December 3, 2017

Patriarch Daniel calls for unity in the Orthodox faith

Newsroom, 03.12.2017, 13:51

LAW — The law on the 2018 state budget will be debated by Romania’s Parliament this week. Prime Minister Mihai Tudose said that health, education and infrastructure are the centre of the 2018 state budget. He also mentioned that the 2% earmarked for defence would be maintained. Romania’s state budget for next year is built on a 5.5% economic growth rate, a budget deficit of 2.97% of the GDP and an average inflation rate of 3.1%.

VISIT – Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor has announced he is paying a two-day official visit to Belgrade, starting today. Fifor will meet with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vulin. Talks will focus on bilateral cooperation in the field of defense and the legal framework for the Romanian-Serbian cooperation.

PROTESTS – Tens of thousands of people protested on Saturday in Tel Aviv against government corruption and new legislation believed to shield Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from police investigations. Protesters are angry about a draft law which would bar the police from publishing the findings of investigations into unscrupulous politicians. They believe the bill is designed to shield Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is being investigated on allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Campaigners want to see him indicted and removed from office. The bill will come up for its second reading on Monday.

ORTHODOXY– Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church, who is in Moscow between December 2nd and 5th, on the occasion of festivities marking 100 years since the re-establishment of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church, called for the preservation of unity in the Orthodox faith. The head of the Romanian Orthodox Church also said that the substitution, for more than two centuries, of the Russian Patriarchate with a state institution came against the tradition of the Orthodox Church. He went on to say that the period after the Patriarchate was restored was one of the most difficult in the history of the Russian Church, with thousands of believers being killed, and thousands of churches destroyed or shut down. Patriarch Daniel also mentioned the repression against the Orthodox Church in Central and Eastern Europe after the communists came to power.

HOLIDAY — Romanians are today ended their 4-day holiday occasioned by Saint Andrew’s Day and Romania’s National Day. For this extended weekend most Romanians chose local destinations, their favourites being the resorts on the Prahova Valley, the Southern Carpathians, Bukovina in the north as well as the spa resorts. Those who remained in Bucharest enjoyed, on Friday evening, the start of the winter celebrations. Over 3 million Christmas lights adorn the capital, the festive lighting system covering 33 kms. A Christmas Fair was also inaugurated in downtown Bucharest, to last until December 27. The Fair displays Romanian traditional food products in more than 100 stalls and also a skating rink. Many Romanian artists will perform as part of the Christmas Fair celebrations in Bucharest.

WEIGHTLIFTING— The Romanian athlete Dumitru Captari has won silver in the snatch event, the 77 kg category, in the World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, California. Egyptian Mohamed Ihab Youssef Ahmed Mahmoud won gold in the same category. Romanias tally now stands at four medals, after the three won by Loredana Toma, in the 63 kg category.

HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s handball team is today playing against Slovenia, at the World Women’s Handball Championship hosted by Germany until December 17th. On Saturday, the Romanians defeated 29-17 the team of Paraguay in their debut match. Romania plays in Group A alongside France, Spain, Slovenia, Angola and Paraguay. Of the 4 groups, the first 4 teams of each group will go to the eighth finals. In the previous World Championship of 2015 Romania won the bronze medal, being the only team to have participated in all the 22 editions of the championship held so far.

(Translated by Elena Enache)