Once in a while, the western and eastern Christian traditions celebrate Easter on the same day, as is the case in 2025. There is a sense of satisfaction when the dates converge, an almost universal sense among Christians of being welcomed home.
The divergence in Easter date calculations dates back centuries. In AD 325, the First Council of Nicaea—an attempt to get consensus on various matters among all Christians—had established that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox.
However, some smaller denominations went their own way after a time, and the Great Schism of 1054 introduced the divergence between the Easter dates observed by the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches. The subsequent adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 by Western churches, while Eastern churches maintained the Julian calendar, cemented the disparity in calculation methods.
The sign we should give is: one Christ for all of us.
The Julian calendar’s drift of approximately one day every 128 years relative to the solar year created an increasing gap between the two traditions’ celebrations, meaning Easter is mostly celebrated on different dates. The different calculation methods do result in occasional convergences, although with no obvious pattern. The last few ‘shared Easters’ have occurred in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2017. The next time both traditions celebrate Easter simultaneously will be 2028.
This issue remains as important to Christian leaders today as it was in 325, and this year’s common Easter celebrations —1700 years later—have an added significance. Pope Francis, speaking to the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Awa III, in November 2022 identified 2025 as ‘an important year’.
‘[We] will celebrate the anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council [of Nicaea],’ he pointed out, ‘yet it is also important because we will celebrate Easter on the same date. So let us have the courage to put an end to this division that at times makes us laugh: “When does your Christ rise again?” The sign we should give is: one Christ for all of us.’
The common celebration of Easter by Eastern and Western Christianity in the coming year should not simply be a fortunate coincidence, but the beginning of the establishment of a common date.
The spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, has similarly advocated for a permanent solution, calling it ‘a scandal to celebrate separately the unique event of the one resurrection of the one Lord.’
He wrote last year: ‘The unanimous wish is expressed that the common celebration of Easter by Eastern and Western Christianity in the coming year should not simply be a fortunate coincidence, but the beginning of the establishment of a common date for its celebration annually, by the Pascha of our Orthodox Church.’
Any decision to align the dates on which Christians celebrate Easter will be made at the highest levels, and it is certain that not every denomination will agree. But a lot of thought has been given to how Christians might permanently synchronise Christianity’s holiest period. Different calculation methods still based on astronomical principles are being considered, while respecting the historical guidelines established by the First Council of Nicaea. Alternative theological approaches are ensuring the significance of Easter’s connection to Jewish Passover and to spring (in the northern hemisphere) are maintained.
An ecumenical group called Pasqua Together 2025 has been lobbying Christian leaders—particularly those of the two largest denominations, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholemew—to agree to a permanent alignment of Easter dates. The group says achieving this unity is important preparation for 2033, when the 2000th anniversary of Christ’s resurrection will be celebrated.
Easter does not take place by our own initiative or by one calendar or another. Easter occurred because God ‘so loved the world’.
At a meeting last year with Pasqua Together 2025, Pope Francis said that ‘on more than one occasion, I have been asked to seek a solution to this issue, so that the common celebration of the Day of the Resurrection may no longer be an exception but rather become the norm.’
However, he cautioned against obsessing about calendars and to remember that Easter belongs to Christ. ‘Easter does not take place by our own initiative or by one calendar or another. Easter occurred because God “so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”.’
Banner image: Inside the altar of an Orthodox cathedral. (Photo by VIS Art via Shutterstock.)
