Dioceses

Transylvania Metropolitan urges prayer for loving protection of the Virgin Mary in times of pandemic

In addition to the recommendation to respect the regulations announced by authorities, Metropolitan Laurentiu of Transylvania advised the clergy to officiate every morning the Supplicatory Canon of the Theotokos and to read the special prayer for the cessation of the coronavirus pandemic. “We ask all the ministers of the altars in all the parishes and…

Mar 19, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Alba Archbishop Irineu sends encouraging message: Our ancestors surpassed many hardships with Christian dignity

Archbishop Irineu of Alba Iulia has sent a message of encouragement context of containment for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which ‘is affecting the lives of some and limits the freedom of movement and action of others.’ The Archbishop of the historic city of Alba Iulia referred to the ancestors of the Romanian people who surpassed many…

Mar 19, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Coronavirus: Râmnic Archdiocese Seminary offers 200 rooms for quarantine

The Archdiocese of Râmnic has announced that it has made the dormitory of its Theological Orthodox Seminary available to the country’s health authorities to take in patients, serve as a quarantine zone or even provide accommodation to health professionals. A total of 200 rooms will be available for quarantine. “In the Archdiocese of Râmnic, as…

Mar 19, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Teofan: It is time to seek refuge in the privacy of our homes, until the wrath of this plague is past

While Romania instated state of emergency on Monday to contain the coronavirus epidemic, Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina sent a video encouraging message urging for prayer and calm which gathered more than 600,000 views on Facebook. The metropolitan quotes God’s words given to prophet Isaiah 26:20: “Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut…

Mar 19, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Romanian Metropolitan invites doctor to tell believers how to avoid coronavirus

As people across Romania are gripped by anxiety, hoping that the coronavirus doesn’t affect them, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat invited a doctor to address believers following the Sunday Divine Liturgy on how to avoid the spread of the new virus. “Dear brothers and sisters, seeing the anxiety and the disorder, because such a…

Mar 5, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Newly consecrated Bishop Benedict celebrates first Divine Liturgy in home town

One week after his ordination to the episcopate, His Grace Bishop Benedict of Bistrița, Romania’s youngest Orthodox hierarch, celebrated his first Divine Liturgy in his home town Sartăş. Addressing those present, the assistant bishop to the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac, and Cluj, confessed that after his ordination the first thing that came to his mind…

Mar 5, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop of Huși: We live in an age of technology and another type of fasting is required, a media quarantine

His Grace Bishop Ignatie of Huși cautioned that in an age of technology we should extend our fasting rules to technology in order to gain spiritual peace during Lent. ‘We live in an age of technology and another type of fasting is required, a media quarantine,’ the Bishop of Huși stressed during Forgiveness Vespers marking…

Mar 5, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolis of Bessarabia urges calm and discernment over coronavirus fears

The Metropolis of Bessarabia urged believers to remain calm and to strictly follow the recommendations transmitted by the health authorities to avoid infections with the new coronavirus (Covid-19). In a press release, the Orthodox Metropolis of Bessarabia listed the main recommendations of authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus: wash hands and face vigorously with…

Mar 4, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Memorial to Elder Cleopa Ilie to be set up in his childhood home

According to a recent statement from the Metropolitan of Moldova and Bukovina of the Romanian Orthodox Church, there are plans to build a memorial to one of the greatest Orthodox elders of the 20th century in his hometown. On Sunday, February 16, His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan continued a series of visits he has been undertaking…

Feb 28, 2020Gheorghe Anghel

After installation, New Romanian Bishop Benedict of Bistrița says he wants to be a friend of youth

A new Romanian bishop was ordained on Sunday, February 23, 2020, at the Orthodox Cathedral in Cluj and installed as an auxiliary bishop to the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj in the presence of thousands. Consecrated at the age of 36, Benedict of Bistrita became the youngest Romanian Orthodox Bishop. He said that he…

Feb 24, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Râmnic Archbishop Varsanufie commemorates Roma who died in concentration camps, deportations and captivity

His Eminence Archbishop Varsanufie of Râmnic Thursday, February 20, 2020, officiated a prayer service for remembrance of the Roma who died in concentration camps, deportations and captivity. The memorial service was officiated at the Ascension of the Lord Church in Râmnicu-Vâlcea to mark 164 years since the liberation of Roma in Romanian Principalities. The list…

Feb 21, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu