THE EASTER ACT 1928 (Hansard, 22 March 1972)

LORD MERTHYR
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (LORD WINDLESHAM)
My Lords, this continues to depend upon when agreement on the matter can be reached between the major Christian denominations.

LORD MERTHYR
My Lords, does the noble Lord think it wrong—to use no stronger word—that we should have to wait on the Greek Orthodox Church to come into line, when in any event it has never had Easter on the same day as us?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, this is the time of the year at which the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, questions the Government on this matter, and he has kept up the pressure now for many years. He knows more about this subject, I suppose, than almost anybody else in the country. The reason why progress 675 has not been made is that the Churches wish to move in step; and the Roman Catholic Church does not feel able to act with the other Protestart Churches in Europe unless it can first obtain the agreement of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

§ LORD WELLS-PESTELL
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether there is any reason why the Government cannot act independently in this matter; why they must wait for a unanimous decision of the Churches?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, Easter is a religious festival and the date of Easter cannot be fixed by the Government other than by agreement with the Churches.

THE LORD BISHOP OF GUILDFORD
My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether he is in fact correct, with great respect, in saying, that the Roman Catholic Church is not in complete agreement with the Church of England and the other Churches in the main stream in England in agreeing on this matter? And since the Act was first mooted in 1928 would it be thought to be precipitous that some action should be taken, after 44 years, bearing in mind as I am sure that he will, that the chances of the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches agreeing in the next 40 years are minimal?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, the position is that the Vatican Council have declared in favour of the principle of a fixed Easter. They have let it be known, however, that they are not willing to go ahead with this until agreement has been reached with the Eastern Orthodox Church. In advance of this Question, I checked whether this was still the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church, and I understand that the position has not altered since the Vatican declaration in 1963.

LORD MERTHYR
My Lords, would not the noble Lord agree that all of that was known when, 44 years ago, this House, together with another place, passed into law an Act of Parliament without a Division in either House of Parliament?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, the Easter Act said that the Home 676 Secretary of the day, in tabling Orders to implement the principle of the Act that there should be a fixed date for Easter, should have regard to religious opinion.

§ LORD PARGITER
My Lords, as Easter Monday is a public holiday, may I ask whether the Government cannot do something about that date?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, that could be done, but it would mean that if the Easter Monday date were altered, Easter would no longer be a four-day holiday. There would be a three-day holiday from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, with the Monday holiday on some other date. The indications are that the public prefer to keep a continuous four-day holiday.

§ LORD PARGITER
My Lords, would not the noble Lord agree that if the Government made some move of this kind the tendency might be to reach agreement much sooner?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
I do not think so, my Lords. We are talking about the views of all the western Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church. I do not know that the fact that we in this country had altered the date of Easter Monday would necessarily speed up the very slow rate of progress.

VISCOUNT MONCK
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that according to the records of the Meteorological Office if he had spent the last five Easter weekends at Kew he would have enjoyed 39.3 hours more of sunshine than he would have done if Easter had been on a fixed date?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, I, too, have consulted the Meteorological Office and I find that what the noble Viscount, Lord Monck, says is correct. But although Easter on a fixed date would have been a little sunnier on average in London and the South-East it would also have been rather wetter because the average rainfall over the Easter period would have been 6.16 mm. as opposed to 2.52 mm.

§ LORD MONTAGU OF BEAULIEU
My Lords, I appreciate the Government's problem, but may I ask whether my noble friend would bear in mind the great importance of this matter to the tourist industry? Could not the Government 677 take some initiative to try to get the matter solved?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, there might be some advantage to the tourist industry if Easter were on a fixed date. But, as I have explained, the difficulty is that Easter is both the most solemn religious festival of the year and also a secular four-day public holiday. Therefore it is possible for the Government to make a change in this respect only in line with the wishes of the Churches, and the Churches wish to act together in this matter.

§ LORD GARDINER
My Lords, am I not right in thinking that there is absolutely nothing in the Act to suggest that an Order ought not to be made unless the Christian Churches are in agreement? All the Act says is that before the Home Secretary makes an Order he has to take the opinions of the Churches into account. Further, may I ask whether it is not the fact that there has not been a meeting of the Greek Orthodox Church since the Russian Revolution, because if the Russians attend the Greeks will not, and if the Greeks attend the Russians will not?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
On the second point, my Lords, I have inquired when the last Pan-Orthodox Holy Synod was held—it was hoped that there would be one this year but it has now been postponed—and I was told, "Not for some time". When I asked whether that meant some decades, the reply was "Oh no; not for centuries." So that is something that one cannot expect to-morrow, my Lords. The answer to the first part of the noble and learned Lord's supplementary question is that the Government can take action and fix the date of the public holiday at Easter. But if the Christian Churches did not themselves similarly fix the date upon which Easter is celebrated in the Churches, there would then be a discrepancy between the date of the public holiday and the date of the religious festival.

§ LORD GARDINER
My Lords, is there not a discrepancy now?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
Not in this country, my Lords, or in Western Europe. The only discrepancy is between the Western and the Eastern Churches.

THE LORD BISHOP OF GUILDFORD
My Lords, is the Minister aware that when he said just now that the situation between the Anglican Church and Roman Catholic Church was such-and-such, this causes those of us on these Benches some surprise? My information 48 hours ago was that the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church were in complete agreement about this matter and were anxious to go forward.

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, we have had a very full discussion on this Question, as we normally do when the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, raises it. What the right reverend Prelate says I believe to be right. There has been a Joint Working Party of the World Council of Churches in which the Roman Catholic Church has taken part. But I understand that there has been no change since 1963 in the position of the Roman Catholic Church, and that the Vatican declaration makes clear that the agreement of the Eastern Orthodox Church should be sought.

LORD MERTHYR
My Lords, my final question is this. Will the noble Lord himself be prepared to answer a similar Question from me this day 12 months?

§ LORD WINDLESHAM
My Lords, my final answer is that I am afraid I must be ready to do so.