{"id":17176,"date":"2025-12-02T17:34:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=17176"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:34:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:34:19","slug":"pope-patriarch-urge-common-date-for-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/pope-patriarch-urge-common-date-for-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope, Patriarch Urge Common Date for Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISTANBUL (CNS) \u2014 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a meeting at the patriarchal palace 29 November, the two leaders \u2014 who met to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council Nicaea \u2014 said the anniversary should inspire \u201cnew and courageous steps on the path toward unity,\u201d including finding that common date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a joint declaration<\/a>, Pope Leo and Patriarch Bartholomew said: \u201cWe 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, \u2018in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,\u2019 commit themselves to the process of arriving at a common celebration of the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joint declaration also noted that part of the goal of Christianity is to contribute to peace among all people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pope
Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I sign a joint declaration at the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 29 November during the pope’s first apostolic journey, in Istanbul, Turkey. (photo: OSV News\/Dilara Senkaya, Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTogether we fervently raise our voices in invoking God\u2019s gift of peace upon our world,\u201d they said. \u201cTragically, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, on the flight from Turkey to Lebanon<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn this trip, there was a special theme of being a messenger of peace, of wanting to promote peace throughout the region,\u201d Pope Leo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Gaza, he said, \u201cthe Holy See for many years has publicly supported a proposal for a two-state solution\u201d in the Holy Land, with Israel and Palestine being fully independent nations, secure within defined borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Pope Leo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are also friends with Israel,\u201d he said, \u201cand with both sides we try to be a mediating voice that can help approach a solution with justice for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pope Leo also noted that Erdogan repeatedly had offered to mediate direct talks between Ukraine and Russia in a search for peace.\u201cUnfortunately,\u201d the pope said, \u201cwe\u2019ve 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 Ukraine.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Leo also said he had discussed the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine when he met with Turkey\u2019s president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70080,"featured_media":17177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3083,63,44],"class_list":["post-17176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocating-for-justice-peace","category-middle-east","category-eastern-churches"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPope, Patriarch Urge Common Date for Easter | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/pope-patriarch-urge-common-date-for-easter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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