Aurelian 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

Lower Danube Archdiocese donates school supplies for more than 4,000 needy children

At the initiative of and with the blessing of its hierarch, His Eminence Archbishop Casian, the Archdiocese of the Lower Danube again undertook the tradition of donating backpacks and important school supplies to needy children at the beginning of the school year. According to the diocesan website, in the week before school started, 4,000 backpacks…

Sep 14, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Archangel Gabriel mosaic icon installed on walls of Bucharest National Cathedral (PHOTOS)

One of the two Archangels flanking Romania’s largest mosaic depiction of the More Spacious than the Heavens Icon of the Mother of God was successfully installed on the half-dome that stands above the altar of the National Cathedral in Bucharest. The members of the Church Painting Committee of the Romanian Patriarchate spent their Friday analysing…

Sep 14, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

The Week in Pictures: September 2-8, 2019

Church celebrations, cultural events, spiritual life and many more in a weekly selection of photos.

Sep 13, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Nathanael, in Archpastoral Encyclical, calls for living as doers of mercy

Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago called for becoming doers of mercy to guide individual lifestyles, blending a biting critique of the tendency to interpret the mercy of God in extreme ways with a plea for pursuing mercy as a way of life to be authentically human. The vision that Metropolitan Nathanael outlined in a 13-page archpastoral…

Sep 12, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu