Why Orthodox Christian Easter Is Later than the Catholic One

[rug]

As Catholics and most of the western world celebrate Easter today, we asked a Greek-Orthodox priest to explain why the Orthodox Church doesn’t celebrate Pascha (Easter) on the same day the Catholic church does! Here’s his well documented explanation.

by guest - Apr 5, 2015

By Fr. Jon Magoulias* – As Greek-Orthodox Christians prepare to celebrate Easter on Sunday,April 12th, we would like to shed some light on the reasons why the Orthodox Christian Church celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ later than the Catholic one. While the issue is somewhat complicated, it may be summarized in the two factors at work that cause this conflict in dates:

1) The issue of the calendar; and 2) the adherence by the Orthodox to the early practices of the Christian Church.

The first factor, the calendar, has to do with the fact that the Christian Orthodox Church continues to follow the Julian calendar when calculating the date of Pascha (Easter). The rest of Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar.

There is a thirteen-day difference between the two calendars, the Julian calendar being thirteen (13) days behind the Gregorian.

The other factor at work is that the Orthodox Church continues to adhere to the rule set forth by the First Ecumenical Council, held in Nicea in 325 AD, that requires that Pascha must take place after the Jewish Passover in order to maintain the Biblical sequence of Christ’s Passion. The rest of Christianity ignores this requirement, which means that on occasion Western Easter takes place either before or during the Jewish Passover.

http://usa.greekreporter.com/2015/04/05/why-orthodox-christian-easter-is-later-than-the-catholic-one/

[shenmue]

1. I get to save on chocolate bunnies this year

[nxylas]

2. Not all Orthodox

The Orthodox Churches of Finland and Estonia follow the Gregorian date for Easter.

[shenmue]

3. True

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

4. Isaac Asimov wrote one of his articles on the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar

He noted that the Gregorian calendar was put into place by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, but that Protestant countries in Europe did not switch until much later -- the British, for example, in 1752 -- because, as Asimov put it, "They would rather be wrong than be set right by the Pope."

I have a nasty suspicion that is the reason the Orthodox have not switched.

[potone]

5. You are wrong.

As stated above, it is determined in part by the date of Passover.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

6. Which has what to do with switching from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian?

Be specific.

They could determine the date of Easter using the date of Passover under either one.