Four years have passed since a deadly blaze killed 64 and wounded 147 at the Colectiv rock club in Bucharest in 2015. The mainstream media wrote many stories about a lack of involvement of the Church in helping the victims, but there are several important details omitted until today.
Among the first to arrive at the place of the tragedy on that dreadful night of October 30 was Father Vasile Birleanu who serves at the Orthodox Chapel at the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations on Dealul Spirii in Bucharest.
This Orthodox priest was the first clergyman to arrive immediately after the fire broke out and to comfort the victims. He offered the first prayers for the souls of the departed and for the recovery of the wounded.
Shortly after the tragedy, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel offered condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families over the Colectiv club fire and issued an urgent call to the public to donate blood. Patriarch Daniel was the first public figure to offer condolences after the fire.
‘We are together with those in distress on the hospital bed and we pray to God for their pain relief and healing,’ the Patriarch of Romania said.
‘We entreat our crucified and risen Saviour Jesus Christ to rest in His peace and love the souls of those who died because of the fire and to strengthen spiritually the bereaved,’ His Beatitude added prayerfully.
‘We renew our call for blood donations to save the lives of those in hospitals,’ the patriarchal message read.
The call for blood donors was answered by the volunteers of the Chapel of the National Cathedral who teamed up and organized a new edition of the ‘Donate blood. Save a life’ Campaign.
The volunteers provided food to the over 140 injured people who were hospitalized. Their support included the transportation from their homes to the hospitals for treatment for several months.
Memorial services were held in front of the Colectiv club and in the Orthodox churches in Bucharest and all across Romania in memory of the young people who departed from this world too early.
Patriarch Daniel himself officiated the 40 day memorial service for the victims at the Patriarchal Cathedral.
Special prayers were offered in front of the Colectiv club during the first Paschal Service after the fire on May 1, 2016.
In addition, the bereaved families received material support from the Patriarch of Romania, from their parishes and several dioceses.
Following a social investigation, 63,000 Euros were collected by the Archdiocese of Bucharest and transferred to the victims’ families. The total amount collected from the dioceses of the Romanian Orthodox Church raised over 210,000 Euros.
The Orthodox Archdiocese of Bucharest built a monument to honour the memory of the victims at the St Nicholas – Brosteni Church, the nearest church to the Colectiv club.
Photography courtesy of the Basilica.ro Archive
