First chapel in a Romanian pre-trial detention dacility consecrated in Bucharest

Bishop Varlaam of Ploiești, Patriarchal Vicar, consecrated on Saturday, 5 September 2026, a new chapel at the Central Detention Facility of the General Directorate of Police of the Municipality of Bucharest.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Bucharest Police attended the ceremony, along with clergy serving in the Romanian Orthodox Church and the detention facility.

“With the help of the Good Lord and with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, today we celebrated the consecration service for this chapel, which will represent the spiritual heart of the Central Detention Facility of the capital,” Bishop Varlaam said.

The hierarch noted that the Romanian Orthodox Church has a long-standing tradition of assigning priests to prisons. He emphasised, however, that this was the first time a chapel had been established in a pre-trial detention facility.

“Here, in pre-trial detention, people experience unprecedented spiritual and psychological turmoil. For this reason, divine and spiritual support is an essential necessity,” he said.

Bishop Varlaam added that, during moments of crisis and decisive turning points in life, a sacred place for…