The photo book “Church Life during the Pandemic” is out this December at the Basilica Publishing House of the Romanian Patriarchate. the volume is the fruit of the photo contest with the same title and presents a selection of the best photos sent in the competition.
The book has been published in a small number of copies, not for commercial use, but rather as a witness of the first photography contest organized by the Basilica News Agency and as a historical witness of a period which marked the whole world and the Church.
The images sent by participants documented the philanthropic activity of the Romanian Orthodox Church and the liturgical life of the clerics and faithful during the state of emergency and the state of alert imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The photos were selected from among those registered in the contest by the over 400 participants.
“In June 2020, the Basilica News Agency of the Romanian Patriarchate invited Romanian photographers from home and abroad to present their perspective on What Church Life Meant during the Pandemic. Thus, the first photo contest by Basilica.ro was born,” wrote in the publisher’s note Aurelian-Nicolae Iftimiu, Director of Basilica News Agency and initiator of the project.
“Empty churches, but filled with the prayers of the clergy. Believers forced to wear face masks, but having greater confidence in God’s providence. The Resurrection of the Lord proclaimed in the real world, but with resonance in the virtual space. Seen through the eyes of the photographers, all these have become a collection of memorable images,” he added.
Patriarch Daniel of Romania wrote the preface of the book, entitled: Pandemic calls us to humility and hope.
“This disease shows us that life and health are God’s gifts that we must keep, cultivate and nurture,” mentioned His Beatitude in the text.
“Every day the Church prays, at the end of its services, for those who are sick, but also for those who care for them, so as not to despair, to strengthen their faith with the hope that we shall return to a state in which we shall no longer have our faces covered with masks and stop keeping a distance from each other, but to manifest ourselves naturally,” he added.
The Patriarch of Romania also offered an inspiring reflection on the meaning of suffering:
“Someone said that any suffering is temporary. After a while, it passes away. But the fact of having suffered never goes away. It becomes the spiritual baggage of the person who has gone through suffering and transfigured it. They accepted it and God blessed it and turned it into spiritual maturity, into gratitude to God and an experience of spiritual growth.
May our Lord Jesus Christ help us to transform this period of loneliness and anxiety into a period of hope, a period of more intense communion with God through prayer and more intense fellowship with our neighbours through good works.”
The winners of the contest were Mihai Alexe, Andrei Candrea and Georgiana-Mădălina Cimpoeru.
Mihai Alexe, winner of the First Prize, told Basilica.ro about his snapshot capturing a masked priest in a moment of prayer while leamning on an old cross somewhere near the former Princely Court of Târgoviște in southern Romania.
“My passion for photography has offered me a lot of joy, but this photo especially rejoiced me and gave me hope in God that we shall overcome all the ordeals with the priests’ voices and prayers,” he said.
The jury of the photo contest was made of Sorin Onişor and the photographers from Basilica News Agency and Lumina Newspaper of the Romanian Patriarchate: Raluca Ene, Mircea Florescu, Mihnea Păduraru, Luigi Ivanciu. His Grace Varlaam of Ploieşti, Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop, was Honorary Chairman of the Jury.
Please see more photos from the book:
- The life of the Church during the pandemic: Photo Gallery
- 30 Romanian photographers captured Church life during the pandemic
Photo: Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene
