by Michael Swan, The Catholic Register

The next generation of Canadian rabbis will be able to point to the Catholic roots of their training — or at least of their school. The Canadian Yeshiva and Rabbinical School will begin offering classes this fall in a classroom at the University of St. Michael's College Faculty of Theology, part of the Toronto School of Theology (TST).

Canada's future imams will have a similar story. A master's program in Muslim studies is taking shape at the United Church of Canada's seminary, Emmanuel College [also at TST].

The Toronto School of Theology is reconsidering its mission statement so the consortium of seven Christian theological schools can accommodate the emerging interfaith reality.

The expansion beyond the boundaries of Christian faith is "the right move at the right time," said TST director Alan Hayes.

Adding the other Abrahamic monotheisms to TST injects broader and richer theological thinking, he said.

"We're not trying to convert each other... It's more that we're trying to understand each other better."

This weekend we celebrate Easter together in the Eastern and Western calendars. This happens occasionally, and it can always be a moment of great ecumenical opportunity. However, it also reflects one of the deepest divisions in the Body of Christ. Easter, as the celebration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, is at the heart of our Christian faith. The division over the date of Easter is a visible sign of division within a more profound unity, and thus is scandalous.

The difference between East and West reflects the choice between two different calendars, the Julian and the Gregorian. The Julian calendar, developed by Julius Caesar, is the basis for the entire Christian calendar. As Christianity grew outside of the Jewish homeland the Greek Christians used the Roman calendar based on solar observations rather than the lunar calendar of Judaism. The Julian calendar provided a more accurate account of the year, and allowed for greater precision in predicting seasons, harvests, and spring rains. The early church did not make this transition easily, with numerous factions defending each of the two calendars. As a result, Easter was celebrated at different times across the Christian world.

The Council of Nicaea in AD 325 was called to address disputes within the Christian churches that set Christians against each other. Along with its very important work on the divinity of Jesus, Nicaea also offered an important development in the Christian calendar. Nicaea determined that Easter is to be celebrated on the Sunday that follows the first full moon after the spring equinox. This decision blends the solar and lunar calculations of the Roman and Jewish calendars, and is seen by historians and theologians as an acceptance of further adoption of Greek and Roman philosophy, science, and wisdom within a Judeo-Christian system of belief and life.

A new pastoral letter marks the 10th anniversary of full communion between Anglicans and Lutherans in both Canada and the United States. In 2001, the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) signed the Waterloo Declaration. In that same year The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America signed a similar agreement, Called to Common Mission.

The new pastoral letter reflects on these full communion relationships and is signed by Archbishop Fred Hiltz, Primate of the ACC; Bishop Susan Johnson, National Bishop of the ELCIC; Archbishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church; and Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

On May 1 simultaneous celebrations of full communion will be held at 3:00 pm EST at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Fort Erie, Ont. and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo, N.Y. Bishop Johnson will preside at St. Paul's Anglican and Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will preach. Presiding Bishop Hanson will preside and Archbishop Hiltz will preach at Holy Trinity Lutheran.

All Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada and the U.S. are encouraged to mark this celebration in their own communities.

The symbol of the TRC event in Inuvik this June will be the bear, which is regarded by native people as having the spirit of the warrior and protector.

Reconciliation -- between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches and between Inuit and Dene students who attended residential schools in the North -- will be the major focus of the 2nd Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) event June 28 to July 1.

The event is being held in Inuvik, NWT, which has the highest ratio of residential school students per capita. There is an aboriginal majority population in two of the three territories.

The Northern event "presents an opportunity and potential for powerful reconciliation gestures," TRC Commissioner Marie Wilson said in a recent meeting with church representatives. The majority of Inuit children attended Anglican-run residential schools, while most Dene children attended Catholic-run schools in the North. Rivalry between them was encouraged and friction continues to this day, said Wilson.