wfn.org | US ORTHODOX-LUTHERAN DIALOGUE BACKS COMMON DATE FOR EASTER

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

MARCH 14, 2000

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE
DEPT. OF COMMUNICATIONS
CONTACT: NIKKI STEPHANOPOULOS
TEL: (212) 570-3530
EMAIL: COMMUNICATIONS@GOARCH.ORG
http://www.goarch.org

New York, NY - As Christians begin observances of Lent -- the period of
penitence and fasting leading up to Easter or Pascha -- there is a
renewed effort for all Christians to use the same calculations to
determine the date of Easter each year. The U.S. Orthodox-Lutheran
Dialogue endorsed an international call for a year of study.

The Dialogue, established by the Standing Conference of Canonical
Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA), studied "Toward a Common Date for Easter."
The document is also known as the Aleppo Statement because it is the
result of a consultation held in Aleppo, Syria, in March 1997 by the
Middle East Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

"We strongly affirm the basic principles of the Aleppo Statement and
urge its careful and pastorally sensitive study," said a 7-paragraph
"common response" from the dialogue. "Our Orthodox-Lutheran Ecumenical
Dialogue in the U.S.A. endorses the Statement's call to study during
the period leading to Easter/Pascha 2001."

This year the Western Christian churches observe Easter on April 16,
and Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter/Pascha April 22-23. In 2001 all
Christian traditions will mark Easter/Pascha on April 15th.

Basically, Orthodox and Western Christians calculate the date of
Easter/Pascha according to a decree of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is commemorated the Sunday following
the first full moon after the vernal equinox -- the moment the Earth's
Northern Hemisphere enters Spring.

The traditions calculate the equinox and full moon differently -- using
different points of reference from the Earth -- and often arrive at
different dates for Easter and Pascha. The Aleppo Statement suggested
using precise modern astronomical determinations from the meridian of
Jerusalem -- the place of Christ's death and resurrection -- so neither
tradition will have to change its policies.

Members of the Orthodox-Lutheran dialogue agreed "the Aleppo Statement
is faithful to the Nicene norms." They cited such principles as
celebrating Easter/Pascha on the same day to give "a common witness to
the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the central mystery of the
Christian faith."

The statement rejects the idea of celebrating Easter on a fixed day of
the year and adheres to calculations involving the sun and moon as "a
salutary reminder of the cosmic dimensions of Christ's victory over sin
and death."

To ensure that new calculations adhere to Scriptures, the U.S. dialogue
called for consideration of the Orthodox understanding that the common
date for Easter/Pascha must follow the Jewish observance of Passover
(Pesach). According to the Christian Bible, Jesus was crucified and
buried on Friday -- the day before Passover -- and rose from the dead
early Sunday morning -- the day after Passover.

"We pledge to one another, and to our other ecumenical partners, that
we will continue to seek reconciliation between all Christians in this
matter," said the Orthodox-Orthodox response. "Our dialogue therefore
urges our churches to give the Aleppo Statement serious attention."

Members of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological
Consultation have endorsed the 1997 Aleppo Statement also, urging all
Christian churches to start celebrating Easter on a common date.

The Orthodox-Lutheran dialogue is in "Round III" of talks that began in
the 1960s. Round II, from 1983 to 1989, resulted in the 1992
publication of "Salvation in Christ." Round III on "Faith in the Holy
Trinity" began in 1994. Its next meeting will be Oct. 15-18 at the
Lutheran Center, Chicago.

His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Ainou, Bishop of Pittsburgh, is
Orthodox co-chair of the dialogue. The Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of
the ELCA's Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, is Lutheran co-chair of the
dialogue.

Orthodox members of the talks are Metropolitan Maximos; His Eminence
Metropolitan Christopher, Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. &
Canada, Libertyville, Ill.; the Rev. Dr. James Jorgenson, Livonia,
Mich.; the Very Reverend John Morris, Shreveport, La.; Dr. Bradley
Nassif, Fuller Seminary, Southern California Extension, Irvine, Calif.;
the Rev. Dr. Robert G. Stephanopoulos, Archdiocesan Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity, New York; and the Rev. Dr. Gregory C. Wingenbach,
Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh.

Lutheran members of the dialogue include Bishop McCoid; the Rev. Jan O.
Flaaten, Trinity Lutheran Church, Phoenix; the Rev. Victor C. Langford
III, St. Mark Lutheran Church, Seattle; the Rev. Thomas R. Lee,
associate to the bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod, Great Falls, Mont.;
Dr. Lynne Lorenzen, Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Dr. Bruce Marshall,
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.; the Rev. Mark N. Swanson, Luther
Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; and Dr. David S. Yeago, Lutheran Theological
Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.