The new calendar of the eastern churches

In May, 1923, there met in Constantinople under the presidency of the ecumenical patriarch, Meletius IV, a congress of the orthodox oriental churches which decided on a reform of the Julian calendar or rather the replacement of it by a new calendar. This decision has already been carried out by the Russian church; the others may soon follow, so that the Julian calendar, now almost 2000 years old, will go out of use. I. M. Milankovitch of Belgrade, had the honor to take part in this congress as delegate of the government of the Serbs, Croatians and Slovenes and as a representative of astronomical science. Therefore I may be permitted to report on the important decisions of this congress in regard to the question, of the calendar, and to explain them briefly.