Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel reflects on time and eternity in thought of St Dumitru Stăniloae at Year’s Turn

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a meditation at the Patriarchal Cathedral on New Year’s Eve, focusing on the relationship between time and eternity in the theological thought of Saint Dumitru Stăniloae. The first major teaching, he said, is that “time has been and remains humanity’s constant and principal concern, and this sense of time flowing…

Jan 3, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

UK’s Romanian Orthodox Archbishop Atanasie calls for spiritual vigilance at start of New Year

“This passage between years is also a time of watchfulness. We are not called to judge our lives with harsh severity—which leads to discouragement—but to place them before God with sincerity,” noted Archbishop Atanasie of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in a message marking the turn of the year. “The year now drawing to a…

Jan 3, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel offers condolences after deadly Swiss ski resort fire

Following the devastating fire at the Crans-Montana ski resort in Switzerland on January 1, which claimed dozens of lives and left many more injured, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church issued a message of condolences and prayers, expressing solidarity with the victims, their families, and all those affected by the tragedy. Swiss authorities have…

Jan 3, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Orthodox Bishop in Canada urges joy and renewed witness at Christmas

In his Christmas pastoral letter, Bishop Ioan Casian of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada has called on the faithful to live the season of the Nativity with joy, hope and renewed commitment. “Let us live this time of the Nativity of the Lord with joy and hope, with trust in God and with renewed…

Dec 25, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel says Christ came to sanctify the world from within in Christmas homily

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said on the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord that Christ came into the world to sanctify creation and to teach humanity, from within it, to give thanks to God for the very existence of the created universe and for human life itself. “Christ comes into the world to sanctify…

Dec 25, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Anti-Christian hate crimes remain high across Europe, rights groups say

European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) and the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) have published a new annual report showing that hate crimes and violence targeting Christians remain at persistently high levels across Europe. The report finds that ideological motivations are increasingly driving such incidents, alongside religiously motivated attacks…

Dec 24, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew calls euthanasia a complex moral challenge

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said euthanasia is “one of the most delicate and complex contemporary issues our societies are called to confront,” speaking last week at an international conference held at the Phanar. The conference, titled “Good Living – Decisions at the End of Life,” took place on December 19–20 under the auspices of the…

Dec 24, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Orthodox Bishop in Ireland and Iceland urges inner renewal in first Christmas pastoral letter

Bishop Nectarie of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Ireland and Iceland underscored the need for inner change and the rediscovery of spiritual purity in the face of contemporary challenges in his first Christmas pastoral letter since his enthronement. “Our renewal begins today — a perpetual today — for before the Lord there is no yesterday,…

Dec 24, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Serafim urges humility over comfort in Christmas message, highlights women’s role in Church and family

In this year’s Christmas pastoral letter, Metropolitan Serafim of Germany invites the faithful to move beyond the material comfort associated with the Nativity feast and to rediscover what he calls “the only new thing under the sun”: the humility of God who becomes Man. In the pastoral message titled “The Christian Woman in the Family,…

Dec 23, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Saint Andrew relic brought to Bessarabia as Metropolis dedicates 2026 to Metropolitan Antonie Plămădeală

The Metropolis of Bessarabia has dedicated the year 2026 to Metropolitan Antonie Plămădeală (1926-2005). The announcement was made on Saturday, December 13, at Durlești Monastery, which marked the patronal feast of the Apostle Andrew, according to the unrevised calendar. Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with Archbishop Casian of Lower Danube and…

Dec 23, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

A year in review: Key decisions of the Romanian Orthodox Holy Synod in 2025

In a landmark year marking the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church adopted decisions that reshaped the Church’s liturgical calendar, pastoral priorities and institutional life. From the canonisation of new saints to the consecration of the National Cathedral’s iconography and key administrative reforms, 2025 stood out as one…

Dec 23, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu