In 2026, Catholics and Orthodox Christians will celebrate one of the biggest religious holidays - Easter - in the same month, but on different days.
UNN explains why this happens, how and why the most important date for Christians changes every year, and when the Resurrection of Christ will be celebrated in 2026.
When Easter is celebrated in Ukraine in 2026
For the Roman Catholic Church, Easter falls on Sunday, April 5. For Orthodox churches, as well as for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, Easter falls on April 12.
Why Orthodox and Catholic Easter are on different days
The reason for the discrepancy in the dates of Easter celebrations among Christians of different rites is historical and is related to both religious nuances and historical chronology.
In Old Testament times, the celebration of Passover always took place on the 15th day of the month of Nisan according to the lunar calendar.
The difference in the dates of Easter celebrations between the East and the West appeared after the Western Church switched to the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century. Since then, in the West, Easter is calculated according to the new style, while in the Eastern tradition, the Julian calendar is still used, so the countdown is from different dates of the vernal equinox.
Because the full moon, to which the celebration of Easter is tied, falls on different dates each year, the difference between Eastern and Western Easter also constantly changes. Most often, Western Easter is a week earlier, quite often the dates coincide, and sometimes the gap is four or even five weeks. At the same time, there is no difference of two or three weeks between them.
Why not all Catholics celebrate Easter on the same day
In the popular consciousness, Catholics are often perceived as a single tradition with a single celebration date. But in Ukraine, there are Roman Catholics who will celebrate Easter on April 5, 2026. However, there is also the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which belongs to the Catholic Church but follows the Eastern tradition in calculating the date of Easter. That is why UGCC believers in Ukraine will celebrate Easter on April 12, 2026, together with the Orthodox.
Why everyone celebrated the Resurrection together in 2025, but not in 2026
Additional confusion is created by the fact that in 2025, the date of Easter coincided in different Christian traditions. Because of this, many may have gotten the impression that this would continue. But this is not the case.
The coincidence of dates happens only in certain years. Already in 2026, churches will again celebrate Easter on different days. That is, the common date in 2025 was an exception, not a new permanent rule.
The next time Orthodox and Catholics will celebrate Easter together will be in 2028, 2031, 2034, and 2037.
The difference in dates is explained by the fact that Western and Eastern church traditions calculate Easter differently: in the West, they focus on the Gregorian calendar, and in the East, on the Julian calendar. Because of this, the dates of Easter can either coincide or differ by several weeks.
But the main message of the holiday in both Christian traditions remains unchanged, and for believers for almost two centuries, Easter remains a day of triumph of hope, life, and victory over death.
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