The largest mosaic depicting the More Spacious than the Heavens Icon of the Mother of God was applied on the half-dome that stands above the altar of the National Cathedral in Bucharest on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. The team of specialists was coordinated by iconographer Daniel Codrescu. The Panagia Platytera ton ouranon measures 16 meters high and was created by a team of artists coordinated by iconographer Daniel Codrescu. It is the first icon that decorates the walls of the Romanian People’s Sa...

St. Sava, the Enlightener of Serbia and first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Church, is the most beloved saint of the Serbian Orthodox faithful. He was declared the patron saint of schools and students by Prince Miloš Obrenović (1780-1860) and today many schools in Serbia and in the Serbian diaspora are named in his honor and his feast day is always festively celebrated. His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia has said of St. Sava: “From any point that we start from in the fields of ...

Romania’s March for Life gathered thousands of people across the country on Saturday, March 23, 2019, to defend the life of unborn children and of mothers in a pregnancy crisis. This year’s demonstration was organized in over 600 cities throughout Romania and the Republic of Moldova under the title ‘Unique from the first second’. In Bucharest, the march was organized by the local Students for Life Association and started at Unirii Square. The final stop was Tineretului Park, where several pro...

Im Vorfeld des Papstbesuchs in Rumänien (31. Mai bis 2. Juni) hat der Vatikan am Dienstag bekanntgegeben, dass sieben Bischöfe der Verfolgungszeit 1948–1970 als Märtyrer selig geprochen werden. Die Dekrete betreffen Kardinal Iuliu Hossu und die griechisch-katholischen Bischöfe Valeriu Traian Frenţiu, Alexandru Rusu, Ioan Bălan, Ioan Suciu, Titu Liviu Chinezu und Vasile Aftenie. Ab 1949 wurden alle griechisch-katholischen Bischöfe für viele Jahre inhaftiert. Kardinal Iuliu Hossu (1885–1970) h...

The members of the National Church Council met Tuesday, February 19, 2019, for the annual working session at the Patriarchal Residence in Bucharest. The meeting was chaired by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel. The NCC members reviewed the most important activities carried out last year by the Romanian Orthodox Church and set project proposals for 2019. The Patriarch of Romania read out the synthesis report stressing that in 2018 the Romanian Patriarchate spent 24 million Euros for the entire so...

On Monday, January 28, 2019, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church welcomed at his patriarchal residence the delegations of the Committee of Representatives of the Orthodox Churches to the European Union (CROCEU), the Commission of the Roman-Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), who were visiting Bucharest following Romania’s taking over the EU presidency on January 1. His Beatitude presented t...

On February 4, 1925, the Holy Synod gathered in Bucharest and resolved the establishment of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate, following Romania’s Great Union achieved in 1918. The first person who advocated for the elevation of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the patriarchal rank was Fr. Gheorghe Ciuhandu who supported this idea during the Assembly of the clergy of Transylvania in 1919. After him, several other important figures of Romanian culture, historians like Nicolae Iorga and Ioan Lu...

The unity of the Church is the gift of God and a co-responsibility of the clergy and the lay faithful. Message of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, at the International Theological Conference “Panorthodox Unity and Synodality“, Iaşi, 9-12 January 2019: In contemporary society, characterised by increased secularisation, i.e. through relativisation of religious and moral values, a renewal of present Orthodox theology is more and more necessary, through a presentat...

In the Centenary year of the Great Union, Romfilatelia introduces into circulation the postage stamp issue entitled The consecration of Altar of the Salvation National Cathedral, dedicated to an important event for the Orthodox Christians. On the stamp of the issue, with the face value of Lei 5, is illustrated the icon of the Holy Apostle Andrew, the First-Called, the Protector of Romania, from the Iconostasis of the Cathedral, alongside with the layout of the edifice. The...