National day for the commemoration of the Brâncoveni martyrs
and awareness of violence against Christians
In the context in which even today in the world the most numerous martyrs for the faith are Christians, the Romanian Patriarchate expresses its appreciation for the declaration by the Romanian Parliament of August 16 as the National Day for the commemoration of Brâncoveni martyrs and awareness of violence against Christians.
For the first time in Romania, this commemoration will be celebrated in all churches on August 16, which this year coincides with the Sunday of Romanian migrants, a day dedicated to them starting with 2009, on the first Sunday after the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
Martyrdom as a perfect proof of the love of Christ is exemplary illustrated in the history of Romanian Christianity by the Holy Martyrs Brâncoveni. In this sense, the dedication of a national day commemorating their martyrdom must be an opportunity for us to become aware of the current violence against Christians. Today, this violence takes various forms of persecution, from the christophobia of new ideologies, to the filmed executions of people who have no other guilt than that of being Christians.
In this context, the Romanian Patriarchate urges the memorial recovery of Christian martyrdom, the defense and promotion of religious freedom as a fundamental right of the person.
Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate
_______________
The Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada through His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian received as a gift from His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church on May 2nd, 2018 several holy relics, including those of Saints Martyrs Brâncoveni.
