Orthodox Christians often celebrate Easter later because they calculate its date differently from most Western Christians. The main reasons are the use of the Julian calendar for the calculation and the rule that Pascha should fall after Jewish Passover.

Why the date differs

  • Different calendar: Orthodox churches generally use the Julian calendar for determining Easter, while Catholic and Protestant churches use the Gregorian calendar.
  • Passover rule: Orthodox tradition also keeps the older requirement that Easter/Pascha comes after Passover.
  • Calendar gap: The Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, which helps push the Orthodox date later.

What this means in practice

That combination usually makes Orthodox Easter land one to five weeks after Western Easter. Sometimes both traditions celebrate on the same day, but not often.

Quick version

Orthodox Easter is later mostly because the Church uses a different calendar and follows an older rule about celebrating after Passover.

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