Dioceses

Pătrăuţi Monastery reopens after more than 200 years

Pătrăuţi Monastery was reopened after being abolished by the Habsburg Monarchy more than two centuries ago. On the Sunday of the Holy Cross, His Grace Assistant Bishop Damaschin of Dorna installed Mother Alexandra (Bădragan) as the new abbess of Pătrăuti-Elevation of the Cross Monastery. His Grace also celebrated the first Divine Liturgy at the newly-reopened…

Apr 7, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian priest offers bicycles to children: “I come from a family of priests, and I saw my family giving all the time”

In two years, 25 children from Râpa de Jos and surroundings received a bicycle as a gift by Fr Dacian Oprea’s help. He thinks he’s not doing anything special. “That is the purpose of a priest and a man, to help.” He saw the example of generosity in his family. “I am very compassionate, and…

Apr 6, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop Damaschin: It was unfair and improper that 50 out of 80 years since the Fântâna Albă Massacre were years of silence

“It was unfair and improper that 50 out of the 80 years since the Fântâna Albă massacre were years of silence,” said His Grace Assistant Bishop Damaschin of Dorna on Thursday during a memorial service held in memory of the approximately 3,000 Romanians killed on April 1, 1941, in the Varnița forest. The Assistant Bishop…

Apr 3, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Transylvania Metropolitan Laurentiu: Young people who stay chaste before marriage give birth to blessed children

The Metropolitan of Transylvania said that the Christian family is in crisis. The solution is to resist sin through love and solidarity. He urged parents to encourage young people to keep chaste until marriage and called on mothers “to honour the blessed status God has given them at creation, namely to give birth to children.”…

Apr 1, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Let us remain confident that we can survive in one Romanian breath: Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia

In a message occasioned by the 103rd anniversary of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, on March 27, 2021, His Eminence Metropolitan Petru stressed that the example of the forerunners who accomplished the Union in 1918 “encourages us to remain steadfast and confident, that we can last forever in one Romanian breath, despite the (hopefully…

Mar 29, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Ioan offers 8 tons of food to local hospitals

Metropolitan Ioan visited last Thursday the Psychiatry Hospitals of Jebel and Gătaia, in the Archdiocese of Timișoara, where he offered almost eight tons of food. Thus, in addition to comfort and prayer, staff and patients also received 7,720 kilograms of vegetables and fruit. “I don’t have enough words of thanks and appreciation for the help…

Mar 23, 2021Ștefana Totorcea

Romanian Priest who owns mini-zoo: I wanted to give young people an incentive to return to the countryside

Father George Ouatu from Văleni, a parish within the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacau, set up in the parish house’s courtyard a mini-zoo that can be visited. The priest discovered his passion for raising animals, including exotic animals, in 2008 when he was transferred to the parish where he currently serves from the Archdiocesan Centre,…

Mar 23, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Bessarabia Diaconia Mission marks its 20th anniversary. Director Igor Belei says emotions prevail over numbers

Igor Belei, Executive Director of the Diaconia Social Mission of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, spoke in an interview about the institution’s evolution and future projects in terms of two decades of activity. “Emotions prevail over numbers Among other things, he presented the mechanism for analyzing the results of an implemented project. “If we gave a child a…

Mar 23, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

A tear from the bottom of the heart could blot out many of our sins: Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova

“The Great Canon is a treasure to which we must reflect for hours and days in a row,” His Grace Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova said on the first evening of Lent at the Patriarchal Cathedral. “Tears” is one of the themes of this treasure that the bishop spoke about in his sermon. The Assistant…

Mar 18, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Tismana Abbess about Elder Gherasim Iscu’s canonization: We feel him as a father and protector

“We welcome with great joy this decision of the Holy Synod,” Nun Antonia Popescu, abbess of Tismana Monastery, told Basilica.ro upon receiving the news that Archimandrite Gherasim Iscu is one of the confessors proposed for canonization. Father Gherasim was the last abbot of the monastery before it turned into a women’s monastery. “Father was a…

Mar 17, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu

Orthodox Archdiocese to open addiction treatment centre in Suceava

Assistant Bishop Damaschin of Dorna proposed establishing an addiction treatment centre in the Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti. The proposal was made during a Synaxis (Assembly) of the Archdiocese’s abbots, abbesses and spiritual fathers on March 8, 2021. The assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Suceava spoke about the stages of healing addictions. He stressed…

Mar 17, 2021Aurelian Iftimiu