For Father Petras, getting a typical Easter date is less a matter of theology or ecclesial politics — although these both play a part within the present dialogue about the issue — and more in regards to the science taking part in determining the date
Time for Science
“I think the issue that is central merely this this is a question of Church policy vs. science,” he said. “Church policy, needless to say, had been the problem that is original the Orthodox because the Gregorian calendar had been mandated by our pope, and therefore they instinctively stated, вЂNo’ — and have instinctively said, вЂNo’ ever since. Nonetheless it’s merely a matter of science that the vernal equinox occurs whenever it occurs. It doesn’t make a difference whether someone’s Catholic, Orthodox, atheist or elsewhere.”
To complicate things, even Eastern Churches — both the Orthodox and the Byzantine Catholics — aren’t unified regarding the calendar issue, Father Petras noted.
While Byzantine Catholics in the United States adopted the Gregorian calendar, he stated, in parts of the global world where their neighbors are all Orthodox, some Byzantine Catholics decide for ecumenical reasons why you should celebrate Easter in line with the Julian calendar.
But diplomacy apart, Father Petras included, “most arguments for the extension for the Julian calendar now are that this is usually a spiritual faith decision, and the ones who abide by it are isolating by themselves from the secular globe. The secular globe follows the Gregorian calendar, therefore the [Orthodox] Church follows the Julian calendar. This is simply not completely true, needless to say, because over fifty percent the Orthodox Churches use the Gregorian calendar for his or her days that are fixed as Christmas], but none put it to use to correct your day of Easter, aside from the Orthodox Church in Finland, which follows the Gregorian calendar for Easter.”
In line with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Orthodox Church in Finland “makes up significantly less than 2% for the population of a predominantly lutheran country,” and therefore “it observes Easter according to the [Gregorian] Calendar for practical reasons.”
