“The Saviour teaches us that we must show through fasting that we love God, the Giver of life, more than the gifts He offers us and that we love heavenly spiritual gifts more than limited and transient material gifts,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said on Cheesefare Sunday. His Beatitude explained the Gospel of the Cheesefare…
Bulgarians paid their last homage to Patriarch Neophyte on Saturday, after the head of their national Church reposed into the Lord on Wednesday. In addition to many faithful who came to say goodbye at the “St Alexander Nevsky” Patriarchal Cathedral in Sofia, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, as well as the hierarchs of the Bulgarian…
Last week, His Eminence Archbishop Ioachim presided at the annual synaxis of the abbots and abbesses of the Roman and Bacău Archdiocese and spoke about the objective that a monk must have in the third millennium, namely “to be a monk of the resurrection.” The meeting at the diocesan centre in Roman was preceded by…
His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, transmitted a message on Saturday, for the funeral of His Beatitude Neophyte, Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Full text: Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria – A Gentle and Wise Spiritual Shepherd Your Eminence Ioan, Metropolitan of Varna and Veliki Preslav, Locum-tenens to the Patriarch, Beloved members…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania sent condolences to the Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church following the death of Patriarch Neophyte. Full text: Bucharest, 14 March 2024 To the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church It is with deep sorrow that we learned about the passing away, after battling a long illness, of…
According to a statement published on the Bulgarian Patriarchate’s website, His Beatitude Patriarch Neophyte of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church reposed in the Lord on Wednesday evening at the age of 78. Patriarch Neophyte died at the Academy of Military Medicine in Sofia at 10:22 p.m. as a result of multiple organ failure. “We appeal to…
On Meatfare Sunday, His Grace Bishop Sofronie of Oradea celebrated the Divine Liturgy at Izbuc parish and delivered a sermon on the significance of good actions in determining our eternal destiny at the Final Judgement. “It is not by chance that the mercy we owe to one another, the brotherly love and the Frightful Judgment…
Last week, during an extraordinary session, the Synod of the Metropolis of Bessarabia addressed various pastoral, missionary, social, and administrative challenges that the Romanian Orthodox Church in the Republic of Moldova faces. His Eminence Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia, Bishop Antonie of Bălți, and Bishop Veniamin of Southern Bessarabia deliberated on matters pertaining to the effectiveness…
His Eminence Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina officiated on Friday the Blessing service for the „Veronica” Clinic in Iași, the first socio-medical centre in Romania to offer free medical services to socially vulnerable pregnant women, mothers and their children. The medical institution was established at charity priest Dan Damaschin’s initiative and through the fundraising efforts…
We continue to feature each month’s holy healers, with nine saints celebrated in March. The lives of some of them are less known to believers in Romania, so this month is a good opportunity to learn about saints who enjoy special reverence in other countries such as the United Kingdom or Greece. Saint David of…
The Romanian Parliament will have an Orthodox chapel that will be consecrated on March 25, on the feast of the Annunciation, the acting president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfred Simonis, announced on Monday, the National Press Agency Agerpres reports. Orthodox chapel inside the Parliament “It is a space within the Parliament building. At my…
Last week, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided to dedicate 2025 to the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate and the Romanian Orthodox confessors of the twentieth century. According to a press release issued by the Chancellery of the Holy Synod, 2025 will mark the Solemn year of the Centennial of the Romanian…
On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel welcomed the new Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Bucharest, His Excellency Giles Matthew Portman, at the Patriarchal Residence for a presentation visit. His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel extended a cordial reception to Romania and expressed gratitude for Ambassador Portman’s extensive…
The assistance extended by the Romanian Orthodox Church to Ukrainian refugees who sought refuge in Romania and the Republic of Moldova over the previous year exceeded one million euros and included a variety of services, products, and financial aid. Therefore, in 2023, the Filantropia Federation and the dioceses of the Romanian Orthodox Church provided measurable…
A historic pilgrimage with the relics of Saint Demetrius the New began on Monday morning. Hundreds of believers waited for the reliquary with the holy relics in the first parishes of Câmpina, a city 100 km north of Bucharest. Before departing for the first stop, His Grace patriarchal auxiliary bishop Paisie of Sinaia offered prayers…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel was ordained to the episcopate at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Timisoara 34 years ago. On July 22, 1951, in Dobreşti village, Bara commune, Timiş County, patriarch Daniel, the sixth head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, was born as the third child of educator Alexie and his wife Stela Ciobotea. He pursued doctoral…
The “Bessarabia” Association of the Romanians from the Odesa region would like 2026 to be declared as “Peter Mogila Intercultural Year in Ukraine, Romania and the Republic of Moldova”. In December 2023, the association sent an open letter to the three countries’ presidents. On February 26, 2024, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced…
The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church met for a working session at Patriarch Teoctist Aula of the Patriarchal Palace on Thursday, February 29, 2024. The meeting was chaired by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel. The Holy Synod resolved the following: To declare 2025 as a Solemn Year of the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate…
On Thursday, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided to establish two new dioceses for the Romanian diaspora: the Diocese of Great Britain and the Diocese of Ireland and Iceland. They are added to the already-existing 10 dioceses abroad, which include Romanians from the diaspora and the historic Romanian communities around the actual…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel urged, at the onset of the Triodion, from the altar of the historic chapel of the patriarchal residence, that in order to be pleasing to God, we should emulate the Pharisees’ practice of conducting good deeds and the tax collector’s humility. Triodion begins His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel noted that Orthodox believers…