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Calendar

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Prayer, Fasting and Worship › Calendar

The question

Why does the Orthodox Church still follow the Julian calendar today? I was reading a few articles online and it said the Gregorian calendar is a more accurate version of the Julian calendar. So why do we choose to follow the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian one?

The answer

Our Church actually uses the Coptic calendar, which is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar, and is also known as the Alexandrian calendar. In 238 B.C., during the era of Ptolemy III, which precedes both calendars, the Julian (approximately 100 B.C.) and the Gregorian (16th century A.D.), a revised version of the Coptic calendar was introduced in order to calculate a leap year every fourth year. The Egyptian priests initially rejected this reformed calendar, but it became the official calendar in 25 B.C., and was synchronized with the new Julian calendar.

If you like to read more, please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_calendar

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Related questions

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 2178 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.