Romania

• June 2020: National Day of Awareness of Violence against Christians

The Romanian Parliament has proclaimed 16 August “a national day to commemorate the Brancoveanu martyrs* and to raise awareness about violence against Christians.”
The law aims to inform the public, including young people, about the role of Christianity in Romania’s history and the nature and extent of persecution suffered by Christians around the world, even today. At the same time, the law aims to encourage Christians to defend their right to practise their faith without fear or obstruction.
Accordingly, every year on 16 August, from 8p.m. to midnight the following buildings will be lit up in red: the Romanian Parliament, the Government of Romania, central and local public authorities, the Triumphal Arch and the Mogoşoaia Palace. Public events and religious services will be organised in places where commemorative events will take place. The Romanian Broadcasting Corporation, Romanian Television Corporation and national news agency AGERPRES will give priority to broadcasting programmes and information about the persecution of Christians.

*Constantin Brâncoveanu was Prince of Wallachia from 1688 to 1714. He was canonised by the Romanian Orthodox Church on 15 August 1992. His feast day is 16 August. He was beheaded along with his four sons and other boyars of his court for refusing to abandon the Orthodox Christian faith and convert to Islam, on 27 August 1714 (15 August in the Julian calendar) in Constantinople, in the presence of Sultan Ahmet III.