Romanian Church opposes joint celebration of Easter with Catholics

The Romanian Orthodox Church has spoken out against the unification of the date of Easter celebration with the Roman Catholic Church. The press service of the Romanian Patriarchate stated that such decisions can be made exclusively at the pan-Orthodox level and cannot be made by a single person. This was reported by the press service of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

“In connection with the recent statement of Pope Francis regarding the establishment of a common date for the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord, we would like to clarify that any consultations on the date of Easter and any final decision can only take place in the future pan-Orthodox Synod, with the participation of all fraternal Orthodox Churches. Therefore, the present initiative is part of the same path of work, also taking into account the very important recommendation of the Synod of Primates and Representatives of the Orthodox Churches, which met on January 21-28, 2016, at the Ecumenical Patriarchate Center in Chambesy, during which the following was stated: “as for the topic of the calendar, it is advisable that each Church be free to apply in practice what it considers necessary for the spiritual education of its parishioners, but without changing the date of the common celebration of Easter for all Orthodox,” – the statement reads.

As reported, recently the head of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Patriarch Bartholomew, expressed his readiness to establish a single date for Easter with the Roman Catholic Church.