Israel

Romanian presidential advisor visits Orthodox mission in Jerusalem, highlights pilgrims’ concerns

On Tuesday, Presidential Advisor Cristian Diaconescu visited the Romanian Orthodox Church’s representation in Jerusalem, where he met with the Very Rev. Archimandrite Teofil Anăstăsoaie, the Romanian Patriarchate’s representative to the Holy Places. “We discussed several issues faced by Romanian pilgrims coming to the Holy Land, as well as the mission we run here on this…

May 14, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Nicolae urges prayer for peace: “Pray to the Lord to change the hearts”

In the context of reignited violence in Israel, which has led to an attack on a monastery in Gaza, Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Nicolae of the Americas has asked the clerics and the faithful to pray for peace. “Pray to the Lord to change the hearts of those who started the war and restore peace and…

Oct 23, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Press release regarding the situation of Romanian pilgrims in Israel after outbreak of war

In the dramatic context generated by the beginning of the war in Israel a few days ago, in which nearly 800 Romanian citizens were on pilgrimage to the Holy Places, the Romanian Patriarchate provides the following clarifications regarding the evolution of their situation: Since the outbreak of the conflict through the terrorist attacks on Israel,…

Oct 9, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Patriarchate expresses deep concern over recrudescence of war in Israel

The Romanian Patriarchate expresses its deep concern over the recrudescence of war in Israel following the terrorist attack launched at dawn on Saturday, October 7, which resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of people injured. War always represents a social catastrophe with incalculable consequences in terms of human suffering and the loss of life…

Oct 9, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

Byzantine-era church mosaic floor uncovered again in Israel after 40 years

The Israel Antiquities Authority has announced that a church floor decorated with flower mosaics that is 1,500 years old and located east of Ben-Gurion Airport but has remained undiscovered for the past four decades will soon be open to the public. The fine mosaic is part of the archaeological site of Horvat El-Bira, located in…

Mar 28, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

The Basilica News Agency Director attends Christian Media Summit 2022

Aurelian Iftimiu, Director of the Basilica News Agency, attends the Christian Media Summit 2022, an event organized between December 11 and 14 in Jerusalem. The yearly summit is organized by the Israeli government Press Office. This year’s edition reunites 150 150 top-tier Christian news executives and public opinion leaders from around the world, including founders…

Dec 11, 2022Ștefana Totorcea

Ashdod: The Patriarch of Jerusalem participates in historical liturgy at the ruins of a 6th century Byzantine church

The Patriarch of Jerusalem and clerics from the Holy Land participated on Thursday in an open-air Liturgy officiated at the ruins of a Byzantine basilica near Ashdod. The patriarch officiated a Trisagion for the repose of those mentioned on a recently found mosaic on the site – among them, a bishop who participated in two…

Jul 31, 2021Ștefana Totorcea

Scroll fragments with the texts of prophets Zachariah and Nahum found in the Judean Desert

The Israel Antiquities Authority  (IAA) has discovered in some desert caves 80 new fragments of a 1,900-year-old Biblical scroll with texts from prophets Zachariah and Nahum. Marcello Fidanzio, the Director of the Archaeological and Cultural Institute of Biblical Lands in Lugano, declared for Vatican News it is the first discovery of note since the great…

Mar 19, 2021Ștefana Totorcea

1,500-year-old ‘Christ, born of Mary’ inscription discovered in Israel

A 1,500-year-old Greek inscription bearing the name “Christ, born of Mary” was unearthed in northern Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced, The Jerusalem Post reports. The archaeologists discovered the inscription engraved at the entrance of an impressive building from the Byzantine or early Islamic period, featuring mosaic pavements decorated with a geometric design. The…

Feb 12, 2021Gheorghe Anghel

New findings on an old settlement from the Cradle of Christianity

The June edition of Atiqot, an Israeli research journal, illumines the Christianity of a Byzantine settlement from old Galilee, destroyed by Persian invaders in 613 AD. Archeologists have just finished their analysis of this site, which was partially unearthed in 2007 at Pi Mazuva, in northwestern Israel. “While for now, we have no documents from Christian…

Jul 8, 2020Ștefana Totorcea

Church of Holy Sepulchre closed for one week. Orthodox Church to continue all services

Israeli authorities have decided to close the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for a week as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic. The closure does not affect the divine services, which will be performed according to the normal schedule, in the absence of the faithful. The church was closed shortly after 5:00 PM yesterday, as…

Mar 26, 2020Gheorghe Anghel