Police prevented demonstrators gathering outside Broadcasting House because of its close proximity to a synagogue and a risk there could be "serious disruption" as congregants attend services on the Jewish holy day.

Eastern Orthodox Christians usually celebrate Easter later than Catholic and Protestant churches, because they use a different method of calculating the date for the holy day that marks Christ’s resurrection.

Four of the other plaintiffs subsequently sought permission but were denied by officials who ruled the solar eclipse is not listed as a holy day for their religions, the lawsuit states.

They gather outside on beaches and church lawns, in local cemeteries and national parks, marking the holy day at the very core of Christianity.

Ash Wednesday has been a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church — a mandatory day of church attendance — but it’s not obligatory in the Episcopal Church.