View source for Reform of the date of Easter

{{Short description|Proposals to change the festival date}}
{{lead too short|date=March 2022}}
Various '''reforms of the date of [[Easter]]''' have been proposed. These proposals include setting a fixed date or agreeing between Eastern and Western Christendom a common basis for [[Computus|calculating the date of Easter]] so that all Christians celebrate the [[Liturgical year|Festival]] on the same day. As of 2025, no such agreement has been reached.

The term may also refer to historic reforms of the Computus, such as the adoption of the epact tables by [[Dionysius Exiguus' Easter table|Dionysius Exiguus]] in the 6th century and by [[Beda Venerabilis' Easter cycle|Bede]] in the 8th century.

==Description==
A reform of the date of Easter has been proposed several times<ref>{{cite thesis| last= Marcello| first= Albert| date= 2024| title= The date of Easter: classical considerations and contemporary challenges | url= https://ruor.uottawa.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/300383f1-5612-4680-b15a-d4112434713c/content| degree= Doctorate of Philosophy in Canon Law| chapter= 2.1 Medieval Reform Proposals| publisher= Saint Paul University, Faculty of Canon Law | location= Ottawa, Ontario, Canada| access-date= 2024-12-09}}<!--docket= | oclc= | --></ref> because the current system for determining the date of [[Easter]] is seen as presenting two significant problems:
# Its [[moveable feast|date varies from year to year]]. It can fall on up to 35 days in March and April of the respective calendar. While many Christians do not consider this to be a problem, it can cause frequent difficulties of co-ordination with [[civil calendar]]s, for example [[academic term]]s. Many countries have [[public holiday]]s around Easter weekend or tied to the date of Easter but spread from February to June, such as [[Shrove Tuesday]] or [[Feast of the Ascension|Ascension]] and [[Pentecost]].
# Some [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern churches]] (6 in total) calculate the date of Easter using the [[Julian calendar]], whereas most Eastern churches use the [[Revised Julian calendar]] and all [[Western Christianity|Western churches]] and civil authorities have adopted the [[Gregorian calendar|Gregorian reforms]] for all calendrical purposes. Also a very few [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern churches]] have adopted the Gregorian method of calculation. Hence in most years, Easter is celebrated on a later date in the East than in the West.

There have been [[Easter controversy|controversies about the "correct" date of Easter]] since antiquity, but most Christian churches today agree on certain points. The Roman Catholic Church explains:<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/why-dont-catholics-and-orthodox-celebrate-easter-on-same-date|last=Flader|first=John|title=Why don't Catholics and Orthodox celebrate Easter on same date?|newspaper=Catholic Weekly|location=Sydney|date=9 March 2016|accessdate=22 July 2023}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The [[First Council of Nicaea#Separation of Easter computation from Jewish calendar|Council of Nicaea in 325]] determined, among other things, that the Church would no longer follow the Jewish calendar and that Easter was to be celebrated on a common day throughout the world. (…)
The council did not say what that day was to be but at the time Easter was celebrated on a Sunday virtually everywhere.}}

To justify his calendar reform, which involved removing ten days, in 1582 [[Pope Gregory XIII]] claimed that the council had decreed that Easter should be celebrated:
* on a [[Sunday]],
* after the nominal [[Northward equinox]] – that is the start of spring in the Northern and of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, fixed on 21 March in the Gregorian calendar –,
* after the first [[ecclesiastical full moon]] of the astronomical season.

There is less agreement whether Easter also should occur:
* so that [[Feast of the Annunciation|Annunciation]] – celebrated 25 March, 9 months before [[Christmas]] – does not fall on any day from the [[Palm Sunday|Sunday before Easter]] to the [[Octave of Easter|Sunday after]],
* on or after the [[Quartodecimanism|14th day]] of the lunar month of [[Nisan]],
* not before [[Passover|Jewish Pesach]] – Easter is after [[Christian observance of Passover|Christian Passover]] by definition.

The disagreements have been particularly about the determination of moon phases and the equinox, some preferring astronomical observation from a certain location (usually Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome or local), most others following nominal approximations of these in either the [[Hebrew calendar|Hebrew]], Julian or Gregorian calendar using different lookup tables and cycles in their algorithms. Deviations may also result from different customs for the start of the ''[[day]]'', i.e. dusk, sunset, midnight, dawn or sunrise. Furthermore, it may be accepted to have the respective starts of the astronomical season, the full moon and the Sunday occur on the same date as long as they are observed in that order.

== Fixed date ==

It has been proposed that the first problem could be resolved by making Easter occur on a date fixed relative to the western [[Gregorian calendar]] every year, or alternatively on a Sunday within a fixed range of seven or eight dates. While tying Easter to one fixed date would serve to underline the belief that it commemorates an actual historical event, without an accompanying [[calendar reform]] that changes the pattern of the days of the week (itself a subject of [[World Calendar#Religious objections|religious controversy]]) or adopts a [[leap week]], it would also break the tradition of Easter always being on a Sunday, established since the 2nd century and by now deeply embedded in the [[Christian liturgy|liturgical]] practice and [[Theology|theological]] understanding of almost all [[Christian denomination]]s.

The [[Second Vatican Council]] agreed in 1963 to accept a fixed Sunday in the Gregorian calendar as the date for Easter as long as other Christian churches agreed on it as well. They also agreed in principle to adopt a civil calendar reform as long as there were never any days outside the cycle of seven days per week.<ref name="vatican">{{citation| title = Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ''Sacrosanctum Concilium'' | editor = Pope Paul VI | editor-link = Pope Paul VI | date = 4 December 1963 | chapter-url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html | chapter = Appendix}}</ref>
In 1977, some Eastern Orthodox representatives objected to separating the date of Easter from lunar phases.<ref name="byzcath.org">{{cite web| url = http://www.byzcath.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-49/2689-ukrainian-catholic-university-organizes-seminar-on-easter-date| title = Ukrainian Catholic University Organizes Seminar on Easter Date}}</ref>

The [[Montanism|Montanists]], a 5th-century sect, celebrated Easter on the Sunday following April 6 (in the [[Julian calendar]]).<ref name="Sozomen1846">{{cite book |author=Sozomen |author-link=Sozomen |title=Ecclesiastical History: A History of the Church : in Nine Books, from A.D. 324 to A.D. 440 : a New Translation from the Greek, with a Memoir of the Author |url=https://archive.org/details/ecclesiasticalhi00sozo |year=1846 |publisher=Bagster |page=[https://archive.org/details/ecclesiasticalhi00sozo/page/353 353]}}</ref> This is equivalent to the Sunday closest to April 9. The April 6 date was apparently chosen because it was equivalent to the 14th day of [[Artemisios]] in an earlier local calendar, hence, the 14th of the first month of spring.<ref name=Talley>{{cite book|last=Talley|first= Thomas J|chapter=Afterthoughts on The Origins of the Liturgical Year|title=Western Plainchant in the First Millennium: Studies in the Medieval Liturgy and Its Music |pages=1–10 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot|date=2003 |editor1=Sean Gallagher|display-editors=etal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hM16rgEACAAJ|isbn=9780754603894}}</ref>

The two most widespread proposals for fixing the date of Easter would set it on either the second Sunday in April (8 to 14, [[ISO 8601|week]] 14 or 15), or the Sunday after the second Saturday in April (9 to 15). They only differ in years with [[dominical letter]] G or AG where 1 April is a Sunday. In both schemes, account has been taken of the fact that—in spite of the many difficulties in establishing the dates of the historical events involved—many scholars attribute a high degree of probability to [[Good Friday|Friday]] 7 April 30, as the date of the [[crucifixion]] of [[Jesus]], which would make 9 April the date of the [[Resurrection]]. Another date which is supported by many scholars is 3 April 33,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schaefer |first=B. E. |year=1990 |title=Lunar Visibility and the Crucifixion |journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=53–67 |bibcode=1990QJRAS..31...53S}}</ref><ref name="humphreys">
* {{cite journal |last1=Humphreys |first1=Colin J. |last2=Waddington |first2=W. G. |title=Dating the Crucifixion |journal=Nature |volume=306 |issue=5945 |year=1983 |pages=743–746 |issn=0028-0836 |doi=10.1038/306743a0 |author-link1=Colin Humphreys|bibcode=1983Natur.306..743H |s2cid=4360560 }}
* {{cite web | title = The Date of the Crucifixion |last1=Humphreys|first1=Colin J.|last2=Waddington|first2=W. G.|author-link1=Colin Humphreys | work = Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation |volume=37 | date = March 1985 | access-date = 2016-01-24 | url = http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1985/JASA3-85Humphreys.html.ori.html }}
* {{cite book |last=Humphreys |first=Colin J. |author-link=Colin Humphreys |title=The Mystery of the Last Supper: Reconstructing the Final Days of Jesus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gNQfLwEACAAJ |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-73200-0 |page=193}}</ref><!-- that's referencing the same scholars thrice --> making 5 April the date of the [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]].

In the late 1920s and 1930s, this idea gained some momentum along with other calendar reform proposals, such as the [[International Fixed Calendar]] (IFC) and the [[World Calendar]]. In 1928, [[Easter Act 1928|a law]] was passed in the [[United Kingdom]] authorising an [[Order in Council]] which would fix the nationwide date of Easter on the Sunday after the second Saturday in April.<ref name="Richards1998">{{cite book | last=Richards | first=Edward Graham | title=Mapping Time: The Calendar and Its History | url=https://archive.org/details/mappingtimecalen00rich | url-access=registration | year=1998 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-286205-1 | page=[https://archive.org/details/mappingtimecalen00rich/page/122 122]}}</ref> However, this was never implemented, but remains popular at least within the [[Church of England]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35326237 | title=Archbishop Justin Welby hopes for fixed Easter date | publisher=BBC | language=English | date=15 January 2016 | accessdate=8 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35880795 | title=Why can't the date of Easter be fixed? | publisher=BBC | first=Caroline | last=Wyatt | language=English | date=25 March 2016 | accessdate=8 February 2021}}</ref> In an 2001 article for the WCC, Dagmar Heller, who was the only woman to participate in the 1997 Aleppo Conference, states that Western churches previously preferred a "third option", i.e. a fixed Sunday in April, but tried to accommodate Eastern churches by giving this up.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/celebrating-easter-together| title=Celebrating Easter Together | publisher=World Council of Churches, Commission on Faith and Order | first=Dagmar | last=Heller | date=9 April 2001 | accessdate=3 December 2024 | quote=the Western churches took a step towards the Orthodox side by agreeing to keep the ancient rule, while in earlier discussions they had tended to propose a third way (…) by suggesting to fix the date of Easter on a specific Sunday in April.}}</ref>

The Sunday of an ordinal ISO week ''n'' is also the ''n''th Sunday of the year, except in A/AG, B/BA and C/CB years where it is the ''n''+1st Sunday. Therefore, both major proposals put Easter on the 15th Sunday of the year. The exception to this is either in common years starting on Monday (G), where 8 April, i.e. the second Sunday in April, is the 14th Sunday of the year, or in leap years starting on Sunday (AG), where 15 April, i.e. the Sunday after the second Saturday in April, is the 16th Sunday of the year. That means, the Saturday-based rule approximates the 15th Sunday better.

The Sunday after the first Wednesday in April would always be in ISO week W14, except for leap years starting on Thursday (DC) where the week count is one higher than in otherwise equivalent common years after February. The [[Symmetry454 Calendar]] proposes a fixed date of Easter in week 14, which would agree with the aforementioned proposals in most years, but would be 1 week earlier in F/GF years (like the only deviation of the Montanist definition) and also in DC, D/ED and E/FE years.

The first possible Gregorian date for Easter, 22 March, is also one of the [[ISO week date#Dates with fixed week number|dates with (almost) fixed ISO week number]], i.e. W12, which is usually also the week of the equinox a day or two earlier. If the 52 weeks of a usual year are grouped into 13 nominal lunation phases of 4 weeks each (similar to IFC), then the equinox week concludes the third of these months and the next nominal full moon in the middle of the month would occur on Sunday of W14, making it the fixed date for Passover. Easter Sunday would follow seven days later, in W15, which is between 11 and 18 April.

Since [[Candlemas]], which traditionally concludes [[Christmastide]], is always on 2 February, it is almost always in W05 (with the exception of W06 if on a Monday), a W15 Easter would ensure the three [[pre-Lent]]en Sundays, i.e. [[Septuagesima]], [[Sexagesima]] and [[Quinquagesima]], existed in all years, and not more than these.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Weeks for currently possible dates of Easter Sunday; proposed and special dates highlighted
|-
!scope=col rowspan=2 style="width:10%"| [[Week#Numbering|Sunday of the year]]
!scope=col colspan=14|[[Dominical letter]]
!scope=col rowspan=2 style="width:10%"| [[ISO week date|ISO week]]
!scope=col rowspan=2 style="width:10%"| Month
|-
|style="width:2.5%"| [[Dominical letter AG|AG]] ||style="width:7.5%"| [[Dominical letter A|A]] ||style="width:2.5%"| [[Dominical letter BA|BA]] ||style="width:7.5%"| [[Dominical letter B|B]] ||style="width:2.5%"| [[Dominical letter CB|CB]] ||style="width:7.5%"| [[Dominical letter C|C]]
|style="width:2.5%"| [[Dominical letter DC|DC]] ||style="width:7.5%"| [[Dominical letter D|D]] ||style="width:2.5%"| [[Dominical letter ED|ED]] ||style="width:7.5%"| [[Dominical letter E|E]] ||style="width:2.5%"| [[Dominical letter FE|FE]] ||style="width:7.5%"| [[Dominical letter F|F]] ||style="width:2.5%"| [[Dominical letter GF|GF]] ||style="width:7.5%"| [[Dominical letter G|G]]
|-
! 12th
|colspan=7 {{N/A}} ||colspan=2| 22 ||colspan=2| 23 ||colspan=2| 24 ||title="Annunciation" {{no2|25}}
!rowspan=2 title="Q1-W13, M03-W4"| W12
!rowspan=3 scope=rowgroup| March
|-
!rowspan=2| 13th
|title="Annunciation" {{no2|25}} ||colspan=2| 26 ||colspan=2| 27 || 28
|colspan=8|
|-
|colspan=6|
| 28 ||colspan=2| 29 ||colspan=2| 30 ||colspan=2| 31 || 01
!rowspan=2 title="Q1-W13, M04-W1"| W13
|-
!rowspan=2| 14th
| 01 ||colspan=2| 02 ||colspan=2| 03 || 04
|colspan=8|
!rowspan=8 scope=rowgroup| April
|-
|colspan=6|
| title="Sym454" {{proprietary|04}} ||colspan=2 title="Sym454; historical date if in year 33" {{proprietary|'''05'''}} ||colspan=2 title="Sym454" {{proprietary|06}} ||colspan=2 title="Pepuzite, Sym454" {{proprietary|07}} ||title="Pepuzite, Sym454, 2nd April Sunday" {{yes2|08}}
!rowspan=2 title="Q2-W01, M04-W2"| W14
|-
!rowspan=2| 15th
|title="in all major proposals" {{yes|08}} ||colspan=2 title="in all major proposals; historical date if in year 30" {{yes|'''09'''}} ||colspan=2 title="in all major proposals" {{yes|10}} ||title="in all major proposals" {{yes|11}}
|colspan=8 {{yes|}}
|-
|colspan=6 {{yes|}}
|title="2nd April Sunday, Sunday after 2nd April Saturday, Pepuzite" {{yes|11}} ||colspan=2 title="2nd April Sunday, Sunday after 2nd April Saturday, Pepuzite" {{yes|12}} ||colspan=2 title="2nd April Sunday, Sunday after 2nd April Saturday, Pepuzite" {{yes|13}} ||colspan=2 title="2nd April Sunday, Sunday after 2nd April Saturday" {{yes|14}} || title="2nd April Sunday, Sunday after 2nd April Saturday" {{yes|15}}
!rowspan=2 title="Q2-W02, M04-W3"| W15
|-
!rowspan=2| 16th
|title="Sunday after 2nd April Saturday" {{yes2|15}} ||colspan=2 {{proprietary|16}} ||colspan=2 {{proprietary|17}} || {{proprietary|18}}
|colspan=8|
|-
|colspan=6|
| 18 ||colspan=2| 19 ||colspan=2| 20 ||colspan=2| 21 || 22
!rowspan=2 title="Q2-W03, M04-W4"| W16
|-
!rowspan=2| 17th
| 22 ||colspan=2| 23 ||colspan=2| 24 || 25
|colspan=8|
|-
|colspan=6 {{N/A}}
| 25
|colspan=7 {{N/A}}
! title="Q2-W04, M05-W1"| W17
|}
{{legend|#9EFF9E|major proposals around 15th Sunday}}
{{legend|#BBFFDD|deviations of the 2 major proposals}}
{{legend|#E7E7FF|week-based proposals}}
{{legend|#FFE3E3|clashes with other holidays, to be avoided}}

== Unified date ==

Proposals to resolve the second problem have made greater progress, but they are yet to be adopted.
{{Table of dates of Easter|format=dmy|min=2001|max=2025}}

=== 1923 proposal ===

An astronomical rule for Easter was proposed by the 1923 [[Pan-Orthodox Congress of Constantinople]] that also proposed the [[Revised Julian calendar]]: Easter was to be the Sunday after the midnight-to-midnight day at the meridian of the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] in [[Jerusalem]] (35°&thinsp;13′&thinsp;47.2″&thinsp;E or UT&thinsp;+&thinsp;2<sup>h</sup>&thinsp;20<sup>m</sup>&thinsp;55<sup>s</sup> for the small dome over the Greek [[Choir (architecture)|quire]]) during which the first [[full moon]] after the vernal equinox occurs.<ref name="Milankovitch1923">{{cite journal|last1=Milankovitch|first1=M.|title=Das Ende des julianischen Kalenders und der neue Kalender der orientalischen Kirchen|journal=Astronomische Nachrichten |volume=220 |issue=23|year=1923 |pages=379–384|issn=0004-6337 |doi=10.1002/asna.19232202303 |language=de|bibcode=1924AN....220..379M}}</ref><ref name="Shields1924">{{Cite journal | title = The new calendar of the eastern churches | last = Shields | first = Miriam Nancy | journal= Popular Astronomy|volume=32|page=407 | date = 1924 |bibcode=1924PA.....32..407S | quote =  This is a translation of Milankovitch, 1923 }}</ref>

Although the instant of the full moon must occur after the instant of the vernal equinox, it may occur on the same day. If the full moon occurs on a Sunday, Easter is the following Sunday. This proposed astronomical rule was rejected by all Orthodox churches, and was never considered by any Western church.

=== 1997 proposal ===

{{main|Aleppo Easter dating method}}
The [[World Council of Churches]] (WCC) proposed a [[Aleppo Easter dating method|reform of the method of determining the date of Easter]] at a summit in [[Aleppo]], [[Syria]], in 1997:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/faith-and-order/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/towards-a-common-date-for-easter/index|title=Towards a Common Date of Easter - World Council of Churches/Middle East Council of Churches Consultation Aleppo, Syria, March 5–10, 1997|publisher=[[World Council of Churches]]|date=10 March 1997|access-date=13 April 2015|archive-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620205601/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/faith-and-order/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/towards-a-common-date-for-easter/index|url-status=dead}}</ref> Easter would be defined as the first Sunday following the first [[Astronomy|astronomical]] [[full moon]] following the astronomical [[March equinox|vernal equinox]], as determined from the [[meridian (geography)|meridian]] of [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite web|title=World Council of Churches Press Release: THE DATE OF EASTER: SCIENCE OFFERS SOLUTION TO ANCIENT RELIGIOUS PROBLEM|url=http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/pr.wcc.19970324.html|date=24 March 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626033549/http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/pr.wcc.19970324.html |archive-date=2012-06-26}}</ref> The reform would have been implemented starting in 2001, since in that year the Eastern and Western dates of Easter would coincide.

This reform has not been implemented. It would have relied mainly on the co-operation of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], since the date of Easter would change for them immediately; whereas for the Western churches, the new system would not differ from that currently in use until 2019. However, Eastern Orthodox support was not forthcoming, and the reform failed.<ref>{{cite web|author=Luke Luhl|title=The Proposal for a Common Date to Celebrate Pascha and Easter|url=http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/common_luhl.aspx|publisher=Orthodox Christian Information Center|year=1997}}</ref> The much greater impact that this reform would have had on the Eastern churches in comparison with those of the West led some Orthodox to suspect that the WCC's decision was an attempt by the West to impose its viewpoint unilaterally on the rest of the world under the guise of [[ecumenism]]. However, it could also be argued that it is fair to ask a significant change of Eastern Christians, as they would be simply making the same substantial changes the various Western Churches have already made in 1582 (when the Catholic Church first adopted the Gregorian calendar) and subsequent years so as to bring the calendar and Easter more in line with the seasons.

=== 2008–2009 proposals ===

In 2008 and 2009, there was a new attempt to reach a consensus on a unified date on the part of Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders.<ref name="Sandri">{{Cite web | title = New attempt to achieve a common date for Easter | last = Sandri | first = Luigi | work = Ekklesia | date = 6 December 2008 | access-date = 2016-01-24 | url = http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/8130 }}</ref><ref name="Ekklesia">{{Cite web | title = Hope for a common date for Easter affirmed again | work = Ekklesia  | date = 29 May 2009 | access-date = 2016-01-24 | url = http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9553 }}</ref> This effort largely relies on earlier work carried out during the 1997 Aleppo conference.<ref name="byzcath.org"/><ref name="Christianpost">{{cite web |url=http://www.christianpost.com/news/ecumenical-christians-look-forward-to-shared-easter-dates-38932/ |title=Ecumenical Christians Look Forward to Shared Easter Dates |newspaper=Christianpost.com |date=1 June 2009 |author= Aaron J. Leichman |access-date= 2016-01-24}}</ref> It was organized by academics working at the Institute of Ecumenical Studies of [[Lviv University]].<ref name="CathNews ">{{Cite web|title=Hopes rise for East-West common Easter |work=CathNews |date=29 May 2009 |access-date=2016-01-24 |url=http://cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=14084 |archive-date=February 9, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209094946/http://cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=14084 }}</ref>

Part of this attempt was reportedly influenced by ecumenical efforts in Syria and Lebanon, where the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Greek-Melkite Church]] has played an important role in improving ties with the Orthodox.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.soufanieh.com/PETITION/19820107.lettre.unite.eveques.htm| title = 1982 petition for a unified Easter date}}</ref><ref name="Spero">{{Cite web | title = Christians eye common date for Easter | work = Spero News | date = 8 December 2008 | access-date = 2016-01-24 | url = http://www.speroforum.com/a/16989/Christians-eye-common-date-for-Easter#.VqTRtlnwhek | archive-date = 2016-01-30 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160130144048/http://www.speroforum.com/a/16989/Christians-eye-common-date-for-Easter#.VqTRtlnwhek | url-status = dead }}</ref> There is also a series of apparition phenomena known as [[Our Lady of Soufanieh]] that has urged for a common date of Easter.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.soufanieh.com/PETITION/petition.htm| title = Petition for a Common date of Easter}}</ref>

=== 2014–present proposals ===
{{anchor|2014-2016 proposals}}
In May&nbsp;2015, on the anniversary of the meeting between him and Pope Francis, Coptic [[Pope Tawadros II]] wrote a letter to Pope Francis asking for him to consider renewing effort at a unified date for Easter.<ref name="2015-06-19_CNA">{{cite news |title=Will Pope Francis change the date of Easter? |publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]] |date=19 June 2015 |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/32189/will-pope-francis-change-the-date-of-easter |access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref>

In response, on 12&nbsp;June 2015, Catholic [[Pope Francis]] remarked to the [[Catholic Charismatic Renewal|International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services]] 3rd World Retreat of Priests at the [[Basilica of Saint John Lateran]] in [[Rome]] that "we have to come to an agreement" for a common date on Easter. {{Interlanguage link|Lucetta Scaraffia|it}}, a historian, writing in the Vatican daily newspaper ''[[L'Osservatore Romano]]'', said the Pope offered this initiative to change the date of Easter "as a gift of unity with the other Christian churches" adding that a common date for Easter would encourage "reconciliation between the Christian churches and ... a sort of making sense out of the calendar". A week later [[Aphrem II]], the Syriac Orthodox [[Patriarch of Antioch#Current patriarchs|Patriarch of Antioch]], met with Pope Francis and noted that the celebration of Easter "on two different dates is a source of great discomfort and weakens the common witness of the church in the world."<ref>{{cite news | last = Ieraci | first = Laura | date = June 19, 2015 | title = Pope, Orthodox patriarch express commitment for unity | periodical = National Catholic Reporter | url = http://ncronline.org/blogs/francis-chronicles/pope-orthodox-patriarch-express-commitment-unity | access-date = 16 January 2016}}</ref>

In January&nbsp;2016, the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Justin Welby]], announced that he on behalf of the [[Anglican Communion]] had joined discussions with Catholic, Coptic, and Orthodox representatives over a fixed date for Easter, and that he hoped it would happen within the next 5–10&nbsp;years.<ref>{{cite news |title = Archbishop Justin Welby hopes for fixed Easter date |work = BBC News |date = 15 January 2016 |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35326237 |access-date = 2016-01-16}}</ref> Welby suggested that Easter be fixed on either the second or third Sunday of April, relative to the Gregorian calendar.<ref name="Telegraph ">{{Cite web | title = Easter date to be fixed 'within next 5 to 10&nbsp;years' | last1 = Bingham | first1 = John | last2 = Jamieson | first2 = Sophie | work = The Telegraph | date = 16 January 2016 | access-date = 2016-01-24 | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12102278/Easter-date-to-be-fixed-within-next-five-to-10-years.html | quote = He said that Easter should most likely be fixed for the second or third Sunday of April }}</ref> This proposal remains to be approved, especially by Eastern churches, which currently determine Easter using the Julian calendar.

Statements in 2021 and 2025 by the Vatican<ref>{{Cite web |title=Solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle - Celebration of Second Vespers (25 January 2025) {{!}} Francis |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2025/documents/20250125-vespri-unita-cristiani.html |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> and Orthodox churches<ref>[https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/246838/vatican-cardinal-supports-common-easter-date-for-catholics-orthodox Catholic News Agency (CNA), 2021-03-12: Vatican cardinal supports common Easter date for Catholics, Orthodox]</ref> state the goal to achieve consensus by 2025, just in time for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, but without publishing any specific plans or who would adopt which changes. The Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches has arranged conferences to mark the event.

On November 10, 2022, [[Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople]] stated that both the Orthodox and Catholic sides have a good intention to finally establish a common date for the celebration of Easter before the celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the [[First Council of Nicaea]], which took place in 325; however, it was too early to talk about details.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-12 |title=Catholic, Orthodox Christians mull common date for celebrating Easter - Bartholomew |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/3612882-catholic-orthodox-christians-mull-common-date-for-celebrating-easter-bartholomew.html |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=www.ukrinform.net |language=en}}</ref> In 2024 he again called on "Western and Eastern Christians to celebrate Easter on the same date, starting from 2025".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ecumenical Patriarch considers agreement on 2025 Easter date possible |url=https://english.katholisch.de/artikel/52307-ecumenical-patriarch-considers-agreement-on-2025-easter-date-possible |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=english.katholisch.de |language=de}}</ref>

According to [[ISO week date|international standards]], Easter Sunday ends the week containing Good Friday and the week of the second Sunday in April has the ordinal number 14 or 15&nbsp;([[dominical letter]]s D/DC, E/ED, F/FE and GF, i.e. 46.25% of years), hence the third Sunday is one respective week later. There currently is no public proposal under discussion that used a fixed [[week]] of the year for Easter and dependent feasts. The second Sunday in April is usually the 15th&nbsp;Sunday of the year (except for dominical letter G, 10.75%), which is almost always also the Sunday after the second Saturday in April (except for dominical letter AG, 3.75%).

{{Table of dates of Easter|format=dmy|min={{CURRENTYEAR}}|max=2040|notes=off|fixed=on}}

== See also ==
* [[Computus]]
* [[Easter controversy]]

== References ==

{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/faith-and-order/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-date-of-easter |date=2007-01-31 |title=Frequently asked questions about the date of Easter |publisher=World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304132803/http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/ortheast.html |date=March 4, 2000 |title=Notes on calculating Orthodox Pascha ("Easter") }}
* [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/calendar_bond.aspx An Orthodox article arguing for preservation of the current method of calculating the date of Pascha]
* [https://syriacorthodoxresources.org/Ecumenism/19970324easterdateproposal.html The Date of Easter: Science offers solution to ancient religious problem]
* [http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/Towards_A_Common_Date_For_Easter.pdf A common date for Easter] World Council of Churches, Aleppo, 1997

{{Easter}}
{{Time in religion and mythology}}

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[[Category:Calendars]]
[[Category:Date of Easter]]