Changing Easter dates a case of church politicians wrestling with the moon’s motion

18th April 2014

By: Kelvin Kemm

  

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In 2013, Easter fell at the end of March. Good Friday was March 29 and Easter Sunday March 31.

In 2014, the dates shifted a lot, with Good Friday being April 18 and Easter Sunday April 20. Churches around the world have an Easter problem, which they would like to resolve.

The problem is that Easter does not fall on the same date for all Christians. This is causing a political problem for the Christian Church because it wants to project an international image of Christian unity.

A particular problem exists among Christian groups in the Middle East, where Easter is known as Pascha.

The problem is largely mathematical. What happened was that the New Testament of the Bible indicates that Christ’s death and resurrection were historically associated with the Jewish Passover, but the precise details are not clear. By the end of the second century, some churches celebrated Easter (Pascha) on the day of the Jewish Passover, regardless of the day of the week, while others celebrated it on the following Sunday.

In the year 325 AD, the church held an ecumenical council at Nicea, where it was determined that Easter (Pascha) should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the March equinox. That is why the dates of Easter vary each year – they are dependent on the moon.

By the sixth century, the mode of calculation based on the studies of Alexandrian astronomers had gained universal acceptance. But, by the sixteenth century, the discrepancy between this mode of calculation and the contemporary observed astronomical dates was becoming evident.

In fact, the difference was about 11 days – so, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar, in which he took a drastic step and just dropped the problem days. The Pope decreed that Thursday October 4 would be followed by Friday October 15. There were riots in the streets because people said that the Pope had stolen nearly two weeks of their life – people said that they all became two weeks older in only 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the folks in the eastern part of the world stuck with the old Julian calendar, dating from the days of Julius Caesar. This meant that, in some years, Easter and Pascha fell on the same dates, but at other times they were a couple of weeks apart.

It is this differential in dates which has always been the problem, but which is becoming a more evident problem now, as the world shrinks owing to modern telecommunications. It is now more evident than ever when television covers two Easters on different dates.

As far back as 1920, a church encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople again referred to the problem. At about the same time, in business circles in Western Europe, there were discussions about trying to tie Easter down to a fixed date, such as the Sunday following the second Saturday in April. This was to facilitate factory production and the planning of longer-term business contracts, as it is difficult for business when Easter can vary by weeks from year to year.

For 2014, the astronomical calculations put Easter on April 20. In 2013, Easter was on March 31 and in 2015 it will be on April 5. This is a significant shift.

People who run timeshare schemes have to keep reorganising each year for the people who own ‘Easter weeks’.

The 1920 church comments, as well as business opinions, caused all sorts of drama in churches around the world at the time, and it appears the whole thing was subsequently left to cool off. But then the Second Vatican Council of 1963 gave renewed impetus in the Catholic Church to discussion on the issue and, since 1965, the World Council of Churches has taken up the subject on a number of occasions.

In recent years, concrete steps have been taken in the Middle East, where Christians of so many traditions live closely together, generally as religious minorities. The Middle East Council of Churches has been particularly active in encouraging the celebration of Easter (Pascha) on a common day.

In 1997, it was proposed that they all try to do something in 2001 because in that year Easter fell on the same day for everyone, but that opportunity went past.

In 2013, Easter was on March 31 and Pascha was on May 5. In 2014, the stars decreed that they both fall on April 20, but for 2015 the astronomical motions determine April 5 for Easter and April 12 for Pascha.

Quite interesting – the church politicians wrestling with the motion of the moon.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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