This year Easter comes incredibly early, with Palm Sunday - when we recall the threat occasioned by Jesus' nonviolent arrival in Jerusalem - being only next week. Why?

As usual, people feel baffled by 'the Easter date' issue, and in Britain there have been calls, once more, to de-link the festival from the Spring schools break. Understandably so. The message of some churches ("just deal with it") is a piece of unintended arrogance that comes from an era when their word was writ. No more. The case for an ecumenical agreement about Easter Sunday remains pressing, and the agenda should not just be about the conservation of the past, but about communication in the present - a living tradition. Of course the sensitivities involved, especially for the Orthodox, are enormous, and not readily understood or sympathised with in a secular environment. But the factionalism that has been involved in history is also something that needs challenging in a new era, no matter how painful that process is.

Ekklesia did a background article and Q & A last April, which is perhaps worth drawing to your attention again. Goodness, time flies... http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/5051