LEADERS of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches are signalling their openness to setting a common date for Easter — an opportunity arising with the approaching 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.

Speaking after the divine liturgy on St Nicholas’s Day in Istanbul last week, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said that Catholic and Orthodox believers had a “golden opportunity” to agree on a joint date for Easter, because of the “fortunate alignment” of the Easter dates next year.

“We believe there is no better way to honour the memory of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, who, among other achievements, addressed the issue of a unified Easter,” Patriarch Bartholomew was quoted in a report in the Orthodox Times.

“It is indeed regrettable that 1700 years later, we are still debating this issue,” he said. He hoped that Anglican and Protestant Churches would follow suit.

At the end of last month, Pope Francis reaffirmed his intention to travel to Iznik, in Turkey, where the first Ecumenical Council took place in 325, thereby opening up the possibility that the anniversary would serve as a significant milestone in Orthodox- Catholic relations.

Despite enthusiasm for the plan on both sides, however, some are showing reluctance. Part of Bartholomew’s message was directed to opponents of this effort. He specified that an agreement on a common date would not entail eucharistic intercommunion.

“This agreement pertains solely to the date of Easter’s celebration, and does not imply joint liturgical practices with our Roman Catholic brethren, which would require ecclesial communion between our Churches — a state we have not yet achieved despite theological dialogue progress and significant steps made,” the Ecumenical Patriarch said.

In 2016, the Archbishop of Canterbury held talks with Coptic Pope Tawadros II in Cairo on this issue, stating that a unified date could be reached within the next five to ten years. He told journalists at the time that, for the Church of England, it would be acceptable to celebrate Easter on either the second or the third Sunday of April.