It was a meeting of the East and Western Sunday while people around the world celebrated Easter on the same day, a overlap that occurs every three to four years.
The Easter mobile date should be quite simple: Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.
But for the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Eastern Churches, the mobile date has an additional complication: different calendars, not to mention different calculations for lunar cycles and equinox.
Although the Convention has that the churches divide during the great schism of 1054, they largely maintained the same calendars until 1582, when Pope Grégoire XIII adopted the Gregorian calendar for the Roman Church. The Orthodox church has kept the Julien calendar.
Laïque Easter celebrations – Think of pastel coated eggs, rabbits wearing baskets and occasional parade – always correspond to the Western Festival.
But enough history.
Here is an overview of the celebration of Easter this weekend from Asia and Africa to Europe, in the Middle East and beyond.
