When is Orthodox and Catholic Easter celebrated in 2026

Easter is the main holiday of the Christian world, symbolizing the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. If in 2025 the date of celebration for Catholics and Orthodox Christians coincides, they celebrate the celebration on April 20, then in 2026 Orthodox and Catholics in Russia will celebrate Easter on different dates.​

This is due to differences in calendars and methods of calculating the date of the holiday.​ In Russia, where the Orthodox tradition prevails, Easter is celebrated according to the Julian calendar, while Catholics calculate the date according to the Gregorian calendar.

Orthodox Easter in 2026

In 2026, Orthodox Easter will be early, it will be celebrated on Sunday, April 12. The date of Easter for Orthodox Christians is calculated according to the Julian calendar, it should fall on the first Sunday after the full moon, which will follow the vernal equinox.

At the same time, Easter is traditionally not celebrated before Passover. This is due to the biblical text, according to which Christ was crucified in the spring on the full moon and on Passover.

An important moment for the Orthodox is considered to be the descent of the Holy Fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the eve of Easter, on Holy Saturday. At the same time, the removal of the Shroud and the reading of the canon of Great Saturday are performed. The Easter night service is opened by a procession, which ends with the Divine Liturgy.​

The main decoration of the Orthodox table is a sweet cake with raisins, covered with white icing or sprinkled with powdered sugar, as well as colored eggs — a symbol of the Holy sepulchre and life.

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Catholic Easter in 2026

The date of Easter for Catholics, in turn, is calculated according to the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, the countdown is conducted from different dates, although in both cases Easter falls on the first Sunday after the spring full moon. Most often, Catholics and Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter with a week difference, but there is both a gap of a month and a complete coincidence of dates.

In 2026, they will celebrate the Sunday of Christ a week earlier than the Orthodox, on April 5.

Unlike Orthodox Christians, who observe Lent for 48 days, adherents of Catholicism fast for 46 days, of which strict fasting takes only three days: Ash Wednesday (the beginning of lent) and two days of the Tridentine — Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

In the West, the holiday is associated mainly with chocolate eggs and the Easter bunny, a symbol of fertility and rebirth.