Orthodox hierarchs from France and the Benelux countries will organise a day of prayer and reflection on caring for creation in Paris on 12 September, according to Orthodoxie.com. The event will take place at the Holy Archangels Cathedral of the Romanian Metropolis of Western and Southern Europe, beginning at 16:00. The Assembly of Orthodox Bishops…
“A dignified future can only be built through knowing and embracing one’s own identity,” Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia told students at the Ion Creangă Pedagogical College in Bălți, Republic of Moldova, on Tuesday. In his message marking the start of the new school and academic year, the Metropolitan of Bessarabia emphasised that education is not…
Archimandrite Maxim Drăguț, Assistant Bishop-elect of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, will be ordained to the episcopate at the Parish of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste in Moncalieri, near Turin, Italy. Services will take place on 7–8 September. The programme will begin on the evening of Monday, 7 September, with Great Vespers at…
Andreea Ogăraru, a mother of six, and Dr Radu Țincu, a senior physician in Intensive Care and Toxicology at Bucharest’s Floreasca Emergency Clinical Hospital, spoke with participants at the 2026 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO 2026). The event took place on Tuesday evening at the National Cathedral in Bucharest and was broadcast live by…
Archbishop Atanasie of Great Britain and Northern Ireland issued a message at the beginning of the new Church Year, emphasising that “at the threshold between two liturgical years, the Church places before us the same person: the Most Holy Mother of God”. His Eminence noted that we are accustomed to measuring time by what begins…
The Romanian Patriarchate’s Basilica News Agency is launching a new visual identity and a completely rebuilt Basilica.ro today, 1 September, to coincide with the start of the new Church Year. It is the first major interface overhaul since the website was last redesigned in 2016. The timing anticipates an important milestone: in 2027, both the…
“The Church and society need you, not for what you will become years from now, but for what you bring today,” State Secretary for Religious Affairs Ciprian Olinici told participants at the opening of the 2026 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth in Bucharest on Tuesday. The Romanian official reflected on the significance of the young…
Bucharest Mayor Ciprian Ciucu on Tuesday urged young participants at ITO 2026 to carry forward Romania “as it is today — open, free and Christian”. The Mayor addressed more than 2,400 young people gathered at the National Cathedral for the opening of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth and said their presence gave the venue…
“Begin with God, with a prayer offered in faith, with a candle lit in silence, with an act of mercy done from the heart,” Archbishop Calinic of Suceava and Rădăuți said in a message marking the beginning of the new Church Year. His Eminence explained that liturgical time should not be regarded merely as a…
“I hope you experience this communion, learn from people wiser than yourselves and keep believing in Romania,” President Nicușor Dan told young participants at ITO 2026 on Tuesday. The Romanian president attended the opening of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth at the National Cathedral, alongside representatives of dioceses, sister Orthodox Churches and central and…
The Day of Prayer for Creation is observed on 1 September, at the beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year, as the Church calls for environmental protection and greater responsibility for God’s creation. Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I launched the initiative in 1989, calling on the Christian world to pray for creation and its protection. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel urged young people attending the 2026 International Orthodox Youth Meeting (ITO) in Bucharest on Tuesday to have the desire to courageously bear witness to Christian values. The Patriarch of Romania emphasized that „the young Orthodox Christian who loves God and others discovers and bears witness to the truth that the Crucified…
“We shall continue, in word and deed, to promote the ecological vision of the Holy Great Church of Christ and the eco-friendly dynamism of the eucharistic, ascetic, and doxological relationship with creation,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I emphasised in his message for the Day of Prayer for the Environment. His All-Holiness explained that the state of…
Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia issued a message on Monday for Romanian Language Day, saying the occasion “calls us to honour one of the deepest expressions of our continuity”. “Language is the spiritual matrix of a people, the archive of its sensibility, the memory of its sufferings and victories, as well as the most faithful expression…
His Grace Bishop Iachint of the Pacific, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, emphasised that Christ can become either a “stumbling block” or the “firm foundation” of our lives, depending on how we receive and fulfil the word of God. Bishop Iachint celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Sunday at the Life-Giving…
“The Dormition of the Mother of God reveals to us the victory of life in Christ and her unceasing closeness to those who call upon her in prayer,” Metropolitan Antonie of Bessarabia said on Friday, when the Dormition was celebrated according to the unrevised calendar. Metropolitan Antonie celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the parish’s patronal…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania sent a letter of gratitude to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on Monday, following a ceremony at the Phanar over the weekend to sign the canonisation acts for four Romanian Athonite saints. „In particular, the canonization of the four Athonite Fathers of Romanian origin – Hieromonk Niphon, Monk…
“It becomes a choice, a heritage we preserve and, above all, a gift we are called to entrust to our children,” Archbishop Atanasie of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said in a message, marking Romanian Language Day. His Eminence explained that distance cannot erase the bond between language, family and homeland. “A person may travel…
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I signed the canonisation acts for four Romanian Athonite saints on Saturday: Sts Niphon of Prodromos Skete, Nectarios the Protopsaltes, Dionysius of Colciu and Petronius of Prodromos Skete. The ceremony took place at the Cathedral of St George in Constantinople’s Phanar district, after the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate…
The Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, Romania, celebrated its patronal feast on Sunday, honouring St Alexander, Patriarch of Constantinople. To mark the occasion, the relic of St Basil the Great’s right hand was brought from Greece to bless the congregation. Bishop Galaction of Alexandria and Teleorman celebrated the Divine Liturgy with Bishop Nectarie of Ireland and…