His Grace Bishop Mihail, head of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, consecrated on Sunday, Sept. 21, the new church of the Romanian Orthodox community in Narre Warren North – Dandenong, a suburb located about 40 kilometres southeast of Melbourne, Australia.
The Romanian hierarch was joined in the service by His Grace Bishop Andrei of Cleveland, auxiliary bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate within the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
The community’s first chapel was arranged between 2010 and 2013, but in 2015 the faithful decided to build a new, larger church. The foundation stone was blessed by Bishop Mihail in 2018, on the parish’s 10th anniversary.
At the beginning of 2019, the church foundation was poured, followed by the raising of cement panel walls and the construction of the roof and dome. After the pandemic, work continued until 2024, when the occupancy certificate for the new church building was issued.
In 2025, the interior works were completed, including the installation of the iconostasis, the construction and adornment of the Holy Altar, and the exterior works, which included parking facilities.
Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church sent a congratulatory message to Bishop Mihail and the community for their efforts.
“We pray to our Lord Jesus Christ to grant the Romanian Orthodox community in Melbourne health and salvation, peace and joy, along with the exhortation to continue preserving our Orthodox faith and ancestral Romanian traditions, transmitting the treasure of faith to future generations, and maintaining communion with the mother country,” His Beatitude conveyed.
The parish, founded in 2008, is dedicated to Saint Apostle Thomas.
Photo: Facebook / Bishop Andrei
