Christians of the Western Rite Celebrate Easter

Across the globe, ceremonies are taking place to mark the most important holiday in the Christian calendar — Easter. Today, this holiday is celebrated by Christians of the Western Rite, including Roman Catholics and Protestants. This is reported by the BBC.

After Pope Francis did not participate in the procession on Good Friday, concerns about his health resurfaced. However, he took part in the Easter service, delivering a lengthy sermon and performing several baptisms before his Easter message on Sunday morning.

In particular, Pope Francis led the traditional Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night at the Basilica of Saint Peter. The celebration began at the entrance to the basilica with the moving ritual of blessing the fire, followed by a candlelit procession, singing of Lumen Christi, and the illumination of the basilica's lights in all their splendour. The celebration included the baptism and anointing of eight catechumens from Italy, South Korea, Japan, and Albania.

It is worth noting that despite Ukraine's transition to a new liturgical calendar, Easter is celebrated there in the old way. This year, it will occur on May 5, five weeks earlier than for Christians of the Western Rite. Nevertheless, faithful of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches in Ukraine also celebrated Easter today.

The point is that Ukrainian churches did not switch to the pure Gregorian calendar but essentially adopted the updated New Julian calendar, where movable feasts like Easter continue to be determined according to the old rules.

Determining Easter for Christians is generally a complex and contentious issue. Due to many nuances, Catholics and Orthodox Christians have significant differences and have been debating for centuries.

A hundred years ago, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, followed by several other Orthodox churches in Europe, adopted a new calendar. However, even they did not dare to change Easter and continue to celebrate it according to the old rules.

It is worth mentioning that in the upcoming year 2025 (such coincidences occur once every 3–4 years), both Catholics and Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on the same day.

Let's remind that according to the Bible, Jesus Christ rose on Easter Sunday, a few days after his death on the cross on Good Friday. For Christians of all denominations, celebrating this event is the most important holiday of the year, as it symbolizes the victory of life over death, and Christ's resurrection is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine.