Romanian Orthodox Church

Christmas is the holiday of spiritual and material gifts, Romanian Orthodox Church Patriarch Daniel said in the sermon of the Holy Liturgy officiated at the Patriarchal Cathedral, on the occasion of the Birth of the Lord. "We see that these gifts which the Wise Men brought to Baby Jesus have awaken in the conscience of the Church our duty to bring gifts to God.

Romania was the only country facing wide spread violence during the 1989 revolutions; officially, 1,104 people died and 3,300 were injured. Nicolae Ceausescu's dictatorship, believed to be the most brutal and repressive in Eastern Europe, was without doubt one of the main reasons for such a tragic end - as the work ''The 1989 Revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe.

President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Ludovic Orban participate at the Patriarchal Cathedral, on Sunday, in the memorial service commemorating the heroes of the Revolution of December 1989.

President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Ludovic Orban participate at the Patriarchal Cathedral, on Sunday, in the memorial service commemorating the heroes of the Revolution of December 1989. Upon his arrival, the head of state was greeted by His Beatitude Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church Daniel, Environment Minister Costel Alexe and other participants in the event.

President Klaus Iohannis on Saturday took the oath of service for his second term in office, in front of the plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

Mother Queen Helen was reburied on Saturday in the New Archbishop and Royal Cathedral in Curtea de Arges, thousands of people participating in the ceremony. The funeral service was performed by high officials of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in the old cathedral founded by Neagoe Basarab.

The funeral procession with the coffin of Queen Mother Helen - wife of King Carol II and mother of King Mihai I of Romania - arrived at Curtea de Arges, where the reburial service will take place on Saturday at the New Archdiocesan and Royal Cathedral.

Queen-Mother Elena's remains are going to be brought home, to Romania, so to be re-buried at Curtea de Arges, alongside her son King Mihai I, the Royal Family announces, scheduling a mourning period of three days on 18, 19 and 20 October.

The Romanian Orthodox Church said on Wednesday that the play, called 'I am Too. So What?', which has been staged during Pride Week in the Transylvanian city of Cluj, should be banned.

The church said in a statement that a law from 2006 that "forbids any form" of "religious defamation" or "public offence towards religious symbols".

Pope Francis on Sunday said after three days spent in Romania that he leaves "enriched" because he will take with him places, moments and especially faces of those he met. "I arrived to this beautiful and welcoming country as pilgrim and brother, to life various meetings. Now I'm going back home enriched, taking with me places and moments, and especially faces.