Pope Francis says he supports setting a fixed date for Easter Sunday

Fox News Latino ^ | July 01, 2015

[Olog-hai]

Pope Francis said he supports the idea of setting a fixed date for Easter Sunday, which for centuries has moved back and forth according to the lunar calendar.

Easter and the Holy Week that precedes it is rooted in the Jewish Passover and fixed on the first full moon, which falls on the first Sunday after the spring equinox, March 21. […]

The Orthodox Churches normally celebrate Easter a week after the Catholics. […]

Historians and expert agree that a common date for Easter would encourage “reconciliation between the Christian churches.” …

[Olog-hai]

How could it always be on Sunday if you fix the date?

[KarlInOhio]

If you get rid of one day a year and leap days you’ll have the days fall on the same day of the week. Of course the seasons will drift against the calendar days, but when was the last time a pope worried about that?

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

He’s on a roll for screwing stuff up.

[Shadow44]

So throw the Gregorian calendar out the window?

Why cave after a thousand years?

[lee martell]

Actually, on this one, I agree with the Pope. It could be the last Sunday in March or April. I don’t see any huge downside.

[Roos_Girl]

Because after 2015 years it’s become too difficult to tell which Sunday Easter is going to fall on.

[fidelis]

It would be interesting to see if the various Protestant denominations and non-denominational denominations followed suit. Right now, 99.9% of them follow the date established by Catholic tradition.

[KarlInOhio]

Yep, we’re celebrating the Resurrection, not a certain moon phase after the equinox. We have no problem at all celebrating Christmas on one day in December even though even the month is probably wrong.

[keving]

Wow he's courageous tackling the theological issues of the Day!! Maybe he'll design a new impression for communion wafers? The world is holding their breather - I'm holding my nose.

[BigEdLB]

Orthodox Easter is the Sunday after the Friday after the start of Passover. It is more widely variant than western Easter. My wife is Russian.

[Chickensoup]

It follows the Passover calendar, and since Christianity is rooted in Judiosm it makes sense to float. Also by floating it makes it less of a secular holiday and more of a religouus holiday. It is the most important date on the Christian calendar, lets not Memorial Day it.

[Paulie]

Pope Francis is doing a good job of avoiding the real issues Christians face today.

The West has turned their back on God and are fixing to close down Catholic Churches? Christians persecuted and burned alive? Ah, all that can wait.

Let’s do the ‘feel-good’ stuff first!

[NRx]

Well so much for a common date with the Orthodox. Moving on.

[MeshugeMikey]

Frankies....Fried!

[Snickering Hound]

Easter/Earth Day/Lenin's birthday.

[MeshugeMikey]

Christmas need not BE Christmas Sunday

Easter on the other hand ......is Easter Sunday

[knarf]

But then I won’t have a birthday !!

[ronnietherocket3]

How could it always be on Sunday if you fix the date?

I think this means he wants it on a particular Sunday of the year. For example, the first Sunday after the vernal equinox would make the most sense.



That said, I think this is a terrible idea. We lose something if we dereference it from its historical root. But hey, why not start mucking with a definition that has been around for a long time, e.g., marriage?

[Delta 21]

How has the Roman Catholic church even come to consider something so un-Traditional?

[Chickensoup]

The Catholic Church is apparently attempting slow suicide.