HG Ioan Casian, Bishop of Canada, visited the Romanians from Boian, in the Canadian Province of Alberta. The hierarch’s visit came a week after a fire consumed the historic church of the community.
Bishop Ioan Casian prayed at the site of the burnt church and participated in a meeting which aimed to determine the next steps towards rebuilding the holy place.
The results of the investigation into the source of the fire are still awaited before the site is cleared for future work. It was most likely caused by a shortcircuit and firefighters and members of the community worked for two days to fully extinguish the fire.
On Sunday, June 11, despite the sadness, the community celebrated the retirement of Fr. Mircea Panciuk, who served there for 54 years..
At the consultation organised with their hierarch, the Romanians of Boian expressed their desire and determination to rebuild the church for future generations.
The burnt church was the fruit of the work of previous generations. Now “it’s the moment of our generation”, said the Romanians fo Boian, Canada. Their slogan is: “We will rebuild”.
Community members have set out to put down on paper a number of proposals and ideas, which will be organised and structured so they become an action plan. The bishop took part in the first brainstorming session.
On June 12, the second day of the hierarch’s visit, the faithful gathered with Bishop Ioan Casian and Fr. Mircea Panciuk to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God and prayers for rain at the site of the church.
Before parting, the hierarch encouraged the faithful, spoke about the possibilities of help that will be tried and expressed his desire to keep in touch with the Romanians of Boian to work together on this project.
Located in the Province of Alberta, the parish is made up of descendants of the first Romanian immigrants. They came from Bukovina, a region historically inhabited by Romanians, which is distributed today between Romania and Ukraine.
Photo credit: Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada
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