This year, all Christians will celebrate Easter on the same day – a rare alignment between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
Easter is a multi-day festival based on days of the week rather than fixed dates, so its timing depends on the Earth and Moon’s movements.
Both Western and Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on the Sunday after the first full moon following the Northern Hemisphere’s spring equinox - also known as the vernal equinox, and the autumn equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
This method of calculating Easter was set by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.
In a joint statement, the Presidents of Churches Together in England (CTE) marked the occasion, calling it “a special blessing from God.”
The celebration also honours the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a foundational moment for Christian unity and belief. Held in 325 AD, the council sought a unified date for Easter and helped shape core Christian doctrine, including the Nicene Creed and discussions on the Trinity.
The CTE Presidents – representing Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant churches – said: “Often divided by our sins and arrogance, we now come together in unity, with one voice and one heart, as did those divinely-guided individuals seventeen hundred years ago to defend the Truth that has been entrusted to us. We come together to reiterate the message and truth of Nicaea.
“It is a special blessing from God that this year all Christians will celebrate Easter – Pascha – on the same Sunday. We are empowered by this and we draw strength to face the realities of our divisions with a new hope of reconciliation.”
