Sunday, 16 June 2013, Basilica News Agency of the Romanian Patriarchate celebrates five years of activity. The agency is part of the Basilica Press Centre – Department for Communications and Public Relations of the Patriarchal Administration – and it is the only member of the Press Centre of its name, Basilica.
This media institution was set up at the feast of Saint Pious Dimitrios the New, Protector of Bucharest, 27 October 2007, as part of the Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate. The official launch of Basilica Agency took place on 16 June 2008, on the feast of the Holy Trinity. The event was held after the celebration of the Te Deum service in “Europa Christiana” hall of the Patriarchate Palace in the presence of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania.
The role of the News Agency is to present, as news and press documents, the institutions, activity and attitude of the Romanian Orthodox Church on various topical issues. The selection and systematisation of the news is done in accordance with the principles of the Christian morals and of the norms of the journalistic deontology. The news and information are organised in electronic format and present data on the church life in the country and abroad: the activity of the Patriarch of Romania, decisions of the Holy Synod, activity developed in eparchies, monasteries and parishes, theological schools and church associations, dialogue of the Church with society, inter-Orthodox cooperation, inter-confessional and inter-religious dialogue.
The purpose of Basilica News Agency is to reflect reality, as seen by the ecclesiastic body themselves, at all levels, hierarchs, clergy, monastic life and lay people. Having been the News Agency of the Romanian Patriarchate, the religious information presented by website basilica.ro is taken over from the most authorised sources of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The website of Basilica News Agency is the means by which the daily church reality is presented in the virtual space, a fact also confirmed by the prompt display of the ecclesiastic event held within the Romanian Patriarchate at all its levels. Given the large number of visitors of basilica.ro website and the technical need to improve it in order to better meet their requirements in comparison with the beginning of its activity in 2008, the website was much improved with the blessing and care of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania: on 30 September 2010 a new interface with special graphics was launched, and on 27 October 2012, on the feast of Saint Pious Dimitrios the New, Protector of Bucharest, a new version of basilica.ro website started to operate wishing to be a useful tool for the internet users from all over the world willing to discover the life of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Basilica News Agency is a point of convergence for the other components of the Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate (Tinitas Radio, Trinitas Television, Lumina publications, and the Press Office), because the News Agency is focused on the information of the church life, with a precise content which combines image, sound and the written words. Due to basilica.ro website the news can be visualised by the audience far from radio, television or newspaper, in general, far from Romania. For the Romanians living in Diaspora this is the main source of information on the Romanian Orthodox Church both from the country and from abroad.
Basilica News Agency is a voice of the Romanian Orthodox Church at international level too, because ever since it was launched basilica.ro has had an English version too. The main events of the Romanian Patriarchate are published in this language of international circulation as well.
Today, we see that basilica.ro website of the Romanian Patriarchate is the most important source of news in the media virtual space on the life of the Romanian Orthodox Church, a thing also proved by the fact that the majority of the lay publications and mass media means of Romania, as well as most of the church press from the country and abroad take over the information of greatest interest in the life of our Church from the website of Basilica Agency.
