Three Calendars: Understanding the Differences Between Julian, Gregorian, and New Julian Calendars in Christian Churches

Three calendars: what are the differences

In Christian churches of different denominations, three types of reckoning are used.

Julian calendar – appeared before our era. It was developed by astronomers of the Roman Empire and named after Julius Caesar.

Gregorian calendar – introduced at the end of the 16th century by Pope Gregory XIII due to astronomical inaccuracies that were made when developing the Julian calendar. The days of the calendar and the actual equinox did not coincide with the years, and this became a problem for determining the date of Easter.

Roman Catholics switched to the Gregorian calendar, and it is also the official calendar in most countries of the world.

New Julian calendar – developed by the Serbian astronomer Milutin Milanković and adopted at the beginning of the 20th century in many Orthodox churches. It actually coincides with the Catholic Gregorian in everything, with the exception of the order in which the date of Easter is determined. The Orthodox did not agree that in some years the Resurrection of Christ could fall earlier than the date of the Jewish Passover. This was contrary to Scripture.

Photo: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is switching to the New Julian calendar (Vitaly Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

The New Julian calendar is used by 9 out of 15 local Orthodox churches, as well as Eastern Catholic churches.

The Julian style remains in the Jerusalem, Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Polish Orthodox churches.

From September 1, 2023, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine must switch from the Julian to the New Julian calendar. The same decision was made in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The historical decision of the OCU

On May 24, 2023, the Council of Bishops was held, at which a resolution was adopted on the transition to the New Julian calendar from the new church year – September 1, 2023. The final church reform of the OCU will be approved at the Local Council in July.

How declared Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphanius, the Church has been coming to this decision for a long time and it became a natural continuation of the adoption of the autocephalous structure of the Church, the introduction of the Ukrainian language of worship.

According to the Metropolitan, the issue of switching to a new calendar has become even more relevant with the start of full-scale Russian aggression. After all, the Julian calendar, which was used by the Ukrainian church for many years, is now regarded as an element of Russian church culture.

Photo: Primate of the OCU, Metropolitan Epiphanius (Vitaly Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

“Therefore, the desire to preserve and assert our Ukrainian spiritual identity, to protect ourselves from the aggression of the “Russian world” requires us to make an overdue decision – to join the majority of the Local Orthodox Churches and put the New Julian calendar into use,” the head of the OCU stressed.

Holidays “according to the old style” will now be banned?

Monasteries and church parishes in Ukraine that are not ready to switch to the New Julian calendar will have the opportunity to use the “old style”. The Church Reform provides that the transition should take place gradually, consciously and without coercion.

Earlier, in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine, the rector of the Open Orthodox University of Hagia Sophia-Wisdom, OCU priest Georgy Kovalenko expressed the opinion that after the reform of the Ukrainian church, the calendar would not be a cause for disagreement, but rather would unite Ukrainians, because the church respects the point of view of each community.

Georgy Kovalenko also gave the example of Holy Mount Athos, where the Julian chronology is used, although it belongs to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which switched to the New Julian style from the beginning of the 20th century. Such differences in the calendars do not interfere with the unity of the Church of Constantinople, the priest noted.

New holiday dates

After the transition of the OCU to the New Julian calendar, almost all dates of church holidays will be shifted 13 days ago and will coincide with the Catholic ones:

• Christmas – December 25 (formerly January 7);
• St. Melania’s Day (Generous Evening, Malanki) – December 31 (formerly January 13);
• St. Basil the Great – January 1 (previously January 14);
• The Baptism of the Lord – January 6 (formerly January 19);
• Meeting of the Lord – February 2 (previously February 15);
• Annunciation of the Virgin Mary – March 25 (previously April 7);
• Nativity of John the Baptist (Ivan Kupala) – June 24 (formerly July 7);
• Holy Apostles Peter and Paul – June 29 (previously July 12);
• Day of Elijah the Prophet – July 20 (formerly August 2);
• Transfiguration of the Lord – August 6 (formerly August 19);
• Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – August 15 (formerly August 28);
• Beheading of John the Baptist – August 29 (previously September 11);
• Nativity of the Blessed Virgin – September 8 (formerly September 21);
• Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos – October 1 (formerly October 14).
• Andrew the First-Called – November 30 (previously December 13);
• Nicholas the Wonderworker – December 6 (previously December 19).

What holidays will remain unchanged

The main feature of the New Julian calendar is the rule for determining the date of Easter. It will remain the same as before the church reform.

The Resurrection of Christ is celebrated every year on different days (between April 4 and May 8), but under the following unchanging conditions:

• after the spring equinox (March 21);
• after the first full moon after the equinox;
• next Sunday after full moon;
• after the Jewish holiday Pesach.

Several other holidays are tied to the date of Easter, for example, Palm Sunday, Ascension, Trinity. They also continue to celebrate as before.

Photo: the dates of the Orthodox and Catholic Trinity after the church reform of the OCU will not coincide (Vitaly Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

In the Gregorian calendar, the order of determining the date of Easter is different, so even after the transition to the “new style” Ukraine and Roman Catholics will celebrate Bright Sunday, Ascension and Trinity on different days (Ukrainian Greek Catholics will also use the New Julian style).

As Georgy Kovalenko said, for several years the leaders of the largest churches in the world have been discussing the establishment of a single day for celebrating Easter, and such a decision can be made by the 2000th anniversary of the Resurrection of Christ – in 2033.

What will happen to the weekend

The date of Christmas according to the New Julian calendar (December 25) has been an official holiday in Ukraine for several years. Whether January 7 will remain a non-working day after the church reform is still unknown.

The Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos is another church holiday that coincides with the state holiday – the Day of Defenders and Defenders.

This holiday was established in 2014. When choosing a date, the Ukrainian Institute of Memory offered to rely on the long traditions of Ukrainian soldiers – Cossacks. In the Zaporizhzhya Sich, the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin was the main shrine, and on the Intercession the Cossacks held a council, elected hetmans and atamans.

The OCU has already taken the initiative to apply to the state authorities in order to postpone the date of the Defender’s Day after the date of the Intercession – to October 1.

In addition to the Protection of the Intercession and Christmas, the Day of the Baptism of Rus’-Ukraine also coincides with official state holidays – the church day in memory of St. Prince Vladimir the Prelate. It is celebrated on July 28th.