LOWER MANHATTAN — No “schism” was to be found on Good Friday, April 18, as Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox Christians walked together in a solemn Way of the Cross procession over the Brooklyn Bridge.
Participants included Bishop Robert Brennan, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York and Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
It was the first joint Way of the Cross procession over the Brooklyn Bridge sponsored by Roman Catholics and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
The Churches have operated with different calendars since the “Great Schism” in 1054 when they split over theological issues. The differences haven’t been fully resolved, but dialogue between the Churches has occurred, with both expressing hopes for reconciliation.
Before the procession started, Archbishop Elpidophoros praised the opportunity to walk together across the bridge to honor the sacrifice of both Churches’ savior, Jesus Christ.
This year the procession also commemorated the rare occurrence of Easter set for April 20 on the calendars of both rites. Cardinal Dolan therefore suggested the invitation of Greek Orthodox participants.
“That is why our procession together across the Brooklyn Bridge is such a poignant symbol for our ecumenical striving,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said. “In a very concrete way, East and West must move toward each other, and find the bridge that will bring them to common ground.”
The Catholic lay movement, Communion and Liberation, has organized the procession over the Brooklyn Bridge since 1996. As in previous years, this year’s procession started at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint James in Downtown Brooklyn.
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Next, the procession moved across the Brooklyn Bridge and included two stops of stations of the cross reflections. It concluded at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine for a concluding prayer service.
This year also marks the 1,700 anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, which established the core beliefs of what both Churches believe, as expressed in the Nicene Creed.
“We’re working toward unity,” Bishop Brennan said, as the three Church leaders took questions from reporters. “This is something we’ve been working on for centuries. The shared date of Easter is a great sign of that, and now, we’re walking with Christ on this journey.”
Related: Reflecting on the Legacy of the Nicene Creed 1,700 Years Later
Archbishop Elpidophoros added that the event was a beautiful message.
“When we follow the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we are together,” Archbishop Elpidophoros said. “We walk the same way, and this is the message of unity that the cross gives us today.”
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine had been a religious fixture in New York City since the early 1900s. It was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, during the terrorist attacks that caused the collapse of the nearby World Trade Center. It has since been rebuilt.
At the end of the procession, Bishop Brennan remarked how the terrorist attacks and the crucifixion were caused by evil, but evil did not prevail.
“Here,” Bishop Brennan concluded, “at this place where there was so much destruction, where the former church had been utterly destroyed, the community of this parish of Saint Nicholas, and the whole Greek Orthodox Church grew together to overcome the power of evil.”
“Love is stronger than death, because the death of Jesus is the very death of death,” he said.
