Rome, Jan. 25 (LaPresse) – ‘A date for Easter. The Catholic Church is willing to accept a date for Easter for unity’. So said Pope Francis in his homily at Second Vespers in the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls. The anniversary of the Council of Nicaea represents, the Pope said, ‘a year of grace, an opportunity for all Christians who recite the same Creed and believe in the same God: let us rediscover the common roots of the faith, let us preserve unity. Always ahead. That unity that we all want to see happen'. ‘This Council,’ Bergoglio stressed, ’committed itself to preserving the unity of the Church at a very difficult time, and the Council Fathers unanimously approved the Creed that many Christians still recite every Sunday during the Eucharist. It is a profession of common faith, which goes beyond all the divisions that over the centuries have wounded the Body of Christ‘. “The anniversary,” the Pontiff continued, “should not only be celebrated as a ”historical memory’, but also as a commitment to bear witness to the growing communion between us. We must ensure that we do not let it slip away, that we build solid bonds, that we cultivate mutual friendship, that we are weavers of communion and fraternity. In this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity we can also experience the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea as a reminder to perse on the path to unity. Providentially, this year, Easter will be celebrated on the same day in the Gregorian and Julian calendars, precisely during this ecumenical anniversary. I renew my call for this coincidence to serve as a reminder to all Christians to take a decisive step towards unity, around a common date for Easter'.
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