When Is Orthodox Easter or Greek Easter In 2020?: Greek Easter or Orthodox Easter is the oldest and most significant festival in the Eastern Christian tradition that celebrates Jesus Christ’s resurrection (rising from the grave) following his execution and death? The day is also known as Pascha and Resurrection Sunday and these dates of Greek Easter are based on the old Julian calendar.
His revival forms the basis of Christian faith as it proves Jesus to be the Son of God and signifies his conquest of death. Most of the people celebrate Easter on the dates recognized by the Western Christian world, which on the other hand has also covered nearly 90 percent of Christians all around the world.
Why is Greek Easter on Different Dates?
In most of the years, the date of Greek Easter differs from the date of Easter in Western Christianity (Catholic and protestant Easter), and is generally one week, but sometimes four or five weeks, later. On the other hand, in some years Orthodox Easter happens together with Western Easter and both observations fall on the same date.
The date of Easter is based on the Gregorian calendar in Western Christianity and can fall in the middle of March 22 and April 25. The Eastern Christian tradition is based on its calculations of Orthodox Easter on the Julian calendar, which is different from the Gregorian calendar by 13 days.
This results in a probable date range of April 4 to May 8. Though, both Western, as well as Eastern churches, come to an agreement that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, however always after the Passover celebration.
Even though most of the world nowadays follow the Gregorian calendar, but the Eastern Orthodox Church still uses the earlier Julian calendar for calculating the dates of festivals which also includes Easter and that’s why the dates are not fixed and same.
Which countries follow the Orthodox Easter tradition?
There are various countries that officially observe Orthodox Easter which comprises Greece, Cyprus, and Macedonia, along with Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine as well as Lebanon.
In the UK, most people follow the western traditions for Easter so there is no holiday for Orthodox Easter and that is the same which applies in Australia, Canada, and the USA.
Comparison Table of Western and Orthodox Easter
This is the comparison table of the dates of Western and Orthodox Easter for the years 2010 to 2030:
| Year | Western Easter | Orthodox Easter |
| 2010 | April 4 | April 4 |
| 2011 | April 24 | April 24 |
| 2012 | April 8 | April 15 |
| 2013 | March 31 | May 5 |
| 2014 | April 20 | April 20 |
| 2015 | April 5 | April 12 |
| 2016 | March 27 | May 1 |
| 2017 | April 16 | April 16 |
| 2018 | April 1 | April 8 |
| 2019 | April 21 | April 28 |
| 2020 | April 12 | April 19 |
| 2021 | April 4 | May 2 |
| 2022 | April 17 | April 24 |
| 2023 | April 9 | April 16 |
| 2024 | March 31 | May 5 |
| 2025 | April 20 | April 20 |
| 2026 | April 5 | April 12 |
| 2027 | March 28 | May 2 |
| 2028 | April 16 | April 16 |
| 2029 | April 1 | April 8 |
| 2030 | April 21 | April 28 |
Sometimes initiatives are started in order to present a stable and unified date of Easter (perhaps the second or third Sunday in April), though there are presently no concrete strategies to do so.
When is Greek Orthodox Easter in 2020?
Here are the dates of Greek Orthodox Easter in 2019:
Good Friday – April 10
Holy Saturday – April 11
Easter Sunday or Easter Day – April 12
Easter Monday – April 13
