More than 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide will celebrate Pascha (Easter) Sunday, May 1, 2016. This year Orthodox Pascha is celebrated almost a month after the celebration of the Western Easter, while next year it will fall on the same day. The Orthodox date for Easter is based on a decree of the Council of Nicaea, Asia Minor, held in 325 A.D. According to this decree, Easter must be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon of the vernal equinox but always after the Hebrew Passover to maintain the Biblical sequence of events of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The Orthodox Christian churches have adhered strictly to this formula.

Archbishop Makarios of Kenya“We celebrate once again the Holy and Great Pascha the most significant feast of the year. A feast which by its name Pascha signifies the passing, the exit from a condition of slavery and torment to a condition of freedom and joy. Our Lord Jesus Christ with His Crucifixion and Resurrection passed us from the bondage of sin, guilt, anxiety and death to the immense joy of freedom. He became our exit from the night of evil and sin to the eternal light of a day that has no end, a life that is victorious over death and transfers us to eternity,.