Pray for unity, or at least a common date for Easter

Next week is the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, but a small-scale version of it took place last week at Holy Rosary Cathedral.

The memorial Mass for Pope Benedict XVI not only drew hundreds of Catholic priests, deacons, religious, and faithful, but also two dozen ecumenical and interfaith guests representing various Christian denominations as well as Sikh, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist faiths.

Pope Benedict must have been pleased, and judging from their comments afterward so were many of the guests, who reflected the goodwill that was generated by the Mass.

They said they were honoured to have been invited. They went up to receive blessings at Communion.

Rabbi Emeritus Philip Bregman of Temple Sholom Vancouver said, “It was truly an honour to be invited to the Memorial Mass today for Pope Benedict XVI. Please convey my sincere thanks to Archbishop Miller for the invitation and also for the most inspiring Mass. I also want to thank you for the fantastic hospitality that was shown to not only me, but all the ecumenical guests. Thank you again.”

Lutheran Pastor Eric Krushel said, “It was an honour to be able to attend and participate. At least where I was sitting it felt like a wonderful ecumenical and inter-faith gathering.”

Among the guests it felt “as if the whole family of faith was gathering to honour one of its esteemed members,” Pastor Krushel said, adding “I look forward to gathering again with you all during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.”

From the Latter Day Saints’ Neil McKenzie’s came, “It is obvious from his message why Archbishop Michael Miller was chosen to lead the church in this area. It is wonderful how we can inspire each other.”

Such messages resonate with efforts by recent Popes to bring about Christian unity. It’s consistent with efforts by Pope Benedict to find opportunities for dialogue among non-Christians and non-believers to explore ultimate questions and come to know the one God.

Benedict’s Courtyard of the Gentiles has been just such an initiative and was called by former Vatican Press Office director Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, “one of the original and fruitful initiatives of Benedict’s pontificate, now continued by the Pontifical Council for Culture, with ramifications  in many different directions.”

Recently Bishop Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the promotion of Christian Unity visited Vancouver and met with Archbishop Miller. Celebrating Mass at Holy Rosary Cathedral Bishop Farrell asked for prayers for the unity of Christians. “The Lord himself at the Last Supper prayed that all his disciples would be one, but we have never been that way. We have been divided and separated from the beginning. But now there is, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit working in Christians all over the world, a new sense that we should be and that we need to work to make this happen.”

Archbishop Miller noted that a priority of the Holy See since at least the time of John Paul II has been celebrating Easter on a common date by Christians of the East and West.

“It would be a great sign of unity between Catholics and Orthodox if we could all celebrate the Paschal Mystery on the same date,” said Archbishop Miller. “It is gestures such as these that keep the ecumenical movement alive.”

Both Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians have recently suggested a common date for celebrating Easter could be set for the year 2025, which will mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea. 

That would be a tangible sign that real progress can be made toward the restoration of communion among all Christians, which Pope Francis recently called “an urgent priority in today’s world.”

We can honour that priority next week by taking part in the Week of Christian Prayer for Christian Unity when numerous events will take place in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Here is the schedule. Visit rcav.org/ecumenism-and-interfaith-relations/wpcu for more details.

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