Romanian Patriarchate representative joins Dormition celebrations in Jerusalem

Archimandrite Ioan Meiu, representative of the Romanian Patriarchate in the Holy Land and superior of the Romanian establishments in Jerusalem, Jericho and Jordan, attended the Divine Liturgy on Friday for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God according to the unrevised calendar.

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem celebrated the service at the Church of Gethsemane, together with hierarchs, clergy, representatives of other Orthodox Churches, and priests accompanying groups of pilgrims from Romania.

Pilgrims at Gethsemane Archimandrite Ioan Meiu highlighted the large number of faithful who attended this year’s celebrations despite the difficulties caused by the region’s security situation in recent years.

“This year’s feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God here in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem brought together quite a large number of pilgrims compared with recent years, which have been affected by security problems in this region and by the war in the Middle East,” the Romanian Patriarchate’s representative in the Holy Land told Basilica.ro.

“We all gathered to honour the Mother of God at her tomb in Gethsemane during a beautiful and…