MS. FREDERICA MATHEWES-GREEN (Holy Cross Antiochian
Orthodox Church): This is the victory of Jesus Christ over
sin, over death. It's what sets us free. In comparison,
Christmas is not that important. We like Christmas, everybody
does. But the whole point of our salvation is embodied on
Pascha. WALT WANGERIN, JR. (author, PAUL: A NOVEL): This is the very center of what we believe, of who we are, of what our identity is, of why we continue to return to the Lord in joy. Without Easter, there is no church.
LAWTON: More often than not, Eastern Orthodox and Western Christians celebrate the Resurrection on different days. But a growing number of American church leaders say this should change.
FATHER RON ROBERSON (National Conference of Catholic Bishops): The credibility of the Christian message really gets compromised when people on the outside see that we can't even agree on when to celebrate the central mystery of our faith.
LAWTON: Conflicts over the celebration of the Resurrection stretch back to the beginning days of Christianity. Early church leaders wanted all Christians to celebrate the Resurrection on the same day, after the Jewish Passover. To that end, a council of bishops in the fourth century decreed that Easter would fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon, after the spring equinox.
But
as the Roman Empire divided between the Greek-speaking East
and the Latin-speaking West, the church world also split.
When Westerners adopted the new Gregorian calendar in the
16th century, the East kept the Julian calendar. Since the
two calendars have differing dates for the equinox and full
moon, in most years Easter falls on different Sundays. Father Thomas FitzGerald, a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church, is a leader in the movement to find a common Easter date. He got involved after ministering to families with both Orthodox and non-Orthodox members.
FATHER THOMAS FITZGERALD (Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology): It was a painful issue; because they recognized that the Christian faith, the liturgical life of the church, should be bringing us together. And most years, the celebration of Easter was a kind of divisive factor within the family. Many people place a great deal of emphasis on [the] calendar, and they forget that the calendar is there to bear witness to a deeper reality.
LAWTON: In the past decade, there have been several international discussions about the issue, but little progress. Earlier this year, Pope John Paul II renewed his call for a common date as a sign of Christian unity.
But it's a controversial notion, particularly within the Orthodox Church, which insists that Pascha always come after Passover. Last month, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow said if the world wants a common date, everyone should use the Orthodox calendar.
FATHER ROBERSON: Especially in the East, the date of the celebration of Easter, over the years, has become identified with a kind of a Christian stance over and against the hostile forces of the world. So to adhere to those old traditions, the things they had been doing for so many centuries, was a way of really affirming their Christian identity, and the centrality of their Christian faith.
LAWTON: According to theologians, differences over the celebration of the Resurrection are more related to calendar than to creed. And while distinct Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Holy Week practices have developed, all the traditions celebrate shared truths that are central to the Christian faith.
During
Holy Week, churches mark these beliefs with special services.
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, these services are especially
numerous and lengthy. One unique observance is the Service
of Holy Unction, on Wednesday night. MS. MATHEWES-GREEN: At the conclusion of this service, the members of the church line up and come forward for anointing, for healing. In the Orthodox Church, we still have a lively belief that Jesus heals; that we need healing of our souls and our bodies.
Catholics
and many Protestants traditionally strip their altars bare.
Statues and crosses are covered in purple or black cloths,
the shrouds of death. 
FATHER
FITZGERALD: So, when we look at the icon, we see, of
course, Jesus rising from the dead, sort of standing on
the tomb and the image of death below. So you get the sense
that he's the victor. He's the victor over the power of
death. 
FATHER
ROBERSON: We celebrate a single reality of Jesus coming
into the world, the son of God becoming incarnate and entering
into our lives. And we celebrate the central reality of
his death for our sins; that he suffered and died for us,
and on the third day, he rose from the dead. 
