The Catholic Message Board

In his closing remarks at Saturday morning’s ecumenical meeting in the Church of Mor Ephrem – the Syriac Orthodox church in Istanbul that was the first new church building erected since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 – Pope Leo XIV invited everyone present at the ecumenical gathering “to journey together on the spiritual journey leading to the Jubilee of Redemption in 2033, with the prospect of a return to Jerusalem, to the Upper Room.”
That’s according to a statement from the press office of the Holy See, given to journalists traveling with Leo in Turkey, where the pontiff has been since Thursday to mark the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. The Upper Room – often called the cenacle (a Latin-root word meaning “supper-room”) – is the site of the Last Supper and one of the key sites in the Gospel accounts of Pentecost.
Pope St. John Paul II said a private Mass in the Upper Room during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, and Benedict XVI visited the Upper Room during his 2009 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The press office statement said Leo called the spiritual journey one “that leads to full unity, citing his motto: In illo Uno unum.”
Representatives from the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and other Christian world communions and Ecumenical Organizations joined the Pope Leo and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for the meeting, the lion’s share of which unfolded over two hours behind closed doors.Among the participants were also envoys from the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the Baptist World Alliance, the World Evangelical Alliance, and the World Council of Churches.
The press office statement reported Leo “asked for and assured prayers for new encounters and moments like the one he experienced,” including “with those Churches unable to be present.” Representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church have been conspicuously absent from ecumenical events during the visit, which has been intensely focused on Christian unity.
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2025/11/leo ... -jerusalem

It is a little early to plan that

It's going to take a lot of maneuvering to make it happen. Might as well plant the seeds now.

I'd taken it as an inevitable given

Popes have visited the Holy Land before: Pope Paul VI in 1964, Pope John Paul II in 2000, Pope Benedict in 2009, and Pope Francis in 2014. Probably the only obstacle will be if another war breaks out in 2033, which, given the region we are discussing, is likely to happen.

Two thoughts.

First, announcing his intent early will give the various terrorists and crazies and anti-Christians plenty of time to plan their mayhem.

Second, upon reading about the gaggle that attended the cited meeting, does it not seem that when the Pope is featured in the general media, that various denominations appear in order to share the spotlight? If they would only have the same motivation on issues like abortion.

Highlander wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 2:13 pm Two thoughts.



Second, upon reading about the gaggle that attended the cited meeting, does it not seem that when the Pope is featured in the general media, that various denominations appear in order to share the spotlight?

I have no idea what you are referring to. Are you referring to his visit to Nicea to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, when he met with the Patriarch of Constantinople and the heads of other Orthodox Churches representing all branches except the Russian Orthodox, who are unfortunately extremely stubborn about these sorts of things? Everyone was invited, and meeting with them was the purpose of the event.

Not that the date is all that important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm in the camp that leans towards a date of 30AD. I think he should go there in 5 years.

anawim wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 4:36 pm Not that the date is all that important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm in the camp that leans towards a date of 30AD. I think he should go there in 5 years.

No, the crucifixion was on April 3, AD 33. That is the only date on which all the scriptural data, including a lunar eclipse, happened. There was no lunar eclipse visible in Jerusalem in AD 30.

Never mind. I had a case of the stupids.

Jimmy Akin on the date of the Crucifixion: https://www.catholic.com/audio/caf/the- ... rucifixion

TL;DR: 33 A.D. is the traditional date. 30 A.D. is a more recent proposal and probably the current majority position. No other years are reasonably possible. Opinions don't follow denominational lines or liberal/conservative lines. Jimmy's reading of the evidence comes out at 33 A.D.

Doom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 4:46 pm

anawim wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 4:36 pm Not that the date is all that important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm in the camp that leans towards a date of 30AD. I think he should go there in 5 years.

No, the crucifixion was on April 3, AD 33. That is the only date on which all the scriptural data, including a lunar eclipse, happened. There was no lunar eclipse visible in Jerusalem in AD 30.

According to James Akin the Passover coincided with the Sabbath, twice: 30 & 33 AD.

But ONLY AD 33 has a lunar eclipse visible from Jerusalem on that Friday, and we know from the book of Joel that "the sun will give no light and the moon will turn to blood" on "the great day of the Lord", this prophecy is cited by Peter in Acts 2:20 to refer to Good Friday. "The sun giving no light" refers to the 3 hours of darkness after Christ died, and "the moon turning to blood" refers to a lunar eclipse, and we know there was a lunar eclipse on April 3, AD 33, but not in AD 30.

I looked for ancient dates for lunar eclipses and couldn't find them.

I was wrong about the new moon thing; eclipses are of course (duh) a full moon thing. And I found old eclipse dates:

Old eclipse dates.
For 30 A.D.: May 06 Jun 04 Nov 28
For 33 A.D.: Apr 03 Sep 27

Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 7:04 pm I was wrong about the new moon thing; eclipses are of course (duh) a full moon thing. And I found old eclipse dates:

Old eclipse dates.
For 30 A.D.: May 06 Jun 04 Nov 28
For 33 A.D.: Apr 03 Sep 27

So do any of those 5 dates coincide with the Sabbath?

ETA: One thing that I found problematic about dating ancient events is the Julian/Gregorian calendars.

The difference in the calendars is no obstacle.

April 3, AD 33 is the traditional date, I don't know how far back it goes but the Vatican observed anniversaries in 1933 and 1983.

anawim wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 3:48 am

For 30 A.D.: May 06 Jun 04 Nov 28
For 33 A.D.: Apr 03 Sep 27

So do any of those 5 dates coincide with the Sabbath?

April 3, A.D. 30.

Doom wrote: ↑Sun Nov 30, 2025 2:30 pmEveryone was invited, and meeting with them was the purpose of the event.

The Russian Orthodox were not invited - the Holy See left it up to the Ecumenical Patriarchate to invite the Orthodox.

Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 8:30 am

anawim wrote: ↑Mon Dec 01, 2025 3:48 am

For 30 A.D.: May 06 Jun 04 Nov 28
For 33 A.D.: Apr 03 Sep 27

So do any of those 5 dates coincide with the Sabbath?

April 3, A.D. 30.

I'm sure you mean AD 33