Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
As leaders and representatives of the Christian Churches in Turkey, we are delighted to address all believers as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, once again in the Eastern and Western Churches, Easter will not be celebrated on the same day, but one week apart this year. We pray to find a solution as soon as possible that will enable all Christians around the world to celebrate the most important holiday of our faith on the same date. The upcoming 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 2025 could be a good opportunity for such an initiative.
“Come, receive the light from the unquenchable light and glorify the risen Christ!”
Just yesterday, we were with Christ at the Last Supper in the Upper Room. Just yesterday, we were with Him in the garden of Gethsemane. Just yesterday, we were on Golgotha with our Lord. But today, His glorious resurrection draws us in, and we are excited by a divine joy that fills our hearts. On this Passover day, we enter the gates of the Kingdom. We became new men and women renewed by the power of His eternal love. We don’t need to be afraid anymore!
Let us be like Christ, for He chose to be like us. As St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “…made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-6). In this spirit, we must remember at Easter why we are Christians, why we follow Christ, why we carry the cross in our lives daily as we follow the Lord that sacrificed Himself “for the life of the world.”
Christ’s earthly mission began in the cave in Bethlehem and culminated in the empty tomb in the bright truth of God’s Kingdom. Resurrection stands at the turning point of time and history. Today, however, the Holy places that witnessed these wonderful and divine events struggle to preserve and protect not only the monuments but also the unique spirit of the Bible in the birthplace of Christianity.
Therefore, as we rejoice in remembering “His saving love and life-giving cross, his burial and third-day resurrection, his ascension and his sitting at the right hand of God the Father,” we remember our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, along with our brothers and sisters in Turkey and we pray for them in brotherly love. As St. Paul wrote: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Col. 3:14).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today we received the Light of faith. We share this Light with a world that constantly lives in fear. In these difficult times, we pray for peace around the world. The Gospel of the Resurrection is the message of hope, peace, and “perfect love that drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). This message of salvation is the value that also drives our strong desire for unity.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Bartholomew I. Ecumenical Patriarch
Sahak II. Patriarch of Armenians of Turkey
Metropolitan Filuxinos Yusuf Çetin, Spiritual Chief and Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Community in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir
Bishop Massimiliano Palinuro, Apostolic Vicar of the Latin Catholic Church of Istanbul
