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Romania: thousands attend blessing of controversial cathedral
Source: The Guardian and agencies
Romania: thousands attend blessing of controversial cathedral
The Orthodox cathedral will be the tallest in the world, but the cost has been criticised
Agencies
Sun 25 Nov 2018 12.11 GMT
Tens of thousands of worshippers attended the inauguration on Sunday of a giant new Orthodox cathedral in Bucharest, amid criticism that public funding for the project could be better used to pay for hospitals and schools in one of the EU’s poorest countries.
The event was marred after three people were hospitalised when scuffles broke out between riot police and Orthodox believers.
Construction of the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral began in 2010 and is scheduled to be completed in 2024.
The consecration mass on Sunday, which marked 100 years since modern-day Romania was created, was attended by worshippers from all over the country, with local reports describing huge crowds congregating in front of the building site to follow the ceremony on screens outside. The service was led by Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch and archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome, and the Romanian patriarch, Daniel.
But tempers frayed after believers tried to push their way through police lines after lining up for hours to visit the cathedral. ...
-snip-
The Orthodox cathedral will be the tallest in the world, but the cost has been criticised
Agencies
Sun 25 Nov 2018 12.11 GMT
Tens of thousands of worshippers attended the inauguration on Sunday of a giant new Orthodox cathedral in Bucharest, amid criticism that public funding for the project could be better used to pay for hospitals and schools in one of the EU’s poorest countries.
The event was marred after three people were hospitalised when scuffles broke out between riot police and Orthodox believers.
Construction of the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral began in 2010 and is scheduled to be completed in 2024.
The consecration mass on Sunday, which marked 100 years since modern-day Romania was created, was attended by worshippers from all over the country, with local reports describing huge crowds congregating in front of the building site to follow the ceremony on screens outside. The service was led by Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch and archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome, and the Romanian patriarch, Daniel.
But tempers frayed after believers tried to push their way through police lines after lining up for hours to visit the cathedral. ...
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/25/romania-thousands-attend-blessing-of-controversial-cathedral