In recent days, there has been a controversy within the Romanian Orthodox Church (ORC). This was caused by the call of some secular intellectuals, who in an open letter to the Holy Synod of the BOR demand the coordination of the efforts of other Orthodox Churches and the Ecumenical Patriarchate so that we celebrate Easter together with Catholics and other Christians. .

The initiators of this open letter are Orthodox theologian Teodor Bakonski and Professor Adrian Papagaghi, and they are joined by 21 other signatories, most of whom are well known in the Romanian cultural and Christian space. Well, within a few days, the 23, especially the initiators, had countless insults, especially on social media. Why do I say that this case is a parable? Because it becomes a mirror of the current state of Romanian Orthodox Christianity.

Note that this letter does not refer to an immediate or imperative solution to the so-called Paschal problem (setting the date of Easter). As a rule, it is unlikely that you will find several BOR specialists on the fingers of one hand who know and speak knowledgeable about all aspects generated by this problem, hence the huge number of opinions expressed on social networks. Then they joined the 23 through a public petition – you can read it, maybe sign it, here

– over 8,000 new signers in about 7 days as I write this.

Those who sign the letter simply ask to compare the efforts of the BOR leadership with the efforts of other Orthodox Churches, with the Catholic, Anglican, etc. Churches, so that we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord on one day. – which usually happened in the first Christian centuries, while the Church was undivided. This and nothing else.

And because symbols are sometimes more real than what they symbolize (Marcel Mauss), some believe that 2025, the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 325), could be a good start for this joint celebration year after year. It is no secret that these natural concerns already exist in other Orthodox Churches, many years ago, primarily in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. By the way, 100 years ago, with the transition of the BOR to the Gregorian calendar, this joint celebration took place for several years, starting in 1924. Later it returned, for fraternal reasons to Russian Christians, already Bolshevized. So if the Russians, Serbs and others did not switch to the Gregorian calendar, which is astronomically much stricter, and even if we celebrate Christmas at a different time, at least Easter was considered important to celebrate with those who remained captive. to the “old style”..

However, the astronomical shortcomings of the old Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, create a real problem: after many years, we will be forced to celebrate Easter in the summer, and then even in the fall!

We will not find a solution, but specialists accredited by the Holy Synod of the BOR, together with specialists from other Churches, obviously. Especially since this is a problem of astronomical and human political-administrative impotence, and NOT a canonical or dogmatic one. Fortunately, important Romanian Orthodox theologians such as Reverend Professor Atanas Negoice, Reverend Professor Petre Vintilescu and, above all, Reverend Professor Teodor M. Popescu, clerics such as Reverend Cleopa Ilieu or hierarchs such as Metropolitan Bartolomeo Anania, once , and many others today, were and are in favor of this unification of the celebration of the Resurrection, the former also presented strong arguments.

We found that the whole controversy carries with it a veritable litmus test, as one friend so aptly observed. Because the generous approach, completely natural, by no means new, has caused an explosion of hatred, misinformation and resentment towards the 23 signatories.

(I myself was honored to be among the 23 signatories of the letter, the following lines are purely representative of me, these are some of my personal conclusions about this story.)

The fear of the Christian activist

FEAR is the common denominator of the opponents of this update and return to the normal calendar, according to the astronomical, this is the main reason for violent reactions.

FEAR, for, behold, God, we are turning to Catholicism, through this celebration together.

Note:In fact, it is about the celebration of Easter on the same day, not about serving together at the same altar – as those with Taliban-orthodox reflexes claim and manipulate! And this will become possible not by the entry of Orthodox into the bosom of Catholics, but by establishing a common date/rule. In other words: both will succumb.

Cheap, childish, stupid (self) manipulation. So many trumpeted, including clergymen, on the occasion of the first visit of a Catholic pope to a predominantly Orthodox country since the Great Schism. After the end of this visit of Pope John Paul II to Romania (1999), not only did nothing significant happen in the sense of previous fears, but we all rejoiced, and rightly so, because it was a success for both the BOR and the country. So that the subsequent visit of Pope Francis (2019) takes place naturally, with less internal pastoral and political distortions.

FEAR of a possible unification with Catholicism, some believe that this calibration of the calendar is the “first step”?! For anyone with common sense who has reviewed at least one volume of the history of the Christian Church, it is obvious that this desire is on the verge of impossible. I am quoting Father Andrey Skryma here, who, for his part, saw ecumenism quite differently from the vulgar (self) manipulations carried out by various Christian activists who imagine themselves to be confessors: “I am convinced that ecumenism from now on, in order not to become sterile, ambiguous or uninteresting it should be put in terms of completeness, intensity, integral Christian spiritualityand not in terms of association, expansion, material action” (see “The Holy Spirit and the Unity of the Church”, Ed. Anastasia, 2004, p. 221).

Also about the FEAR of those who have been deliberately waging a crazy hybrid war with the West for several decades, a war intensified and brought to a paroxysm more than a year ago by the total invasion of Ukraine. FEAR causes them to make terrible, if not tragic, mistakes, to resort to increasingly cheap, easily dismantled, rarely sophisticated propaganda. Often today’s Russian propaganda regarding the church calendar (Pascal) is the same as it was 100 years ago (perhaps I will return to this topic another time)! Unfortunately, this FEAR is transmitted to vast cohorts of useful idiots, characters with various petty and cynical self-interests, semi-docs, etc. And this is how propaganda has its effect. Read the whole article and comment on Contributors.ro