[ad_1]
Patriarch Daniel considers that the ban on the pilgrimage to Saint Parascheva for believers who do not live in Iasi is a “disproportionate and discriminatory measure”, which was taken “without prior consultation”. Eminence hopes that “the excessive measure of banning the Iași pilgrimage will be reviewed as soon as possible.” On Friday night, some 300 believers gathered in front of the Iasi Metropolitan Cathedral, demanding that the restrictions be lifted.
The Romanian Patriarchate expresses its full solidarity with all Orthodox believers who these days want to pray as pilgrims to the Holy Pía Parascheva, as well as with the Metropolitan Church of Moldavia and Bucovina, the deeply responsible host of the annual pilgrimage to Iasi. This year’s ban on the pilgrimage to Saint Pía Parascheva for believers who do not live in Iasi is a disproportionate, discriminatory measure taken without prior consultation with the Romanian Orthodox Church, “reads a statement signed by Patriarch Daniel, published Friday night on the website Basilica.ro.
The Archdiocese of Iasi has prepared intensively for the reception of the pilgrims this year, taking into account all the current sanitary measures, says the cited source.
The patriarch affirms that this deep training and cooperation with the local authorities were “a guarantee that the pilgrimage to Iasi or the next pilgrimage to Bucharest, on the occasion of the feast of Saint Demetrius the New, is at the same time an exercise in responsible protection. of health and a manifestation of the religious freedom of an eminently religious people ”.
“The restrictive measures that are imposed as absolutely necessary must have a solid legal basis, be justified in a transparent, reasoned and non-discriminatory way. We understand that, in the current epidemiological context, strict hygiene rules, the use of a mask and maintaining a distance of 1.5 m between people are necessary both in liturgical spaces and outside them, for all believers who participate in the organized pilgrimage. official. We hope that, because of the dignified and responsible veneration of Saint Pía Parascheva, the excessive measure of prohibiting the pilgrimage from Iasi will be returned as soon as possible, through a wise form of co-responsibility and collaboration between the State and the Church, so that all pilgrims can pray freely to Saint Parascheva these days, with strict observance of all sanitary measures ordered by the competent authorities ”, says Patriarch Daniel.
Publisher: GC
