WCC NEWS: Christians pack Notre Dame cathedral to mark the common celebration of Easter in 2025

Christians from all of France’s main church traditions packed the newly restored Notre Dame cathedral in Paris to celebrate Easter Sunday together, which in a rare occurrence is being marked in 2025 on the same day by Eastern and Western churches.  Photo: Stephen Brown/WCC 23 April 2025  “It is a joy to see you all on this day when we, Christians of all denominations, celebrate the resurrection of our Lord,” said the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, in his welcome to the congregation.  Eastern and Western churches have since the 16th century used different calendars to calculate the date of Easter, and 2025 is one of the years when they coincide. “May the Lord hear our prayer that the time may soon come when all Christians will celebrate Easter together,” said Archbishop Ulrich.  The year 2025 also marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, the first ecumenical council gathering the whole of Christendom, which addressed the need for a common celebration of Easter. The council marked the transition from Christians being a persecuted minority to becoming a church recognized by the Roman Empire. “At a time when Christians were beginning to experience peace, this council was important for many reasons, first and foremost because it brought together the bishops of the known world, of the world that had been evangelized,” said Archbishop Ulrich.   “It was a landmark moment,” he said, ”that made it possible to express the unity of faith in Christ, the unity of faith in the one who is truly the son of God, truly God.” Such unity prefigures the unity that God desires for the whole of the world, a still troubled world for which Christians intercede even as they celebrate together the resurrection of the Lord, said Archbishop Ulrich.  The service included readings, prayers, and short homilies by representatives of Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Evangelical, and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and of the Community of Taizé, as well as the singing of a hymn specially composed to mark the Nicaea anniversary.  Worshippers were sprinkled with holy water that had been blessed during the paschal vigil as a sign of the unity of all Christians. The service was the first large ecumenical gathering in the cathedral since it was reopened in December 2024 after five years of work to restore the building, which was badly damaged by a huge fire in 2019. Video (in French) of the service by KTO television WCC publication "Towards a Common Date for Easter" WCC interview, Easter 2025 - His Eminence Metropolitan Job of Pisidia: “the proclamation of Christ’s resurrection gives meaning to life”  “Christians, rise up in joy!” WCC Easter message brings hope that enters a broken world Nicaea 2025 See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland