Four centuries later, Easter's date remains divisive. Some church leaders want that to change

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — For more than 400 years, Catholic and Orthodox churches have used different ways to determine the date of Easter. But this Sunday will mark a special moment for Christians, as the churches celebrate of Jesus’ resurrection on the same day.

What’s more, top religious leaders — including Pope Francis — are expressing a desire to keep it that way. But the unusual alignment has stirred underlying mistrust between the two major Christian communions.

The movable date for Easter follows a seemingly straightforward rule: the Sunday following the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. But the two churches started using different calendars after Pope Gregory XIII’s adaptation in 1582, when the Western church adopted the Gregorian calendar while the Eastern Orthodox Church kept the older Julian one.

Moreover, each church uses its own ecclesiastical calculations for lunar cycles and the equinox, which don’t neatly match scientific projections.

The result is that Easter dates can be as much as five weeks apart. They can coincide in back-to-back years, or a decade can pass without it happening.

Days before his five-week hospitalization, Pope Francis referred to this year’s Easter celebration while invoking the 1,700th anniversary of the historic Council of Nicaea, when Christian leaders gathered to settle foundational disputes about the faith.

"Once again, I renew my appeal: Let this coincidence serve as a sign — a call to all Christians to take a decisive step toward unity around a common date for Easter,” Francis said while leading prayers at the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome.

Francis’ invitation, delivered at the end of a prayer for Christian Unity with Orthodox priests present, wasn’t new. Returning from a trip to Turkey in 2014, he told reporters on the plane that a unified date would be logical.

“It is a bit ridiculous,” he said, then staged a pretend conversation: “‘Tell me, your Christ, when is he resurrected? Next week? Mine was resurrected last week.’”

He has found an ally in Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, a fellow octogenarian and spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians. The two “speak to one another like brothers,” Francis has said. For his part, Bartholomew has called Francis “our elder brother” and described the Easter initiative as “a real step toward repairing old conflicts.”

The idea of a common Easter has been discussed since the 1960s, with interest often peaking when celebrations coincide. The key obstacle has always been the implication that one side would need to concede.

Protestants, who follow the same calendar as Catholics, have also been in on the discussions.

The Geneva-based World Council of Churches — a fellowship of Orthodox and Protestant bodies — has proposed a compromise. It suggests using modern astronomy, basing the calculation on Jerusalem time and following the same basic rule set centuries ago.

“It has never been more important than now, because we live in a polarized world and people all over the world yearn for more unity,” Lutheran Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, a senior WCC official, told The Associated Press from his home outside Berlin. “All other questions – on calendar, on time, on the moon and the stars and everything – it’s not primary; it’s secondary."

While the pope’s wishes may carry powerful influence through the Vatican’s highly centralized authority, Bartholomew’s role is largely symbolic over the self-governed national and local churches. And discussions between Russia, the Orthodox world’s most populous country, and churches of other Orthodox-majority countries remain stalled due to the war and church divisions in Ukraine.

Further complicating prospects for consensus is a history characterized by centuries of mistrust, largely driven by wariness in the East about the Vatican’s supremacy.

At a Holy Week service Monday in Athens, Father Anastasios welcomed parishioners into the Church of Saint Dimitrios Loumbardiaris, a restored stone chapel near the Acropolis. He said he supports forging bonds with Christianity's other branches — but with caution.

“We can try to build bridges, but we cannot distort our faith or the traditions of our ancestors, or the dogmas Christ himself handed down," he said. "There are deeply rooted differences. From my view and that of many people here, the unity sought in the past by the Roman Catholic Church often wasn’t sincere; it came with strings attached, was more about dominance than genuine reconciliation.”

As dialogue between the churches slowly unfolds, common Easter celebrations are already a practical reality in a few places. The Orthodox Church in Finland switched dates in the 1920s to align celebrations with the Lutheran majority. And Catholics in Greece — while making no official change to their calendar — have celebrated with the rest of the country since 1970.

Joseph Roussos, a member of a Catholic community on the Greek island of Syros, took his first trip to the Vatican last month.

At age 67, he remembers when Easters in Greece were separate: when schools and shopkeepers on the island closed for different holidays, and the church bells tolled mournfully during two distinct Holy Weeks.

“It wasn’t a good situation. But when we did celebrate Easter together, there was great harmony,” he said. “We live very well (today), and it’s truly beautiful. I hope it stays that way.”

Barry reported from Rome. AP journalist Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

Greek Catholic believers and foreigners who live in Greece attend the Epitaph Procession at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Good Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Catholic believers and foreigners who live in Greece attend the Epitaph Procession at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Good Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Catholic believers and foreigners who live in Greece attend the Epitaph Procession at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Good Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Men carrying a statue of Jesus Christ pass the Athens Academy during the Epitaph Procession of the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Good Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Men carrying the body of Jesus Christ pass the Bank of Greece headquarters during the Epitaph Procession of the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Good Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A woman kisses a crucifix as others wait behind the "Epitaph," after the procession of Jesus' funeral bier, at Agioi Taxiarches church cemetery in Chalandri cemetery, in northern Athens, Greece, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

The procession of Jesus' funeral bier, known as the "Epitaph" in Greek, pass next to graves at a cemetery in Chalandri suburb, in northern Athens, Greece, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

The procession of Jesus' funeral bier, known as the "Epitaph" in Greek, pass next to graves at a cemetery in Chalandri suburb, in northern Athens, Greece, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

An Orthodox faithful kisses a crucifix during a Good Friday reenactment of Deposition of Jesus Christ, at Agios Antonios church in the northern suburb of Chalandri, in Athens, Greece, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Believers attend the Good Friday reenactment of Deposition of Jesus Christ, at Agios Antonios church in the northern suburb of Chalandri, in Athens, Greece, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A Greek Orthodox priest holds a statue of Christ during a Good Friday reenactment of the Deposition of Jesus Christ at Agios Antonios church in the northern suburb of Chalandri during Holy Week in Athens, Greece, Friday, April 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Catholic believers and foreigners who live in Greece attend the mass of last supper at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Theodoros Kondidis S.J., Catholic Archbishop of Athens, right, prays during the Mass of Last Supper at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Catholic believers and foreigners who live in Greece take communion during the Mass of Last Supper at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A Catholic believer attends the mass of last supper at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Catholic believers and foreigners who live in Greece attend the mass of last supper at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Catholic believers and foreigners who live in Greece attend the mass of last supper at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Theodoros Kondidis S.J., Catholic Archbishop of Athens, washes the feet of a woman during the Mass of Last Supper at the Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St Dionysius the Areopagite in Athens, Greece, Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

FILE - Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attend an ecumenical meeting and prayer for peace in Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral, Sakhir, Bahrain, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) —

American employers added a better-than-expected 177,000 jobs in April as the job market showed resilience in the face of President Donald Trump's trade wars.

Hiring was down slightly from a revised 185,000 in March and came in above economists’ expectations for a modest 135,000. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%, the Labor Department reported Friday.

President Donald Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies – including massive import taxes – have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market and raised fears that the American economy is headed toward recession.

Transportation and warehousing companies added 29,000 jobs last month, suggesting that companies have been stocking up before essential, imported goods are hit with a wave of new tariffs, driving prices higher. Healthcare companies added nearly 51,000 jobs and bars, restaurants almost 17,000 and construction firms 11,000. Factories lost 1,000 jobs.

Labor Department revisions shaved 58,000 jobs from February and March payrolls.

Average hourly earnings ticked up 0.2% from March and 3.8% from a year ago, nearing the 3.5% that economists view as consistent with the 2% inflation the Federal Reserve wants to see.

The report showed that 518,000 people entered the labor force, and the percentage of those working or looking for work ticked up slightly.

“We are not seeing right now any really adverse effects on the employment market,’’ Boston College economist Brian Bethune said before the report came out.

Yet many economists fear that the U.S. job market will deteriorate if economic growth takes a hit from trade wars.

Trump’s massive taxes on imports to the U.S. are likely to raise costs for Americans and American businesses that depend on supplies from overseas. They also threaten to slow economic growth. His immigration crackdown threatens to make it more difficult for hotels, restaurants and construction firms to fill job openings. By purging federal workers and cancelling federal contracts, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency risks wiping out jobs inside the government and out.

“Looking ahead, we expect the steep tariff increases and the surge in uncertainty and financial market volatility will result in a more pronounced labor market downshift than previously anticipated,” Lydia Boussour, senior economist at the accounting and consulting giant EY, wrote this week. “Large cuts to the federal workforce and the cancellations of many government contracts will also be a drag on payroll growth in coming months.’’

A slowdown in immigration “will weigh on labor supply dynamics, further constraining job growth. We foresee the unemployment rate rising toward 5% in 2025.’’

Trump’s policies have shaken financial markets and frightened consumers. The Conference Board, a business group, reported Tuesday that Americans’ confidence in the economy fell for the fifth straight month to the lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

American workers have at least one thing going for them. Despite the uncertainty about fallout from Trump’s policies, many employers don’t want to risk letting employees go – not after seeing how hard it was to bring people back from the massive but short-lived layoffs of the 2020 COVID-19 recession.

“They laid millions of these people off, and they had a hell of a time getting them back to work,’’ Boston College’s Bethune said. "So for now, the unemployment rate and the number of people filing claims for jobless benefits every week remain low by historical standards.

Bethune does not expect Musk’s cuts to the federal workforce to show up much in the April jobs numbers. For one thing, job cuts orders by the billionaire’s DOGE are still being challenged in court. For another, some of those leaving federal agencies were forced into early retirement – and don’t show up in the Labor Department’s count of the unemployed.

FILE - Employees of Learning Resources, an educational toy company, work at a warehouse in Vernon Hills, Ill., Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

FILE - A worker drives a forklift past shelves of Canadian spruce planks, at Shell Lumber and Hardware, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

FILE - A waiter carries drinks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)

FILE - Delivery workers carry boxes outside a grocery store in the Chinatown neighborhood, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

FILE - Vehicle assembly technician Kevin Zepernick works on a 2025 Ford Expedition during a media tour to launch the 2025 Ford Expedition at the Ford Motor Company Kentucky Truck Plant, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)