Thousands of Orthodox and Catholic faithful processed through the streets of Punchbowl and gathered at St Charbel’s College to celebrate Palm Sunday together.
It was the first time since 2017 because of the alignment in Easter in both the Gregorian used by the Catholic Church and the Julian calendar by the Orthodox Church.
The ecumenical procession brought together St Demiana and St Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Church, St Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, St John the Beloved Melkite Catholic Church, and St Charbel Maronite Catholic Church in a powerful and visible demonstration of Christian unity.
Clergy and special guests from each church were present, including three of the four bishops: Bishop Daniel of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Antiochian Orthodox Reverend Father Dr John El Karaan, Bishop Robert Rabbat of the Melkite Catholic Church and Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay of the Maronite Catholic Church.
“It’s about time. The desire of my heart, that of the Holy Father, and different leaders in the church is to celebrate Easter together,” Bishop Tarabay told The Catholic Weekly.
“We feel sad every time we celebrate Easter at different times as Catholics and as Orthodox.”
Each church walked from their parish to St Charbel’s carrying drums, chanting prayers, and waving palm and olive branches, as they journeyed together toward the school for traditional prayers and hymns.
As the congregations arrived at the school’s stage, a welcome in Arabic was delivered by LMO Father Superior Fr Asaad Lahood, speaking on unity and expressing joy for being able to gather once again.
The yearning for unity is not new. Before the Council of Nicaea in 325, different Christian communities celebrated Easter on different dates. The council decided that for the sake of unity and Christian witness, Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox—together.
This effort at unity, however, faced significant challenges. The greatest of these came with the Schism of 1054, which saw the East and West break communion, in what had been a largely united Christendom.
Later in 1582, a major calendar reform introduced by Pope Gregory XIII created yet another point of division when he sought to correct an error in the Julian Calendar. The Orthodox Church remained on the Julian calendar, and the Catholics began to use the Gregorian calendar resulting in the varying Easter dates.
Over the last century, however, the desire for reunion has steadily grown among both leaders and the faithful.
The Second Vatican Council marked a shift in the Catholic Church’s attitude toward the Orthodox, referring to them as “separated brethren” and recognising the validity of their sacraments and priesthood. At the same time in 1964, the third Pan-Orthodox Conference convened in Rhodes, encouraging preparation for meaningful dialogue with the Catholic Church.
This led to Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople jointly lifting the mutual excommunications of 1054 on 7 December 1965.
“The dialogue to come to some kind of understanding, mainly about the sacraments has seen progress,” said Bishop Tarabay to The Catholic Weekly, “so this unity, it’s not new, it’s a journey that has started and we need to continue to make some practical steps towards that unity.”
When asked what needed to be done to make those steps he said, “Pray and ask.”
“We are praying and asking Pope Francis and the Orthodox and Catholic Patriarchs, please, we would like to celebrate Easter together and we pray for that intention. We’re begging you.
“It needs to be a constant request. So never give up and keep requesting that in different ways as we are doing too.
“Talk to your bishops, talk to your patriarchs, get the message to the Holy Father that we want to celebrate Easter together.”
“I sometimes feel ashamed at the division because it’s not a good witness to the love of Jesus Christ. It is hurting the body of Christ, which is the church, and it’s very obvious.”
Peter Boutros, parishioner of St Charbel Maronite Catholic Church reiterated Bishop Tarabay’s comments and told The Catholic Weekly that “we all believe in Jesus, and we all love Jesus.”
“I have a strong belief that we will see some form of or full unity in our lifetime,” he said.
Unity among Orthodox and Catholics is particularly meaningful this year as the church marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council where bishops from across the Christian world came together to define the faith.