Religious Holidays Mysteriously Reappear in iOS Calendar Amid Controversy

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We recently reported that amid the rollout of its iOS 11.2.5 software update, a number of prominent Judeo-Christian holidays (including Easter and Good Friday) seemed to mysteriously vanish from Apple’s Calendar app — prompting outcry among some religious believers who were under the impression that an anti-Christian bias was afoot up in Cupertino.

Now, roughly two weeks since the controversy was thrust into the spotlight over on Apple’s official Support forums, LifeSiteNews reports that “just as quickly” as they vanished, Good Friday, Easter, and more have reappeared in the default Calendar app on devices running version 11.2.6.

Apple has not yet issued a public statement admitting how, or why, these cornerstone Christian holidays vanished in the first place — and so, at least for the time being, we simply don’t know whether it was a mere software glitch, or, as some conspiracy theorists believed, a deliberate decision on Apple’s part.

However, the publication notes that David Cooke, Canadian Campaign Manager for CitizenGO, had penned a letter to Apple shortly after the discovery, saying the removal of Easter “gives the impression” that Cupertino holds anti-Christian sentiments.

“Good Friday and Easter Sunday have been omitted. This gives the impression that your company has an anti-Christian bias,” Cooke wrote, noting that “These holidays are celebrated by millions in the States – they are the most important holidays in Christianity. People (not just Christians) want to know when they are.”

Surprisingly, Apple penned a personal response to Cooke — signed by someone known only by the name “Phil” — in which it stated “We are sorry that you do not have Easter marked as a holiday on your Calendar. An update is planned for this week that will fix it.”

“Phil” (who’s unlikely the company’s Senior VP of Worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller) continued, explaining to Cooke that “Many years ago Apple set up…‘US Holidays’ designed to simply list official U.S. Government holidays,” adding that “We are now updating this calendar to have many more holidays, including Easter and Good Friday and more.”

iDrop News can confirm on our iOS 11.2.6-running iPad Pro that all of the Judeo-Christian Holidays in question — including Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter and Passover —have returned.

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