Considered the most important Christian holiday, Easter is celebrated on Sunday, April 5, by Catholic and Protestant Christians around the world. Orthodox Easter will be a week later, on April 12.
- In Romania, over 1.2 million Roman Catholic, Reformed, Evangelical and Unitarian believers celebrate Easter today.
In Europe, the countries with the largest population of Roman Catholics are Italy, Spain, France and Poland. Protestants are found in large numbers in countries such as Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands.
In Romania, the largest number of Roman Catholics is in Transylvania. Protestants from regions such as Banat, Crisana, Maramureș and Transylvania also celebrate Easter on April 5.
According to the most recent census in Romania, there are 741,000 people in the country who declared themselves Roman Catholic, and 459,000 said they were reformed believers (Protestants).
Greek Catholics in Romania (Christians united with Rome) celebrate Easter together with the Orthodox, on April 12.
The last time Catholic Easter was celebrated on April 5 was in 2015, and the next time will be in 2037.
Once every three to four years, Orthodox and Catholic Easter are on the same day. It was so in 2011, 2014 and 2017 and 2025 – and so it will be in 2028 and 2031. In two decades there were six years of overlap. When it falls on the same day, the feast can be the earliest on the 4th and the latest on the 25th of April.
In general, the difference is one week, with the Catholic Easter being before the Orthodox one, but there are years when the difference is greater.
In 2013, 2016 and 2024, the difference was 35 days, and it will be the same in 2027. For example, next year, the Catholic Easter will be on March 28, and the Orthodox on May 2.
If we take the data of the last 20 years, the Catholic Easter was the earliest in 2008: on March 23, and the latest in 2011: April 24. And later it will be 12 years later, when it will fall on both Orthodox and Catholics on April 25.
As a rule. Catholic Easter can fall in March or April, but never in May, while Orthodox Easter can fall in April or May, but never in March.
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