Pope Francis visited predominantly Orthodox Romania in 2019. Stopping in the northeastern city of Iasi, the pontiff called Romania “our home”.
Universul.net rememberss that three-day visit through the eyes of Romania’s ambassador to the Vatican, George Bologan, this Easter Monday, the day the pontiff died aged 88.
The 2019 visit to Romania was “a providential meeting of the Sovereign Pontiff with the Romanian people, a moment that allowed people to get to know him better, and for His Holiness to express appreciation for our people, including the raising of the altars of the united bishops, martyrs and confessors of the faith under the oppression of the communist regime,” Romania’s Ambassador to the Vatican, George Bologan told Universul.net in an interview this year.
In a speech he made in Iasi, he said: “Here with you, I feel the warmth of being at home and part of a family, surrounded by young and old alike. In your presence and looking out at you, it is easy to feel at home. (…) Romania is the ‘garden of the Mother of God’ and young people are “pilgrims of the twenty-first century, capable of imagining afresh the bonds that unite us”.
Francis had fond memories of his visit to Romania five years before his death, telling Ambassador Bologan this year during a meeting with diplomats:
“Romania is a democracy because they all have a place – both the royal family and the republican political class”.
“Pope Francis has many qualities, among them one is that of carrying the light of hope in the darkness that surrounds us, and the second is the style of communication, direct, pragmatic and to the point, removing the temptation of superficiality,” the Ambassador said.
Here are some photos of his May 2019 visit to Romania, courtesy in Inquam photo agency.
