for mankind;
resurrection out of matter into Spirit, which makes one a liberated Master.
Close Advisor of Pope Speaks about Pope’s Methods of Changing the Church
The 52-year-old archbishop adds: “The pope goes slow because he wants to
be sure that the changes have a deep impact. The slow pace is necessary
to ensure the effectiveness of the changes. He knows there are those
hoping that the next pope will turn everything back around. If you go
slowly it’s more difficult to turn things back.” The interviewer then
asks whether it does not help his adversaries when they know that Pope
Francis says that his papacy might be short. Fernández answers: “The
pope must have his reasons, because he knows very well what he’s doing.
He must have an objective that we don’t understand yet. You have to
realize that he is aiming at reform that is irreversible. If one day he
should sense that he’s running out of time and doesn’t have enough time
to do what the Spirit is asking him, you can be sure he will speed up.”
These words could be read in the context of the ongoing, two-year-long
procedure and discussion on the question of marriage and the family that
has caused much confusion among the faithful.
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