Metropolitan of Banat

Banat Metropolitan marks name day with psychiatric patients, lays foundation stone for hospital church

Metropolitan Ioan of Banat marked his patronal feast last week alongside patients at the Psychiatric Hospital and Security Measures Facility in Jebel, where he also laid the foundation stone for a new church. On Wednesday, January 7, His Eminence brought the patients more than 300 items of clothing, food, and other essential goods needed for…

Jan 12, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Brothers of Christ: Metropolitan Ioan celebrates name day with homeless shelter beneficiaries in Timișoara

Last week, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat marked his name day by sharing lunch with the beneficiaries of the Emergency Social Centre for Homeless People at Pădurea Verde in Timișoara, whom he called “brothers of Christ.” The metropolitan brought dozens of containers of warm food and dined alongside the shelter residents. “Do you see…

Jan 14, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Today man sees the atom core but not all see God: Christmas Wisdom from Metropolitan of Banat

Today, man sees even the atom core and a part of the boundless outer space, but not all see God, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat stressed in this year’s Christmas pastoral letter. For over two millennia, the Church has been addressing all people, inviting them to fill their hearts with the love of Christ.…

Dec 24, 2024Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan of Banat: During the week, we eat bread; on Sunday, the Lord nourishes us with Himself

Explaining the meanings of the Gospel text on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat emphasized that “throughout the week, we are nourished with bread multiplied by God, but on Sunday, the Lord nourishes us with Himself.” In his sermon, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan elaborated on the meaning of the Sunday…

Aug 21, 2024Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Ioan of Banat celebrates his name day among homeless people, pledges to find jobs for them

Metropolitan Ioan of Banat celebrated his name day among homeless people from Timișoara, on January 7, St John the Baptist day in the Romanian Orthodox Church calendar. “These are some of my friends from Timișoara. There was nowhere I could have felt better after church than among these people whose only hope is God,” said…

Jan 11, 2024Ștefana Totorcea

Banat Metropolitan welcomes “Friends of Together for Europe” at Timisoara Cathedral

On November 16-18, the ‘Friends of Together for Europe‘ convened its annual meeting in Timisoara, one of the localities designated ‘European Cultural Capital 2023’. More than two hundred delegates from 29 European countries, including the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Romania, Norway, Germany, Portugal, Greece, and Austria, witnessed the event. The programme encompassed attendance at the Vespers…

Nov 23, 2023Aurelian Iftimiu

ITO 2023 Conferences: Dr Radu Tincu combats 5 false claims about drug use

Dr. Radu Tincu, a primary physician in Intensive Care and Toxicology, spoke at the 2023 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) Conferences held in Timișoara, Romania, about the growing scourge of drug use among young people. On this occasion, he challenged five false claims about drug use. “I’ve wondered if drug addiction is just a…

Sep 6, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Guard the light! Torch of 2023 Int’l Meeting of Orthodox Youth handed to Bucharest Archdiocese, host of the next edition

Youth representatives from the Archdiocese of Bucharest, which will host the next edition of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) in 2025, symbolically received the 2023 edition torch on Sunday from the young people of the Archdiocese of Timișoara, this year’s host of the event. The ceremony took place after the Divine Liturgy celebrated…

Sep 4, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

“God exists!” Int’l Meeting of Orthodox Youth 2023 pays tribute to the 1989 heroes who prayed under bullets in Timișoara

Participants in the 2023 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) held in Timișoara, Romania, walked the Friendship Procession on Saturday. The procession ended in the city’s Opera Square with a tribute to the heroes of December 1989, who drove out atheist communism by praying under bullets in the very same place. The Friendship Procession was…

Sep 4, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Metropolitan Ioan asks Orthodox youth to form a human chain around those who risk being trafficked or using drugs

“Dear young people, please form a human chain around the ones you see at risk of being trafficked or at risk of drug use. Please, surround them like birds protect their young when kidnappers come to their nest!” said Metropolitan Ioan of Banat on Saturday, at the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) 2023 Conferences,…

Sep 4, 2023Ștefana Totorcea

Banat Metropolitan celebrates his name day with homeless people

His Eminence Metropolitan Ioan of Banat honoured his spiritual protector, Saint John the Forerunner, by joining several homeless people at one of Timișoara’s housing charity shelter on Monday. ‘There is nothing exceptional. This is normality for me and we should do such actions as often as possible, because, you see, these people are abandoned, they…

Jan 8, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu