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

September 5, 2026 · 1 min read

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…

Source: Orthodox Times · Read the full story →

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ანა აბაშიძე

It is good that they built this initial sanctuary for the prisoners as well. In the pre-trial detention center in Bucharest, for the first time, something like this is happening, which is really necessary - people there are in a very difficult moment. God gave us to be useful to them.

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თამარ დოლიძე

Well said, Anna, it's really the first such sanctuary in a detention center, and it's very important. I remember how our father once told us that conversations with prisoners often begin at this "turning point". Hopefully, the example of Bucharest will spread to other cities as well.