ISTANBUL (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople called on Christians of the East and West to finally agree on a common date for Easter.
During a meeting at the patriarchal palace 29 November, the two leaders — who met to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council Nicaea — said the anniversary should inspire “new and courageous steps on the path toward unity,” including finding that common date.
In a joint declaration, Pope Leo and Patriarch Bartholomew said: “We are grateful to divine providence that this year the whole Christian world celebrated Easter on the same day. It is our shared desire to continue the process of exploring a possible solution for celebrating together the Feast of Feasts every year. We hope and pray that all Christians will, ‘in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,’ commit themselves to the process of arriving at a common celebration of the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The joint declaration also noted that part of the goal of Christianity is to contribute to peace among all people.
“Together we fervently raise our voices in invoking God’s gift of peace upon our world,” they said. “Tragically, in many regions of our world, conflict and violence continue to destroy the lives of so many. We appeal to those who have civil and political responsibilities to do everything possible to ensure that the tragedy of war ceases immediately, and we ask all people of good will to support our entreaty.”
The next day, on the flight from Turkey to Lebanon, Pope Leo told reporters he had discussed the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza when he met privately with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 27 November.
“On this trip, there was a special theme of being a messenger of peace, of wanting to promote peace throughout the region,” Pope Leo said.
As for Gaza, he said, “the Holy See for many years has publicly supported a proposal for a two-state solution” in the Holy Land, with Israel and Palestine being fully independent nations, secure within defined borders.
“We all know that right now Israel does not accept that solution, but we see it as the only possible solution to the conflict they continually live,” Pope Leo said.
“We are also friends with Israel,” he said, “and with both sides we try to be a mediating voice that can help approach a solution with justice for all.”
Pope Leo also noted that Erdogan repeatedly had offered to mediate direct talks between Ukraine and Russia in a search for peace.“Unfortunately,” the pope said, “we’ve not yet seen a solution, but today there are concrete proposals for peace, and we hope that President Erdogan, with his relationship with the presidents of Ukraine, Russia and the United States, can help in this sense to promote dialogue, a ceasefire, and see how to resolve this conflict, this war in