Common date for Easter and Christmas a step closer – Greek Orthodox Patriarch
Sharing Christmas and Easter together is a common Christian dream, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebaste in Palestine has said, pointing to this as a possible development that could follow from the recent meeting in Cuba of Pope Francis and Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill.
“I think there is not a Catholic or an Orthodox who does not have the desire to see a rapprochement between the Churches, and to find a common date to celebrate Easter and Christmas,” said Archbishop Atallah Hanna in an interview, continuing, “We pray to God to enlighten the minds and hearts to reach this goal.”
In order for the Orthodox to embrace a shared date for Easter, an Orthodox Council would be needed, he said, explaining, “in the Orthodox Church, there is a tradition that dates back to the early ecumenical councils. Therefore in order to introduce a change or modification to this tradition it is necessary for it to be taken by an Orthodox Council that includes all the heads of the Orthodox Churches in the world.”
Iran’s Christians ‘must vote’
For Iran’s Assyrian Christians, participation in Iran’s elections was a “national duty” and “an important sign of their belonging to the people of Iran”, Jonathan Betkolia, the current representative of Assyria in the Iranian parliament has said.
Three seats in the parliament are reserved for the country’s Christian minorities, of whom there are 75,000 Armenians and 20,000 Assyrians and Chaldeans combined, with one seat also being reserved for the country’s 25,000 Jews and one for its 25,000 Zoroastrians, the country’s oldest religious group. The February 26 vote was held to elect two central governing bodies, the Parliament and the Assembly of experts, the latter of which is responsible, among other things, for electing the Supreme Leader.
Ghana’s bishops hear of need to ‘forgive and forget’
An inability to forgive and forget is responsible for much turmoil throughout Africa and the world, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has told 150 bishops.
“Countless heartbreaking stories of development plans torn apart and destroyed homes come from different areas of Africa and the world, all because inhabitants were not able to forgive and forget when this was the thing that mattered most”, the president said to the bishops who were gathered in Ghana’s capital Accra for the plenary assembly of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa.
He commended the Catholic Church in the region for showing how cultural and language barriers can be overcome when people consistently work together for unity, but warned that this unity is under threat from national, tribal, clan and community divisions, which often lead to violence.
Konongo-Mampong’s Bishop Joseph Osei-Bonsu, President of Ghana’s bishops’ conference, called on Church leaders in the region to reflect on how to “work together as one family”, and in partnership with governments to build on the issues of “reconciliation, integral development and authentic family life”.
Franciscans plead for 1,000 prisoners
Franciscans in India have asked their government to pardon 1,000 prisoners guilty of minor crimes.
The request for a mass pardon was voted for by men and women religious of the Association of the Franciscan Families of India during their national assembly, and is intended to mark the Holy Year of Mercy.
At the assembly, members decided to engage with the government to encourage it to grant mercy to those who are currently in prison for minor crimes, such as theft.