Aurelian Iftimiu

Firefighter-turned-priest Dorin Giurgiu: I have never felt my life endangered

He was a volunteer firefighter before being ordained to the priesthood and sees a very close connection between the two missions. He says he never feared the flames, being always protected and strengthened by God, and the hardest situation he went through was hearing that his grandmother’s house was on fire. In the context of…

Sep 20, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

The Week in Pictures: September 9-15, 2019

A collection of pictures in news, culture and spirituality taken around the Orthodox world.

Sep 19, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Basilica.ro Exhibition on Romanian Village to be launched in Sweden this October

The Basilica.ro photo exhibition titled ‘The Portrait of the Romanian Village’ will be opened at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm this October. The event is organised by the Basilica News Agency, in cooperation with the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Northern Europe and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm. The exhibition will be inaugurated by…

Sep 19, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Patriarchate sets date for sainthood ceremony for Bishop Dionysius Erhan

Bishop Dionysius Erhan, one of the most outstanding church personalities from Bessarabia in the first half of the 20th century, will be proclaimed a Saint by Patriarch Daniel and other Romanian hierarchs in a canonization ceremony in Bucharest in October on the feast of St Demetrius the New. The canonization ceremony was set for October…

Sep 19, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Bartholomew meets with Pope Francis

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople met with Pope Francis on Tuesday, Vatican News reports. The meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch was held in “a fraternal atmosphere”, according to a communiqué from the Holy See Press Office. Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople also had lunch together at the Casa Santa Marta with…

Sep 19, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Five nuns tonsured at Căşiel Monastery

On the day that the Orthodox Church commemorates the Elevation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross, five nuns of Căşiel Monastery in Valea Cășeielului in northern Romania bravely took up their own crosses, offering their monastic vows. The rite of tonsuring was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Andrei of Cluj following the Vigil on the…

Sep 19, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

40-day memorial service served for Romanian priest who left behind young family

On Sunday, marking the 40-day memorial of Fr Marius Bărăscu who tragically died in a car accident, leaving behind a wife and four children, a new parish priest was installed in Parava, a village in eastern Romania. Fr. Marius Gheorghiță Prisecariu was presented to the congregation as new rector of Parava parish by the Very…

Sep 19, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Archdiocese devoted to translating Georges Florovsky’s collected works

The collected works of the Orthodox theologian Georges Florovsky are being translated into Romanian language by the Reintregirea Publishing House of the Alba Iulia Archdiocese. The translation project is coordinated by Fr. Oliviu Botoi, cultural counsellor of the archdiocese. The Romanian translation of Fr Florovsky’s first two volumes on ‘Bible, Church, Tradition’ and ‘Christianity and…

Sep 17, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Basilica.ro marks 1st anniversary of weekly news in pictures project

For more than a year, the Basilica.ro photographers have been refreshing your newsfeed at the beginning of each week with a selection of pictures from all over the Orthodox world. The project began in July 2018 and aimed to present the most interesting photographs in the Orthodox world covering a variety of topics, from church…

Sep 16, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

God helps us to transform the cross of suffering into victory, Patriarch Daniel says

‘If we think of God when we are in trouble, suffering, illness and ask for His help, then He helps us to transform the cross of suffering into victory through hope,’ underscored the Patriarch of Romania on Sunday. Bearing one’s cross The Patriarch explained in the sermon delivered at the Church of the Holy Cross…

Sep 16, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel: The Cross is the sign of a life-giving work

‘The cross is the sign of a life-giving work,’ His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said on Saturday on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Holy Cross, he added, ‘is stronger than sin, hell and death and that is why it is considered the protector of Christians and a sign of victory over…

Sep 16, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu