PROVIDENCE — Growing up, seeing the tables in front of the church missals for calculating the date of Easter captivated a young, curious and inquisitive future priest, so much so that it would one day inspire him to craft a 250-page academic treatise on the subject.
Father Albert P. Marcello III, J.C.D./Ph.D., recently defended his thesis successfully on the subject, “The Date of Easter: Classical Considerations and Contemporary Challenges,” earning a joint doctorate degree in canon law and a civil Ph. D. in canon law.
“I remember being very fascinated by that and it spurred me on to take a deeper dive into the question,” said Father Marcello, who was ordained in 2009.
And he was always intrigued by the differences between the celebration of Easter in the Latin Church and the Orthodox Churches and how it varied from one year to the next.
“I was an undergraduate student of mathematics, and I always found that the question of the Easter date was one of those areas where mathematics and canon law converged, so that was the inspiration behind choosing that topic.”
He enrolled in a doctoral program at the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium, in the fall of 2017, and finished writing his thesis in the summer of 2020.
In the summer of 2023, he decided to complete the remainder of the program at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
“I transferred to Ottawa at Archbishop [Richard G.] Henning’s encouragement. He and Msgr. [Albert A.] Kenney have both been very kind and very supportive to me, and I have been very grateful for their support through this whole process,” said Father Marcello, who serves as a priest chaplain at Rhode Island Hospital and Defender of the Bond for the diocesan Tribunal.
Father Marcello said he chose St. Paul’s for several reasons, including its connection to the Diocese of Providence through the years. The university is the alma mater of a number of former diocesan clergy, including the late Bishop Louis E. Gelineau, who attended seminary there, and the late Fathers Rene E. Gagne, one of his mentors, and Normand L. Courtemache.
“It was a seminary up until about 15 years ago, but they still maintain a faculty of theology and canon law so I decided to go there” said Father Marcello, who earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in mathematics and philosophy, with a minor in theology, from Providence College, and his master’s degree in sacred theology, with a concentration in Thomistic Studies, from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome. He also holds a licentiate in canon law from the Catholic University in Louvain.
He also knew Dr. Chad Glendinning, dean of the canon law faculty at Saint Paul University, who had published several articles written and submitted by Father Marcello in “Studia Canonica,” the university’s scholarly journal, which also influenced his decision to transfer.
He defended his thesis on November 25, 2024, in both English and French, which he speaks fluently, before a panel of four jurors, three from the university and an external examiner. Father Marcello is also proficient in Latin and Dutch.
His mother, Norma (Bizier) Marcello, and Father Michael McMahon traveled from Rhode Island to attend the important milestone in his education, and a priest friend from the Archdiocese of Montreal was also on hand to lend his support.
He defended his thesis before a panel of four jurors, three from the university and an external examiner, with each questioning him for 15 minutes in the first round, with additional questions following.
He said the questions could be a bit daunting, but it was all very collegial.
“The thesis dealt with the historical aspects of the debates that took place within the various churches about the celebration of the date of Easter and when it should be calculated, as well as the different methods and means of calculating the Easter date,” Father Marcello said.
“I also gave a conspectus of the practice of the various Orthodox Churches as well and offered a summary and analysis of the current ecumenical challenges of celebrating a common Easter date.”
Asked what surprised him the most from his research, Father Marcello said that it amazed him to look at the ancient and medieval ways of calculating Easter and discovered that the tables used then were quite scientifically advanced.
“It really shows that even in the first millennium, up until the reform of the calendar that took place after the Council of Trent it really shows the church’s impact and the church’s friendship with scientific achievement and advancement.”
Is there ever a conflict between faith and scientific achievement?
“It’s more of an apparent conflict,” Father Marcello contends. “The faith and reason never can contradict one another as all truth is from God ultimately.”
