Millions of Orthodox Christians currently live in Germany. This year, all of the Christian churches around the world are celebrating Easter on the same dates — a synchronicity that only happens every few years.

"Every time all Christians around the world celebrate Easter simultaneously, it awakens a deep longing in us," Bishop Grigorije Duric, head of Serbian Orthodox Christians in Germany, told DW. He said that strengthened "the will to continue on the path toward church unity." Grigorije is one of the four Orthodox bishops in Germany who spoke with DW on the subject.

The Full Moon and the Calendar

Why do Western churches — especially the Catholic Church and Protestant churches — celebrate Easter on different dates than the Eastern churches? To understand why, we need to take a look at the churches' long history.

2025 is the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which was held in 325. One of the most important church meetings ever, it was accepted by all churches, and it decreed that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring.

At the end of the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII (1502-1585) reformed the "Julian calendar" and replaced it with the "Gregorian calendar" — Western churches have used that calendar ever since. However, many Orthodox churches continued to use the "Julian calendar," which stems from Julius Caesar (100-44 BC). The two calendars most often calculate different dates for Easter celebrations, meaning that Eastern and Western churches have dates that can differ by up to five weeks.

In recent years, church leaders have called for a return to a common Easter date for all Christians. Pope Francis has long advocated for this, as have Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, Coptic Pope Tawadros, and recently the World Council of Churches. However, implementing that vision seems next to impossible.

Joint celebrations

"For me, personally, it doesn't matter whether we celebrate together or not," says Hanna Haikal, Bishop of the Arab-influenced Antiochian Orthodox Church in Berlin. "The main thing is that people are still celebrating the Easter events and rejoicing in them. Whether we do it a week earlier, or later — it doesn't matter at all."

Bishop Haikal's congregation in Berlin-Mitte is thriving. It has doubled — or even tripled — since the summer of 2015, when thousands of Syrian refugees arrived in Germany. On Palm Sunday this year, the church in Berlin-Mitte was packed. During the service, well over a hundred worshippers waited outside the entranceway, ready to join the subsequent Palm Sunday procession around the block.

This year's common Easter date also pleases Bishop Haikal for practical reasons: "When our Good Friday is a public holiday, it is easier for people to attend church," he told DW. The same applies to Easter Monday. "Our celebration must otherwise take place during a late-night service." Last year, the Good Friday procession was made after dark, right through the neighborhood's buzzing bar district.

School on Good Friday

Bishop Grigorije of the Serbs expressed a similar sentiment. Whenever Easter dates coincide between the Orthodox Church and the majority churches, he points out that: "Not only are many exempt from work, but children are also exempt from school." That enables families to celebrate together, and many people can participate in the church services.

"It's good that we are experiencing the same emotions as other Christians in Germany at the same time — that we aren't fasting when others are eating, and vice versa," says Coptic Bishop Anba Damian. "We are immensely joyful because we can celebrate without the stress and hectic pace we feel when we are alone and stand out."

Bishop Damian expects around 1,500 worshippers to attend the Easter service at the "St. Anthony and St. Shenouda Church" in Berlin's Hohenschönhausen neighborhood. The building, constructed 120 years ago as a Protestant church, is now the largest Orthodox church in the German capital. After the service, worshippers stay on, share stories, eat and celebrate together. Attendees include Serbs, Copts, and Antiochian Orthodox Christians from southern Turkey or neighboring Syria. Most come with their families.

In Germany, Orthodox Christian services are held in Greek or Arabic, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian — and even Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Bishop Haikal delivers sermons in German and sometimes recites the "Our Father" prayer in several languages. He says his services are not only attended by Orthodox Christians, but also by people from other Christian churches, including Catholics. "We also have many mixed marriages. It is a great joy for families, in which the wife is Orthodox and the husband is Catholic, for example, or the other way around, to celebrate Easter together."

Over 40 million Christians in Germany

There are approximately two billion Christians around the world. In Germany, around 42.2  million people profess the Christian faith. That includes 19.7 million Catholics, roughly 18 million Protestants, and around 4.5 million Orthodox Christians, who now live here. There are many Orthodox churches in Germany's big cities —however, Orthodox communities can also be found in rural areas, for example, in the Uckermark region in northeastern Germany, the Eifel region in western Germany, and rural Bavaria.

"We hope that the common celebration of the highest Christian festival will no longer only happen by coincidence, but will be seen more often as a visible expression of growing closeness," says Bishop Grigorije from Serbia. Bishop Damian echoes that sentiment: "Of course, we strive to celebrate Easter together on the same day — and forever." Toward the end of our interview, Damian expresses a sentiment that Bishop Haikal would surely share: "We thank God that we are allowed to live in a Christian country where we can also talk about the resurrection."

This article was originally written in German.

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