Незалежність асійських Церков і міжцерковні відносини в контексті дискусій про святкування Пасхи в кінці ІІ ст.

Анотація

У статті проаналізовано проблематику захисту незалежності помісних Церков римської провінції Асія і міжцерковних відносин під час дискусій щодо святкування Пасхи в другій половині ІІ ст. Уточнено статус асійських Церков. Указано передумови та причини конфліктної ситуації, яка склалася між римським єпископом та асійськими предстоятелями.

The article analyzes the evidence of the Books of the New Testament and the primary sources of the early Christian opinion about the independence of the Local Churches of the Roman province of Asia. The evangelical preaching of the holy apostles in the territory of the Roman province of Asia brought good results. Christian communities founded in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and other cities from synagogue or home Christian gatherings grew to the level of local Churches with hierarchy and leaders. The absence of the main city in the province of Asia did not contribute to the centralization of church administration, as in Rome, Alexandria or Antioch, on the contrary, it contributed to the further development of local centers of church life. A peculiarity of the Local Churches of the province of Asia was the custom of celebrating Easter on Nisan 14, i.e. according to the Jewish calendar. The presence of own customs and traditions confirmed the independence of the Churches, and the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord on Nisan 14 did not prevent contacts and Eucharistic union with other Local Churches, including the Roman Church. At that time, the Roman Church celebrated Easter on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover. The prerequisite for the beginning of the discussion about the celebration of Passover at the general church level was the problem in the Roman Church, namely the heretical gatherings, which organized parallel gatherings and celebrated Easter on Nisan 14 with the aim of separation. Therefore, having held the appropriate Council with critical solutions to the problem, Roman Bishop Victor sent copies of these solutions to other local Churches. Many local churches at the end of the 2nd century. followed the Roman practice of celebrating Easter on Sunday, but not all. When the synodal response of the leaders of the Asian Churches reached Rome that they were following the apostolic tradition and were not going to renounce their traditions, Pope Victor began to put pressure on them. He began to send out letters that the Asian Churches were excommunicated from communion with the Church. This, as we can see, is the end of the constructive dialogue, since the Roman Church, in the person of Pope Victor, intervened in the internal affairs of the independent Asian Churches. There was a threat of reformatting the church system, distorting the tradition of the existence of Catholic Local Churches established by the apostles. Bishop Victor’s position did not find support among the superiors. Each of them understood that this could become a dangerous precedent in the future. The bishops began to send to Rome both diplomatic and critical letters on this matter. The position of the authoritative theologian and apologist Irenaeus of Lyons was indicative. Persuading Viktor to change his opinion, giving examples, proving that secondary things cannot destroy the most important thing - unity and peace in communication between Local Churches. In this way, the rights and customs of independent Local Churches were defended and the unity of the Church of Christ as a whole was ensured. In 325, the fathers of the First Ecumenical Council agreed to jointly celebrate the Bright Resurrection of Christ on the Lord’s Day, that is, Sunday. As we can see in inter-church relations, difficult issues have always been resolved through conciliar and constructive dialogue. Today, in the life of the Local Orthodox Churches, we also observe different calendar styles, customs and practices, but at the same time, all this does not prevent us from having good interchurch  relations. Today, Easter is calculated differently by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. Perhaps the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council, which the Christian world will celebrate in 2025, will become an impetus for the joint celebration of Easter, as well as the unity and understanding of all Churches in the future.