“A miracle from God.” The Romanian Orthodox community, at the first job in the Cathedral recently bought in Dublin
The Romanian Orthodox Bishopric of Ireland and Iceland recently acquired its own episcopal cathedral, an Anglican heritage church built in the 19th century, an architectural monument located in the center of Dublin, according to Basilica.
Hundreds of Romanians went to the first liturgy on Sunday in the Romanian Orthodox Episcopal Cathedral in the Irish city of Dublin to mark the Ascension of the Holy Cross, the oldest and most important of the Christian holidays dedicated to the honor of the Cross of Jesus.
The Romanian and Irish-Romanian families in Wexford, Kildare, Galway and Dublin, as well as in the Northern Ireland, have gathered to worship in the former Christ Christ Church Leeson Park, now the Episcopal Diocese Cathedral, recently purchased, The Irish Times reports.
The church was sold with over 4 million euros, according to estimates, according to the quoted source, and was bought with the financial aid of the Bucharest Government, as well as by raising funds at local level among the 300-400 families that make up the Orthodox parish, notes the Irish publication.
According to an analysis made by Dela0.ro, between 2021-2025, 300 million lei were allocated by the Department for Romanians Everywhere (DRP), of which over 80% (240 million lei) were directed to the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR). With this funding BOR has bought several properties in Europe.
Two million euros were allocated for a building for the Dublin Orthodox Cathedral.
Men, women and children went to the 19th-century church on Sunday, starting at 8.30 in the morning, where they paid the usual fee for the bread and a candle, which they later presented at the altar, together with their name written on a piece of paper.
The Orthodox choir sang without interruption throughout the appointment of a new deacon. The liturgy was officiated by the Romanian Orthodox Bishop Nectarie Petre of Ireland and Iceland, who was elected to this position last year.
Father Călin Florea, the parish priest of the Romanian Orthodox Community of Leeson Park, said that Sunday's job was an important moment for people who have gathered to worship in the church for more than two decades.
The Orthodox community concluded a lease with the Anglican Church in 2004, which “accepted to use the Church,” said Father Florea.
“Since then, many families have made the weddings, baptisms and, unfortunately, the funerals. They have become very attached to the church and feel at home. People come here when they are sad, when they are burdened with the hardships of life. They come here to enjoy and be happy. And for all those present today,” he said.
Over 100,000 Orthodox Christians, of which 28,476 Romanian Orthodox, live in Ireland, the portion of the 2022 census. Then, almost two thirds of the Romanian citizens said they were Orthodox. The data show that the number of those who declared that they are Romanians were over 42,000 people while over 57,000 people said they speak Romanian.
When Father Florea arrived in 2004, he was one of the two Orthodox priests in Ireland – the second was the late Father Godfrey O'Donnell, a former Jesuit priest who left the Catholic priesthood in 1985 and was ordained a priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ireland in 2004. Florea.
He said it was “a miracle” that the parish managed to raise the necessary funds to buy the place of worship. “Seven months ago, when we left the church, none of us believed that we could buy the cathedral. I think it is a miracle from God, today it was a very important moment for us,” said Father Florea.
He added that the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church in Ireland have formed a very strong relationship and recently told His Holiness Dr. Michael Jackson, the archbishop of the Ireland church in Dublin, that the church in Leeson Park “will remain their home.” “They have not left, we are here together now. It is important for us to be a single Christian voice in a secularized society.”
