The Romanian community in Legnago will have a new orthodox church. On Saturday, July 13, the first stone was set on Ghiacciaia Street for the “Santo Martire Caralampo” Parish, which Father Daniel Ilie will direct. His Excellency Siluan, Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Italy, attended the ceremony and blessed the first stone of the future church.
Bishop Siluan established the “Santo Martire Caralampo” parish in Legnago in 2011, with Father Mihai Ursachi serving as its first pastor. Father Daniel Ilie has been in charge of the parish since 2014, and the community has been gathering at a chapel previously belonging to the Salesian Institute in Porto di Legnago (the current address for services is Via Don Bosco 5, Legnago). In 2016, a fundraising drive was initiated to construct a wooden parish church in the Maramure style. In 2018, the parish bought an area on Ghiacciaia Street where the future parish church would be constructed.
During the celebration, there were also priests from the Triveneto II Deanery and neighboring parishes, as well as numerous Romanian and Italian religious and civil authorities. Among the Romanian dignitaries were Gheorghe Florin Cârciu, Secretary of State for the Department for Romanians Abroad; Alina Lovin, Consul General of Romania in Trieste; Lavinia Arnăutu, Executive Director of the Department for Romanians Abroad; and Alina Ardelean, a consultant for the same department.
The Italian authorities were represented by the mayor of Legnago, Paolo Longhi, along with former mayors Clara Scapin and Graziano Lorenzetti, Councilor Gianluca Cavedo, Father Luca Merlo, delegate of the Diocese of Verona for ecumenism and dialogue, Fabio Tomelleri, representative of the Arena di Verona, and others.
THIS map shows the locations of all the Italian Orthodox churches.
