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Consecration ceremony of People's Salvation Cathedral
Approximately 30,000 people and 2,000 guests attended on Sunday morning the consecration ceremony of the People's Salvation Cathedral, in Bucharest. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, head of the Constitutional Court Valter Dorneanu and numerous political and cultural figures were among the officials who participated in the consecration.
Many of the people who attended the ceremony which was held on the plateau in front of the People's Salvation Cathedral came from all over the country, dressed in traditional costumes, with tricolor flags and flags of the Patriarchy.
The consecration act reviewed the history of building the People's Salvation Cathedral, starting 1877, when the necessity to build a national cathedral in Bucharest was felt and until now, when the consecration of the cathedral was officiated. The consecration was officiated by His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR), Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patra, members of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, priests and deacons.
His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stated on Sunday in the sermon he delivered at the end of the Divine Liturgy officiated in the People's Salvation Cathedral that through the consecration of this Cathedral, Dealul Arsenalului (the Arsenal Hill) transformed in the hill of peace.
"Today, through the consecration of the Cathedral dedicated to the Ascension of Christ and St. Andrew the First-Called, Dealul Arsenalului, meaning the place where weapons were repaired and stored, transformed into the hill of peace and holiness, [transformed into] the hill of grace and blessing, not only for Bucharest, but also for the entire Romania. The great spiritual light lit on its top the New Cathedral and the Patriarchal Church. It will shine the light of Christ far away and send the message of hope and salvation to those close and far away," His Holiness stated.
His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew wished to Patriarch Daniel and the hierarchs, the clergy, the dignitaries and all the believers of the Romanian Church "long days, physical and soul health." "May you enjoy the light of this lighthouse - cathedral and worship always inside it with worthiness, in the Spirit and in truth to the Lord and Savior of our souls and bodies!," His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew concluded.