A National Day of Remembrance of the Brâncoveanu Martyrs

(Romanian Patriarchate) - The law establishing August 16 as “The National Day of Remembrance of the Brâncoveanu Martyrs and of Awareness of Violence against Christians” was ratified by Romania’s President on July 16, 2020. The date was chosen to coincide with the date when the Romanian Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs, canonized in 1992.

The aim of the national day is to inform the public, including young people, about the role of Christianity in the history of Romania and of the nature and extent of anti-Christian persecution, which continues to these days.

“The Holy Brâncoveanu Martyrs exemplarily illustrated martyrdom as the ultimate proof of love for Christ in the history of the Romanian Christianity”, is stated in a press release of the Romanian Patriarchate, which has welcomed the establishment of the remembrance day.

“That is why the proclamation of a national commemoration day for their martyrdom should be for us an opportunity to become more aware of today’s violence against Christians. This violence takes different forms of persecution today, from the Christphobia of the new ideologies to the filmed executions of those whose only guilt is that of being Christian”.

In this context, the Romanian Patriarchate advocates for “the memorial recovery of Christian martyrdom and for the protection and promotion of religious freedom as a fundamental right of every human person”.