Photo/Illutration Pope Francis delivers the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" (To the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Catholic Easter Sunday Mass he led in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 17. (AP Photo)

Easter should be observed on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.

This complicated rule for determining the date of Easter means this year the festival falls on April 17 for Catholics and other Christians. The rule was set by the first ecumenical council of the Christian church held in the fourth century.

Eastern Orthodoxy, the popular religion in both Russia and Ukraine, uses a slightly different calendar, with Orthodox Easter this year occurring on April 24.

Easter is the most important festival of the year for all groups of Christianity as it celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. Christians prepare for Easter for many weeks.

“Why on earth are they fighting a war at this most important time of the year? It is painful to think about it,” laments Keiichi Uchida, 49, a priest at the Orthodox Church in Kushiro, Hokkaido, one of the Orthodox churches in Japan.

Uchida has strongly protested Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate cease-fire.

The history of the Orthodox Church in Japan began in the closing days of the Tokugawa Shogunate with the arrival of a Russian priest in Hokkaido. Because of this, adherents of the Orthodoxy in Japan became targets of baseless slander during the Russo-Japanese War and the Russian Revolution. They were called “spies for Russia” and “agents for the Soviet Communists.”

Abusive words have been hurled at the Orthodox Church since Russia’s invasion started, Uchida said.

The Orthodox Church in Japan has traditionally tended to avoid speaking about political issues due to its history of hardship. It broke with this tradition, however, at the end of last month when it called on Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to work for “reconciliation and the settlement of the conflict.”

Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly made remarks defending Russia’s military operation against its western neighbor. Uchida has spoken up because he believes “remaining silent now is an act against God.”

Pope Francis recently called for an Easter truce in Ukraine, saying, “Put the weapons down! Let an Easter truce start.”

But there are no signs of a cease-fire in the making.

This is a dark and sorrowful spring as the mood for celebrating the preciousness of life and the renewal of nature has been brutally destroyed.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 17

* * *

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

Related News