On June 15, His Grace Bishop Antonie of Bălți officiated a blessing service at the opening of the Anastasis Educational Centre, where Ukrainian children displaced to Bălți can continue their online studies and keep in touch with their teachers and colleagues in different parts of Europe. The “Anastasis” Centre has been integrated into the cultural-educational…
The participants at the Fifth Halki Summit, dedicated to protecting the environment and entitled “Sustaining the Future of the Planet Together”, issued a joint statement at the end of the conference. The participants from Romania met organizations working in the field and discovered inspiration and possibilities for cooperation. In the post-event statement, participants called on…
This year’s edition of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, marked anually on June 26, has the theme “Addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises”. In 2022, the world continues to witness widespread humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine and elsewhere, while the COVID-19 pandemic is still a major global health crisis.…
On 4 December 2000, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in Resolution 55/76 decided that, from 2000, June 20, would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. In this resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. It is commemorated to honour all…
This year, the Fast of the Holy Apostles begins on Monday, June 20, and lasts for nine days. The commemoration day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is celebrated every year on June 29. This year, they are celebrated on a Wednesday. As a result, the Church has ordained to permit fish, although the…
His Eminence Metropolitan Serafim of Germany, Central and Northern Europe, consecrated on Saturday the altar of the Romanian Church dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit and St Stephen the Great in Vienna, which he said is “a symbol of the faith and worthiness of our people on Austrian soil.” Five hierarchs concelebrated with…
The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate added on Tuesday a new saint to the Orthodox calendar: Archimandrite Bessarion Korkoliakos, also called “the Merciful Elder”, abbot of the Agathonos Monastery († January 22). The saint was born in Messinia’s Petalidi, in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese Peninsula, in 1908 and was baptized Andreas. When he…
World Blood Donor Day is marked annually on June 14 to raise awareness of the importance of blood donation. The goal of the observance is to encourage people to donate blood, but also to celebrate those who do it voluntarily, without reward. The day was instituted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000, with…
On Monday, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel praised the Basilica Media Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate as “a media ensemble necessary for the Romanian Orthodox Church in its mission of communicating the Gospel of Christ in the world.” “The Basilica Media Centre, born in the Church and bearing the name of the Church, addresses with priority…
All five institutions that are part of the Basilica Media Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate have been placed under the protection of the Holy Trinity, having as their model and help the Divine Persons who “give themselves to each other and work together in perfect harmony, and Their glory shows the holiness and beauty of…
Opening the works of the Spring Pastoral-Missionary Conference of the clergy of the Archdiocese of Bucharest on Monday, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel stressed that prayer is an act of communion: “A Christian’s prayer, even offered in solitude, in one’s home or cell, is not a solitary prayer, but a solidary prayer, in communion with the…
“Christ, Who has ascended to the heavens and is enthroned at the right hand of the Father, is the foundation of our hope that we also will eventually arrive in the house of the Father,” where Christ Himself awaits us, said the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas on Saturday, at the summer patronal feast…
Last Thursday, the patriarchal auxiliary bishop Ieronim of Sinaia attended a commemorative ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Bucharest’s Carol I Park. The patriarchal auxiliary bishop said it is the feast of the Ascension of the Lord and “a day of spiritual elevation” in prayer for the heroes who ensured the uninterrupted…
World Oceans Day, observed on June 8, is a suited time to raise awareness and appreciate these great gifts received from God. Oceans are the lungs of our Planet and a major source of food and medicine and a critical part of the biosphere. The concept of World Oceans Day was originally proposed in 1992…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel has extended his blessing to all students taking national exams in Romania. “Exams are good opportunities for evaluation and intellectual maturation in a competitive society, but also necessary steps to cultivate spiritual and cultural values that increase the capacity for dialogue and communication between people,” the Patriarch of Romania encouraged students…
Chairing the Pastoral-Missionary Conference of the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Bucharest on Monday, the Patriarch of Romania urged priests to use the Solemn and Commemorative Year 2022 as an opportunity to reflect on the activity of Hesychast Saints in our country. His Beatitude emphasized that the state of Wallachia emerged during the Hesychast movement,…
During his sermon on Sunday, Bishop Ignatie of Huși said that Arianism has not disappeared but is hidden in secular atheist humanism. Speaking at the diocesan cathedral in Husi, His Grace Bishop Ignatie explained that the heresy of Arius set out to snatch God from Jesus Christ by denying His divinity, just as atheistic humanism…
Filling the ocean one drop at a time: Children from an after-school painting group in Hârtop, Suceava county, took an important decision on International Children’s Day. They decided to sell their paintings to the highest bidders and donate the gains to Romania’s National Cathedral. “We know this is just a drop in the ocean, but…
On the seventh Sunday of Pascha, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel spoke about the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, a remembrance that makes the connection between the feast of the Ascension of the Lord and the Descent of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council taught and testified against the heresy of…
Orthodox and Catholic theologians and lay people will come together at the Halki Summit V in Istanbul between June 8 and 11, to dicuss on a sustainable future for our planet. The 5th edition of the summit is entitled Sustaining the Future of the Planet Together. It has been inspired by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and…