Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew officially welcomed by Patriarch Daniel

His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has arrived in Bucharest on Friday, 23 November, to lead the historic consecration ceremony of Romania’s National Cathedral, a memorial church built in honor of all the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence. Patriarch Bartholomew has been officially welcomed by Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

RRA Reporter Remus Rădulescu: It is a historical context that has not occurred in Romania for half a millennium: "His Holiness Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, will be in Romania for the tenth time, only this time to consecrate a cathedral. Event occurs after 501 years since another Patriarch of Constantinople, Theoleptus I, consecrated the church of the Monastery of Curtea de Arges, in 1517.

RRA Reporter Cristian Curte: Patriarch Daniel welcomed, at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest, His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, accompanied by a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as well as a delegation of the Greek Orthodox Church, led by His Eminence Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of Patra, the delegate of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece, who brought on this occasion to Bucharest the Venerable Hand of the Holy Apostle Andrew, the First-Called, Protector of Romania and of the National Cathedral. After visits to the embassies of Turkey and Greece in Romania, the two delegations are to meet Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Saturday. Holy relics will remain inside the Patriarchal Cathedral until Saturday, November 24 at 16:00, when it will be brought to the Chapel of the National Cathedral. Holy relics will return to Greece on Monday morning.

“(…) It is a unique event in the life of the Romanian Orthodox Church (..) This Cathedral is dedicated to the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, which, in the Romanian Orthodox Church, coincides with the Romanian Heroes Day of all time. This event of the consecration of the Sanctuary of the National Cathedral represents, at the same time, the celebration of the 100thanniversary of the unification of all Romanian provinces in 1918 in a single State – the Kingdom of Greater Romania (...) ” – stated Romanian Patriarch Daniel in the welcoming speech at the reception of foreign delegations at the “Holy Emperors Constantine and Helen“ Patriarchal Cathedral.

Consecration ceremony of Romania’s National Cathedral is scheduled for Sunday, 25 November.

Source:RRA,Basilica.ro.Translated by Miruna Matei