Why Orthodox Christian Easter Is Later than the Catholic One
As Catholics and most of the western world celebrate Easter today, we asked a Greek-Orthodox priest to explain why the Orthodox Church doesnt celebrate Pascha (Easter) on the same day the Catholic church does! Heres 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 Christs 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
(38,506 posts)nxylas
(6,440 posts)The Orthodox Churches of Finland and Estonia follow the Gregorian date for Easter.
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,473 posts)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
(1,701 posts)As stated above, it is determined in part by the date of Passover.
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,473 posts)Be specific.
They could determine the date of Easter using the date of Passover under either one.