Members of the Romanian community in Istanbul participated in the consecration of the Church of the Mother of God in Vlahernetranslated

The members of the Romanian Orthodox community in Istanbul, Turkey, participated on Thursday in the dedication of the Church in Vlaherne, on the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God.

The Holy Liturgy was officiated by His Eminence Father Theodore, Metropolitan of Seleucia and Exarch of Lycaonia, from the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Father Sergiu-Marcel Vlad, the parish priest of the Romanian Orthodox Community in Turkey, served alongside His Eminence.

Almost 1,500 Romanian pilgrims, both from Istanbul and from the country, participated in the celebration of the patron saint of the place of worship in Vlaherne.

Connections between Constantinople and Romania The Most Reverend Father Theodore emphasized the significance of the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the links that exist between the two Orthodox Churches, in Constantinople and in Romania.

At the same time, the metropolitan recalled the participation of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the consecration of the altar of the National Cathedral in 2018 and the mosaic painting of the place of worship in 2025, as well as the visit of Blessed Father Daniel, the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in June, in Imbros, on the occasion of the naming of His Holiness.

"The church of Vlaherne a...