On Monday, hundreds of Syriac Orthodox Assyrians/Syrians celebrated Boxing Day Easter at the cemeteries in Södertälje. Several expressed that they took time off from school and work so as not to miss the celebration, as this year it was not classified as red day.
The background is that the majority of the Orthodox churches do not follow the same calendar as the Catholic and Protestant churches, which means that Easter often occurs on different dates.
But now the question of celebrating on a common date is highly topical within the Syrian Orthodox Church, which has around 40 congregations in Sweden. Soon, both church foundations, with headquarters in Södertälje, will write to the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch, the church’s highest leader in the world, to try to get a change through.
– It would be much easier with a common date, not least for children who go to school, says Robert Halef, chairman of the one church diocese.
The bishops agreed
Now Södertäljesätena will lobby to get more people in Europe on board with the idea of changing the date. After that, it is the church leaders at the highest level who make decisions.
How big do you think the chances are of that happening?
– It has been discussed before and not passed, then both bishops in Sweden did not agree. It may be easier now that there is a consensus that we want a change, says Robert Halef.
The patriarch: the nature of the church is changing
In a previous interview with SVT, the Syrian Orthodox patriarch, who is based in Syria, spoke about how the church needs to fit into the lives of those who live in the Western world.
– The character of our church is changing today. When we put forward new proposals or rules, we must think about how it suits our people abroad as well, said Ignatius Aphrem Kerim, earlier.
But the issue is not simple and the preservation of one’s own tradition weighs heavily. See how the Södertälje residents reason in the video above.