{"id":585058,"date":"2026-08-18T13:13:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=585058"},"modified":"2026-08-18T13:13:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:13:51","slug":"bishop-mihail-australia-families-teach-children-orthodox-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/bishop-mihail-australia-families-teach-children-orthodox-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Romanian Orthodox bishop in Australia urges families to teach children the faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

His Grace Bishop Mihail of Australia and New Zealand served on Sunday at the Romanian Orthodox Parish of the Holy Br\u00e2ncoveanu Martyrs in Sydney, Australia. \u201cLet us teach our children our Orthodox Christian faith,\u201d His Grace said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hierarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with His Grace Bishop Iachint of the Pacific, Assistant Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Bishop Mihail recalled the witness of the Holy Br\u00e2ncoveanu Martyrs<\/a> and their steadfastness, nurtured through the faith they lived and learned within their family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey faced the great trial in which they were promised that they could continue to live. They did not wish to separate themselves from the Eucharistic Christ and His teaching. Instead, Saint Constantine confessed his faith, telling his son Matthew: There is no point in deceiving ourselves any longer.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His Grace spoke about the moment when Saint Constantine Br\u00e2ncoveanu and his sons were forced to choose between renouncing their faith and death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why he urged his youngest son, Matthew, not to accept becoming a Muslim, not to renounce his faith. The boy himself placed his head on the block and said: Strike, for I want to die a Christian,\u201d His Grace emphasised.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Faith is learned within the family<\/h2>\n

The Bishop of Australia and New Zealand highlighted the courage shown by St Matthew Br\u00e2ncoveanu: \u201cExtraordinary courage for a 14-year-old child, who followed his father and brothers to the very end because he trusted in the teaching he had received within his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hierarch also noted that catechetical resources are needed to provide Christian education within Romanian communities in Australia: \u201cThis has been my dream ever since I arrived in Australia, because I saw that there was no catechetical teaching available, something that needs to be studied continually.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the questions that may cross someone\u2019s mind can find answers in the teaching of our faith,\u201d His Grace said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The bishop also spoke of his wish to make the volume The Teaching of the Orthodox Christian Faith<\/em> available to the local community and to have it translated into English, \u201cso that it may also be available to children, to converts, and to those who join and form mixed families, whether Australians or people of other nationalities\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Romanian Orthodox Parish of the Holy Br\u00e2ncoveanu Martyrs in Sydney<\/a> was established on 15 August 2008 for Romanian Orthodox faithful living in the south-western part of the city.<\/p>\n

The community initially worshipped in rented premises. In 2017, the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand purchased the property in Glenfield where the present church is located. The church was consecrated on 12 August 2018, when it also received the Annunciation as its second patronal feast.<\/p>\n

Photo: Facebook \/ Romanian Orthodox Church Holy Brancoveanu Martyrs Sydney<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His Grace Bishop Mihail of Australia and New Zealand served on Sunday at the Romanian Orthodox Parish of the Holy Br\u00e2ncoveanu Martyrs in Sydney, Australia. \u201cLet us teach our children our Orthodox Christian faith,\u201d His Grace said. The hierarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with His Grace Bishop Iachint of the Pacific, Assistant Bishop of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":584821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[37867,15555,16096,16664,4769,36855,30251,33544],"class_list":["post-585058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diaspora-en","tag-assistant-bishop-iachint-of-the-pacific","tag-bishop-mihail","tag-diocese-of-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-holy-brancoveanu-martyrs","tag-orthodox-faith","tag-pastoral-care-of-families","tag-romanians-in-australia","tag-solemn-year-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}