Romanian Orthodox Church honours military chaplains at National Cathedral ceremony

Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploiești celebrated a thanksgiving service (Doxology) at the National Cathedral in Bucharest on Monday to mark Military Clergy Day in the Romanian Armed Forces.

Representatives of the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and military personnel attended the service.

Bishop Varlaam congratulated those serving in the country’s defence institutions and recalled the Synaxis of the Holy Military Martyrs.

The Holy Synod established the feast, taking into account its existing observance in other autocephalous Orthodox Churches and the “long-standing and fruitful cooperation between the Church and the Armed Forces, which honour certain Holy Military Martyrs, such as St George and St Demetrius the Myrrh-Gusher, as their patron saints”.

The bishop recalled that the Holy Ruler Stephen the Great had St George the Great Martyr and Trophy-Bearer as his protector during his military campaigns.

“We appreciate the work of military chaplains, and we are pleased that, with the understanding and support of the military authorities, they have succeeded in building places of worship in the vast majority of military units.”…