Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploieşti consecrated on Sunday the recently-finished church of “St. John the Baptist – Ruscova” monastery in the county of Maramureş.
The church was built on a plot belonging to the Orthodox Ukrainian Parish of Ruscova between 1992 and 1997, with the parishioners’ contribution.
Work on the church continued between 1998 and 2008, with the electrical, thermal and sewage installations.
Exterior furnishing was added: mosaics and preparation of the walls for the fresco painting. In addition, the iconostasis and the furniture were completed and the floor and columns were covered in marble.
The work on the monastery was started in 2012: cells, a chapel and the refectory.
Work coordination was assumed in 2014 by Very Reverend Ignatie Bocicorec, appointed hegumen. He completed the monastery and prepared it for consecration.
Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate
The Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate is an administrative-territorial unit canonically dependent on the Romanian Patriarchate, dedicated to Ukrainian Orthodox believers living in Romania. They participate in services held in their mother tongue by Ukrainian priests or Ukrainian speakers.
Currently, the Vicariate is based in the city of Sighetu Marmației (Maramureș County) and includes believers from the northern part of the country (Maramureș, Transylvania, Crișana, Banat).
In 1952, the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate was transformed into a Ukrainian Orthodox Deanery, based in the commune of Poienile de sub Munte, Maramureş County, under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Diocese of Cluj, receiving financial support from the Romanian Patriarchate.
After 1989, by the Decision of the Holy Synod no. 1432/12 February 1990, the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate was re-established, being directly canonically dependent on the Romanian Patriarchate.
Photo credit: Father Sorin Argintariu
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