Talk:Eastern Orthodoxy

Leap day in the Orthodox calendar

Further information: Leap year § Leap day

I have spent some time revising the article Leap year. I have one remaining concern, which is over the status of 29 February as leap day. I wondered if regular contributors to this article might be able to advise?

All the information I have been able to find is from English historical records: information from other cultures is sadly lacking. Long before England moved from the Julian to Gregorian calendar in 1752, it had abandoned the traditional Julian "doubling" of February 24 in a leap year (yes, two days in a row, both called February 24: see Bissextus) in favour of adding the extra day at the end of the month – February 29.

So my question is whether the Orthodox churches continue to observe the historic "doubling" practice or have they also abandoned it? Are there any records of when that happened? 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 11:17, 28 December 2022 (UTC)

Great question. I will offer the following. the Orthodox Church celebrates St John Cassian’s (he is from the 300s) feast day on 29 February. During years with no leap year. He is celebrated on 28 February.

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2024/02/29/100623-venerable-john-cassian-the-roman

There is no indication of when that started, but for a church that has experienced a schism over the calendar, there must have been serious and lengthy debate over the date.

While, not a definite answer, hopefully that is somewhat helpful. Hillarin (talk) 11:13, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Tyvm, I've forgotten why I asked (meaning for which article did I want to know). Fwiw, I came across a reference to the Catholic Church using a weird algorithm for one saint's day in February, but I'm afraid I've forgotten which but it was around 24/2. --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 12:30, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Main image

Why is the National Cathedral of Romania the lead image for this article? Was there any discussion before this was changed? What exactly is the significance of this modern and frankly uninspired building in representing the two millennia old religion beyond "tallest"? I've went ahead and changed the image back to what it was previously, and I would like to invite a discussion. Surely there's something more, 11th century, that could be used here, if the previous is not suitable? Ironmatic1 (talk) 03:04, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

I didn't make the change myself, but the Romanian church made sense to me, especially as opposed to an image we specifically identify as "the third tallest Eastern Orthodox church in the world", which naturally leads one to ask, "Well, what about the other two?" I do think the Moscow church image you reverted to is a better photograph, and I think the suggestion for an older church is a good one. I took a quick look at List of oldest church buildings for something suitable and tentatively like the one of Hagios Demetrios. When we inevitably have a very good photo of the National Cathedral of Romania, though, it would be a strong candidate. --BDD (talk) 17:02, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

Why? Do you mean to depict this faith as dated and old? The Romanian National Cathedral isn't only this faith's objectively greatest temple - it's also proof that this faith is alive and breathing. You can split hairs all you want, fact of the matter remains that the Romanian National Cathedral is the greatest building that Eastern Orthodoxy got. Someone with sense should reinstate it at once. ~2025-33171-88 (talk) 17:38, 12 November 2025 (UTC)

Well stated, @~2025-33171-88. - TheLionHasSeen (talk) 04:32, 13 November 2025 (UTC)

"Holy Orthodoxy" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Holy Orthodoxy has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 December 23 § Holy Orthodoxy until a consensus is reached. Veverve (talk) 19:15, 23 December 2025 (UTC)

Sketchy link in "Notes" Section

Note "b" in the Notes section, about the crosses, redirects to a link that prompts you to verify your identity as a human and then, presto! you've downloaded some kind of "Privacy Keeper" MSIX file. Please look at that link and update to what it actually should be. ~2026-45141-31 (talk) 20:41, 18 August 2026 (UTC)

Thank you very much for this report. I have deleted it in the light of your report. We have to assume that it has been subverted - conveniently the automatically archived copy given in the "citation" shows that the domain was for sale in 2022.

If anyone wants to reinstate, it would be wisest to use the archived copy at https://web.archive.org/web/20110930131044/http://www.ukrainian-orthodoxy.org/questions/2010/threeBarCross.php (archived 2011.09.30) but please check compliance with policy WP:ELNO first. 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 21:58, 18 August 2026 (UTC)

Lead image

Hi, various editors have been trading the People's Salvation Cathedral in Bucharest and Cathedral of Christ the Savior as the top image for this article for a few months now. The fact that the choice of building is a matter of dispute is a very good illustration of the fact that Orthodoxy can't reliably be represented by a single building, in consideration of disputes and rivalries between the various autocephalous churches. I would personally put the Rublev trinity or a simple three-barred cross in the lead, but I'm certainly against including a single building. Any thoughts on this? Theodore Christopher (talk) 16:11, 21 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi @TheLionHasSeen, I'll note that no discussed consensus was reached when you inserted People's Salvation Cathedral as the image for this article back in 2025. Why exactly does it belong in the lead? There is no policy dictating that the largest example of an object must represent it, and this page was without a lead image until 2025. Theodore Christopher (talk) 19:14, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

The contribution was welcomed, that is why. Additionally, the only things I and several others have noticed here are those seeking to remove anything that doesn't represent Russian Orthodoxy as pre-eminent; not just with this article, but with other articles as well where Greek and other images representing Byzantine/Eastern Orthodoxy were replaced by Russian images. This is the largest Orthodox church by volume, and helps represent Eastern Orthodoxy visually. TheLionHasSeen (talk) 21:30, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

Welcomed by whom? The only thing I can find is an IP who thinks that it's "the greatest building that Eastern Orthodoxy got", which is a case of completely unverifiable POV, even if you agree with it.

I'm certainly not advocating for People's Salvation to be replaced with a Russian church. This is a page about a religious tradition, not a specific autocephalous church. Implicitly privileging one church, the Romanian one, over others as "more representative" is making a value judgement that is completely unnecessary in this page. Theodore Christopher (talk) 22:26, 24 August 2026 (UTC)