Coronavirus update

New financial and material support offered by the Romanian Patriarchate before the expiration of the state of emergency

The Romanian Orthodox Church has continued its extensive aid campaign in the context of the pandemic and the emergency state, the latter effectively ending in Romania this Thursday, May 14. The Church has offered substantial and diversified aid, through parishes and dioceses, to the elderly and the poor, the sick and disabled and to the…

May 14, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Participation of the faithful to open-air religious services allowed in Romania starting May 15

In a press statement on Tuesday, President Klaus Iohannis spoke about relaxing the pandemic rules once the state of emergency is over, on May 15, and said it will be possible to attend religious services in the open air, provided certain requirements are met. “Religious services with believers can be resumed in the first phase…

May 14, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

In pictures: Bucharest Archdiocese’s tailor shops produce polyester coveralls for volunteers

As soon as the state of emergency was instated, the Bucharest archdiocesan tailor shops, which usually produce priestly vestments and church objects, have started producing protection equipment for the Church volunteers who help the isolated during the pandemic. The archdiocese’s Vending Service started making 6,500 reusable protection masks and over 500 cotton coveralls. Then, on…

May 6, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Normalization of social life also means to attend church services, considering protective measures – Patriarchate’s Spokesperson

The Romanian Patriarchate’s Spokesperson Vasile Banescu said that the return to a normal social life also implies to allow people ‘to exercise their fundamental right to public religious life, that is, inside the places of worship.’ ‘The Romanian Orthodox Church, like the other religious denominations in Romania, will take natural and rigorously argued steps to…

May 6, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Patriarchate offers another 470,000-Euros worth of aid between April 28 and May 4, 2020

The Romanian Patriarchate has announced that the amount of aid offered by the Church to overcome the coronavirus pandemic reached another 470,000 Euros (2,273,189 Lei) between April 28 and May 4. That brings the total aid offered by dioceses since the beginning of the health crisis to 3,551,390 Euros (17,149,663 Lei). The full text of…

May 6, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Pandemic journal, April 1-10 | New measures of support from the Romanian Orthodox Church in the COVID-19 crisis

In the second half of March and the first ten days of April 2020, the Romanian Orthodox Church invested over 2 million Euros (10 million ROL) in measures of support to combat the social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Support actions continue, organized both at diocesan level and at grassroots level, in parishes who all…

Apr 19, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Bucharest Archdiocese tailor shops make disposable coveralls for volunteers who help the vulnerable

Church-affiliated volunteers who help vulnerable persons during the coronavirus crisis will receive disposable coveralls made by the tailor shops of the Archdiocese of Bucharest. According to a statement by the Social-Philanthropic Department of the Romanian Patriarchate on Monday, the Archdiocese’s tailor workshop ‘Reverenda’ and the embroidery workshop ‘Altarul’ have already made 30 disposable gowns. They…

Apr 8, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Statement by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America Concerning Holy Week and Easter

The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America (ACOB-USA) recommends further compliance with the sanitary norms for Covid-19 prevention during the following period, when Orthodox Christians celebrate Palm Sunday, the Holy Week and Easter. A recent declaration lists strong recommendations regarding religious services: they should be officiated only with a maximum…

Apr 7, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Clergy tour Bucharest with relics of Saint Demetrios the New to halt the coronavirus pandemic: Video

The holy relics of Saint Demetrios the New were taken out of the Patriarchal Cathedral and driven on the streets of Bucharest in a procession of cars on Sunday to halt the coronavirus pandemic. The restricted procession of three cars was led by the patriarchal auxiliary bishop Varlaam of Ploiesti. The holy relics and icon…

Apr 6, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Romania Religious Denominations urge prayer, solidarity and responsibility amid coronavirus pandemic

The Consultative Council of Religious Denominations in Romania has sent a message to society calling for compliance with the measures taken by the authorities and urging for intense prayer during the coronavirus pandemic. “Prayer is a source of spiritual power to overcome fear and disease. Cultivating the peace of the soul through persevering prayer protects…

Apr 6, 2020Aurelian Iftimiu

Covid-19 | Romanian Orthodox Church initiates dozens of support measures for hospitals and people (March 16-31)

During the state of emergency, the Romanian Orthodox Church has intensified its presence both online and in society respecting all the required sanitary precautions. Even before the state of emergency being declared in Romania, just as the authorities raised the level of alert regarding the coronavirus epidemic, the Church had started preparations to prevent a…

Apr 3, 2020Ștefana Totorcea