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Mor --

There are two reasons.

Nicea set forth that Easter/Pascha is to be observed on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox, but not "meta ton Joudaion" ("with the Jews"). Nicea pegged the vernal equinox on a certain date -- I believe March 17 -- so that everyone would use the same date to calculate the remainder of the formulation. That's the key to understanding where we are today.

The first reason for the difference is that the change to the Gregorian calendar resulted in a change in calculation of the fixed date on which the equinox is based -- the adoption of the Gregorian meant that this date occurs 13 days earlier in the Gregorian calendar than in the Julian calendar. In some years (like 2002), this means that the first full moon following that date is a roughly a month later for the Julian Christians than for the Gregorian ones. This is the discrepancy that results in the years when we are 5 weeks off -- it results from the change in the West to the Gregorian.

The other discrepancy relates to the fact that the Orthodox Church interprets "meta ton Joudaion" of Nicea to mean that Pesach must be completed, whereas the West pretty much doesn't take Pesach into account -- meaning that most of the time the West has Pascha following the beginning of Pesach, but not always. In some years, the West has Pascha after the completion of Pesach, and then generally Orthodox and Catholic pascha fall on the same day (as in 2001).

Basically, as with many things, the issue arises because Rome unilaterally changed the say it did things.

Brendan

Dear Catholicos,

Isn't Brendan great?!

(Wasn't the date March 21, not March 17th? )

Also, I think reference was made in the Council's decision to the idea that the New Passover or the Resurrection followed the Old Passover as stated in the Gospels and so the requirement that it follow after the Passover, even to the point of following its week-long celebration.

I think that much could be gained if everyone followed one Easter or Pascha, that determined by the Orthodox Paschalion as set down by the Council.

Other than for convenience' sake, I don't understand why all Eastern Catholics here don't follow the Orthodox Paschalion - (Happy Easter anyway, friends!)

The really helpful thing about following Councils is that it gets ecumenical discussions out of the rut of arguing over whose tradition is right or wrong.

It does this by pointing to an objective standard that both sides at one point accepted as valid and binding that goes outside the musings of each sides' theologians and hierarchs.

When it comes to the Paschalion, and other matters, "the Council has spoken, the matter is finished."

Alex

ok, here is my question.

I was under the impression that the Council stated that the equinox occurs on 21 March, but gave Alexandria, the leading astronomical centre of the day, the responsibility of determining that date. Now if this is so, then surely the Council Fathers saw the Equinox as a real and occuring natural event, not one that is abstract and arbitrarily occurs on some predetermined date (like saints feast days). However, the equinox does not occur on the Julian date 21 March any more. I believe it occurs on Julian date 8 March. Why is this not in violation of the Canons of the Council, when the Fathers went to the trouble of defining a natural event?