Every year, on June 14, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day. The event serves to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood and to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure the quality, safety, and availability of blood and blood products for patients in…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, received the visit of Her Excellency Mrs. Sofia Grammata, the Ambassador of Greece to Bucharest, at his Patriarchal Residence. At the beginning of the meeting, the Patriarch of Romania appreciated Her Excellency’s rich diplomatic experience and wished success in her mission in our country. In this…
In a video message marking the 380th anniversary of the translation of Saint Parascheva’s relics to Iasi (June 13, 1641), His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said that Saint Parascheva is a very popular Saint in Romania, bringing Orthodox people together “in prayer and common witness.” “The all-gracious” Saint Parascheva is a great gift for the Romanian…
Ancient fortresses Tomis, Callatis, Histria, Adamclisi, Capidava, Carsium, Ibida, Argamum, Noviodunum, Halmiris, Ulmetum and Enisala, situated in Dobrudja, by the Black Sea, will become accessible for online tours starting from July 1. “The website will be bilingual (Romanian – English), accessible also on mobile devices, and it will present an interactive map of 12 of…
Patriarch Daniel sent a message for the festivities organized by the Diocese of Tulcea marking the 50th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of the Holy Niculițel Martyrs Zotikos, Attalos, Kamasis and Filippos, June 4, 2021. The land of Dobrudja “was sanctified by the sacrifice of many martyrs, especially in the first four Christian…
World Oceans Day takes place every June 8. The concept was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada’s International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit – UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly passed…
Romanian publisher Contra Mundum launched on Saturday the Romanian version of Rod Dreher’s most recent book, “Live Not By Lies”, in the presence of its author, an American convert to Orthodoxy. The event was held in the courtyard of Bucharest’s “New Merchants'” Church, where the author presented his book and answered questions from the public.…
American writer Rod Dreher, who converted to Orthodoxy in 2006, spoke on Friday to Basilica.ro about his conversion, about Romanian Orthodoxy as a gift from God returned to the world by Romanians and about the lessons offered by the martyrs of the Romanian communist prisons to contemporary people – including his children. Rod Dreher has…
A seminar on the future of EU trade policy was held on Tuesday at the European Parliament (EP). Father George Vâlcu addressed the event on behalf of the Committee of Representatives of the Orthodox Churches to the EU (CROCEU), proposing that trade be centred less on profit and more on the real needs of the…
The Georgian Orthodox Church has its own beautiful style of ecclesiastical chant, unique in the Orthodox world. Now, that unique sound has been officially recognized as an indelible part of Georgian and world culture, Orthochristian informs. The Georgian State Folkore Center announced on Tuesday that “Georgian traditional ecclesiastic music/chanting was added to the list of Intangible Cultural…
The Oradea Diocese has been busy building new housing for orphaned and abandoned children. Two houses were inaugurated in April, and His Grace Bishop Sofronie of Oradea just blessed and opened another house in Oșorhei. The land for all the houses was provided for by the Church. The push is part of a larger project…
On June 12-13, 2021, the Archdiocese of Iaşi will hold cultural and liturgical events marking the 380th anniversary of the translation of the relics of Saint Parascheva from Constantinople to Iaşi. The holy relics were a gift of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the ruler prince of Moldavia, Vasile Lupu. In 1641, the relics were enshrined…
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel sent a message occasioned by the Sunday of Parents and Children (June 6, 2021). He emphasized the need to reaffirm the crucial role of the family in raising and educating children for life and the need to support large and disadvantaged families. The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church resolved…
The Bishop of Maramureș and Sătmar sent a message for both parents and children on International Children’s Day. The hierarch urged parents and educators to cooperate with God in raising joyful children and recommended children to love Christ, the only One who can offer them real freedom. “Children come from God’s heaven. They bring smiles…
Patriarch Daniel sent on Monday consistent gifts for 280 children from the Archdiocese of Bucharest. Beneficiaries were the 40 children who receive social support at the eparchy’s “St Sophia” Day Care Center and the children of clerics who serve in rural parishes of the second and third category. The packages contained sports equipment, games, sweets…
The patriarchal auxiliary bishop Varlaam of Ploiesti on Sunday performed an ordination to the priesthood for the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate in Romania. Deacon Vladimir-Clement Malcovici was ordained to the priesthood for the Saint Peter Mogila Ukrainian Parish in Bucharest. Bishop Varlaam congratulated the new priest and asked God to help him in his priestly ministry.…
The Orthodox photography website OrthPhoto.net has launched a new photo contest aimed to promote Orthodoxy through photography: OrthPhoto Awards. Participants, either amateur or professional, can submit their work until July 2. The contest has the following four categories: Places, Reportage, People, Details. There are also three special categories: From the Archives, Stories, Covid-19. Participants are…
In the context of the International Children’s Day, celebrated annually on June 1, we present you several statements from the past few years of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania on the raising and education of Orthodox children: Children must be educated in the spirit of the Gospel of the love of Christ and Christian…
His Eminence Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia published a message on the Day of Romanians Everywhere, celebrated on the last Sunday of May. On behalf of the Metropolitan Synod, His Eminence conveyed wishes of “health, peace and prosperity, to the entire Romanian spirit, wherever it may be.” The Metropolitan of Bessarabia highlighted the aspects that unite…
In his message occasioned by the Day of Romanians Everywhere, Patriarch Daniel urged Romanians in the diaspora “to be permanently in touch with their loved ones who remained in the country to preserve the unity of the Romanian family and communion.” The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church mentioned in his pastoral message that “the…