The Solemn and Commemorative Year 2023 was officially proclaimed at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest after the Divine Liturgy celebrated on New Year’s Day. The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church declared 2023 as a Solemn Year of the pastoral care of the elderly and a Commemorative Year of hymnographers and church chanters. The patriarchal auxiliary bishop Varlaam of Ploiesti read the Proclamation Decree signed by the members of the Holy Synod. The text remembered that the Holy Syn…

According to survey results presented at the Romanian Academy in Bucharest on December 15, the Orthodox Church remains the most trusted institution in Romania. Overall, according to the survey carried out under the auspices of the State Secretariat for Cults, 66.3% of Romanians says they place a lot of trust in the Church, reports Ziarul Lumina. This is slightly higher than in a survey conducted in January 2021. Moreover, more than 83% of the population confesses their religiosity through concr…

Am 21. Oktober 2022 wurde in Oradea der neue Bischof des Westlichen Kirchendistrikts der Reformierten Kirche in Rumänien gewählt. Die Wahl wurde notwendig, weil Bischof István Csűry, der den Kirchendistrikt seit 2009 leitete, in den Ruhestand getreten ist. Zur Wahl standen der stellvertretende Bischof László Forró und Pfarrer János Szabolcs Bogdán, Dekan der Diözese Șimleu Silvaniei /Szilágysomlyó. Gewählt wurde Bogán mit 54 zu 49 Stimmen. Er wird sein neues Amt am 1. Dezember 2022 antreten. J…

On Tuesday, October 25, 2022, the Romanian Patriarchate and the Ministry of Health signed a Protocol regarding the conduct of Christian-Orthodox religious assistance activities in health units subject to the Ministry of Health. The two institutions were represented by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church and Prof. Dr Alexandru Rafila, Romania’s Minister of Health. This protocol, which revises and replaces those of 1995 and 2008, is intended to regulate the activity of…

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel marked 15 years since his enthronement as Patriarch of Romania on Friday, September 30. On this important event in the life of the Romanian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest. After a Te Deum service officiated by Metropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe, the Patriarch of Romania gave a speech in which he thanked God and those who have supported and continue to support the activities o…

(Radio Free Europe, www.rferl.org, 26. Juni 2022) Romania is considering a bill that would ban minors from being exposed to so-called "gay propaganda" in schools and in public life, despite warnings from rights groups that it would "fuel Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns" and reinstate censorship in the former communist country. Seven lawmakers from the ethnic Hungarian UDMR, a junior ruling coalition party, initiated the bill under the guise of preventing child abuse and promotin…

In a message on Monday, May 9, 2022, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel urged believers to participate in Romania’s Census of Population and Housing and to declare their religious affiliation. "This year's census is a proper time to confess our religious identity" - full text: The organisation of the Romanian Population and Housing Census in the first half of 2022 is not only a process of updating the administrative data and statistics of the population and housing in Romania (information that th…

Against the dramatic background of the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the humanitarian catastrophe it has caused, the Romanian Orthodox Church has been mobilized since the early days of this conflict unleashed by Russia against an independent and sovereign country, providing considerable aid to Ukrainian refugees who arrived on the territory of Romania, in the Republic of Moldova, as well as citizens remaining in Ukraine. Thus, the dioceses on Romania’s border with Ukraine, the Metropolis of Be…

In Rumänien können die Steuerzahler bis zu 3,5 Prozent der Einkommenssteuer für gemeinnützige bzw. soziale Zwecke direkt widmen. Die Rumänische Orthodoxe Kirche wirbt deshalb aktuell massiv dafür, dies zugunsten der neuen Bukarester "Kathedrale zur Erlösung des Volkes" zu tun, wie der "Pro Oriente"-Informationsdienst am Freitag berichtete. Die Kathedrale ist eine der größten orthodoxen Kirchen der Welt und wurde im Herbst 2018 eingeweiht, ist aber noch nicht zur Gänze fertiggestellt. Papst Fran…

Through “Filantropia” Federation and “Diaconia” Social Mission, the Romanian Orthodox Church is carrying out a pilot project entitled “Eco-initiatives in the parishes of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.” The project is carried out in partnership with Caritas Ambrosiana, an NGO in Milan, Italy. The project is the first of its kind and aims to initiate an environmental education and identify solutions to increase environmental responsibility at the level o…

Please find below the precise point of view of the Romanian Patriarchate on the EU digital COVID certificate, which was briefly expressed at the meeting of representatives of religious denominations with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health of the Romanian Government at the Coral Temple in Bucharest on December 2, 2021. On November 12, 2021, the Romanian Patriarchate requested the Chamber of Deputies not to introduce the obligation of the EU digital COVID certificate for clergy or beli…

In response to being presented on 2 December, on behalf of President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, with the ‘Greater Union Centennial’ medal for the involvement of the Church in promoting national memory and values, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church said that the distinction is a sign of the esteem in which the head of the state holds the Romanian Orthodox Church. “It is a joy that the contribution of the Romanian Orthodox Church over the centuries to the preservation and cultivatio…

Angesichts dramatisch steigender Corona-Fallzahlen in Rumänien haben mehrere Bischöfe der Rumänischen Orthodoxen Kirche (RumOK) zu Gebeten, zur Einhaltung der Hygienemaßnahmen und gegenseitiger Unterstützung aufgerufen. Patriarch Daniel appellierte an die Gläubigen, die Regeln zum Schutz der Gesundheit zu beachten. Denn wer sein Leben auf der Erde gefährde, riskiere, seine Rettung zu gefährden, erklärte er beim Gottesdienst zur Feier des Hl. Demetrius am 27. Oktober, eines der Schutzpatrone der…

Am Dankgottesdienst zum 14. Jahrestag seiner Inthronisation hat der rumänische Patriarch Daniel erklärt, es komme „nicht so sehr auf die Zahl der Jahre an“, sondern darauf, die Zeit zur Verehrung Gottes und dem Helfen zu verwenden. Er dankte Gott für die Arbeit der Kirche, die nicht er allein, sondern gemeinsam mit den Geistlichen und Laien sowie Kircheninstitutionen geleistet habe, aber auch in Zusammenarbeit mit staatlichen Institutionen. Patriarch Daniel wurde am 30. September 2007 inthronis…

The altar of Romania’s National Cathedral has begun to display its beautiful mosaic iconography with scaffolding starting to come down. Like all important works, the iconographic project of the altar started on paper. Starting with the highest and going downwards, the three registers present the following iconographic representations: The Tabernacle of the Congregation, which was a foreshadowing of the Mother of God in the Old Testament; The establishing of the New Testament through the Partaki…

Der Hl. Synod der Rumänischen Orthodoxen Kirche (RumOK) hat angeordnet, dass zur Gründung von innerorthodoxen, ökumenischen und interreligiösen Forschungszentren und Zeitschriften eine schriftliche Erlaubnis des Bischofs der jeweiligen lokalen Eparchie und ein offizieller Segen des Patriarchen von Rumänien notwendig sind. In einem Schreiben des Patriachats an alle Bischöfe der RumOK vom 23. Juli 2021 wird zudem unterstrichen, dass ausländische Orthodoxe sowie Nicht-Orthodoxe bei der Mitarbeit a…

Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania, awarded on July 22 His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the National Order of the Star of Romania with the rank of Collar. The highest and oldest national distinction was awarded on the patriarch’s 70th birthday, as a sign of high esteem for his precious contribution to the common good through the pastoral, missionary, cultural, social and philanthropic activity of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Romania and abroad, and for foste…

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania has sent a message marking World Social Media Day 2021 highlighting responsible communication in the context of the challenges of today’s world “A good word enlightens communication”: In the context of the pandemic, social networks proved to be a very useful missionary and pastoral means since, for a long time, the faithful could not physically participate in church services. Thus, the online streaming of services was a spiritual consolation, a source o…

An event was held on May 11 dedicated to the cultural-monastic landscape of Vânători-Neamț and the proposal to include the monasteries in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Vânători-Neamț is a commune in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania. The area includes 6 large monasteries, including the famous Neamț Monastery, and 10 dependent hermitages, with about 1,000 monastics. Between all the monasteries and churches in the area, there are 40 altars where the Holy Mysteries are served, which is uni…

The People's Salvation Cathedral (Romanian: Catedrala Mântuirii Neamului), also known as the National Cathedral, an Orthodox cathedral under construction in Bucharest, Romania, to serve as the patriarchal cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Church, has a giant Orthodox iconostasis (23.8 meters length and 17.1 meters height and an area of 407 square meters), which sets the new world record for the Largest Orthodox Iconostasis, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY. The iconostasis will be covered…