Diko MP Panicos Leonidou is to visit the Vatican City on Wednesday over plans for Easter to be celebrated on the same day by all denominations of Christianity.
Leonidou is taking part in the trip in his capacity as head of the Cypriot delegation of the 21-country Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), with the IAO’s delegation set to be received by Pope Francis on Thursday.
It is hoped by some that Christianity’s various denominations will be able to agree on a common date for Easter in time for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea – the first of many efforts to attain consensus among the various denominations of Christianity.
Easter will fall on the same date on both the Catholic and Orthodox calendars next year, with Easter Sunday being celebrated on April 20.
With this in mind, Pope Francis said last year, “let us have the courage to put an end to this division that at times makes us laugh: ‘When does your Christ rise again?’ The sign we should give is: One Christ for all of us.”
“Let us be courageous and search together: I am willing, yet not me, the Catholic church is willing to follow what Saint Paul VI said. Agree and we will go where you say,” he added.
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