[LEAPSECS] Leap seconds and religion

[Gerard Ashton]

There are potential religious implications associated with dropping leap
seconds from civil time. There are perennial calls for improvements to the
Gregorian calendar (which of course was instigated by a pope) by modifying
the leap year rule. One such proposal is the Revised Julian Calendar,
currently adopted by some Orthodox Catholic churches, which temporarily
coincides with the Gregorian, but will differ in a few thousand years. At
present, there is little interest in changing the Gregorian calendar as the
civil calendar, because the unpredictability of leap seconds makes it
impossible to say whether the Gregorian calendar or one of its similar
rivals will turn out to be more accurate. But if leap seconds were
abolished, it would become possible to calculate which rival is most
accurate and calendar reform discussions might become more active. If we
treat the tropical year as having a fixed duration in SI seconds and use the
2011 value, the Gregorian calendar will be off by a day in about 3000 years.
Whether it is reasonable to suppose any decision about leap seconds will
endure for 3000 years is another issue.

Gerard Ashton