Radio România Internațional

Tag: Easter Sunday

  • May 4, 2024

    May 4, 2024

    HOLY WEEK – Orthodox and Eastern-Catholic Christians in Romania are making the final preparations ahead of Easter Sunday. Holy Saturday marks the last day of Holy Week and the last day of Lent, a solemn day that ends in the evening with the Easter Vigil. On Saturday, Jerusalem hosts the Holy Fire special service in the Holy Sepulcher, a unique ritual whereby the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the Tomb of Jesus to receive the light of the Resurrection, lit by the Holy Spirit, which he then shares with the faithful. The Holy Light is also expected to reach Romania. In his Easter sermon, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church said that healing the world of passing illnesses was not the ultimate design of Jesus Christ, but rather saving mankind from sin and death. The Patriarch urged Romanians to pursue good deeds. In turn, Cardinal Lucian of the Eastern-Catholic Church said that, although temptation is always lurking due to passion, evil, conflict, violence, breaches of human dignity or freedom, the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord strengthens our faith and kindles a hope that no one and nothing can destroy. The high-ranking Eastern-Catholic cleric also said that intellectual creativity and technological progress, including artificial intelligence, should be put to good use with the observance of ethical standards, in order to make society more humane and change it for the better.

     

     

    FRANCE – ROMANIA COOPERATION – The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminița Odobescu, on Friday had a bilateral meeting with the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné. Talks focused on the robustness of bilateral dialogue, the close diplomatic cooperation between Bucharest and Paris regarding European topics, as well as a mutual desire to advance cooperation at both bilateral and European levels. The two foreign ministers agreed to continue joint efforts to consolidate the Strategic Agenda with a view to promoting the European project and boost resilience at EU level. Minister Odobescu thanked France for its remarkable contribution to the consolidation of the NATO Eastern Flank and for taking on the role of a framework nation in the NATO Battlegroup deployed to Romania. In addition, the Romanian official expressed gratitude for France’s growing interest in the Black Sea region, particularly in the context of Russia’s acts of aggression against Ukraine and regional challenges generated by the conflict. The two ministers highlighted the need to continue to provide multidimensional support to Ukraine and to coordinate actions to help the Republic of Moldova, a country faced with multiple security threats from the Russian Federation.

     

     

    WAR IN UKRAINE – Russia on Friday night launched a massive drone attack on Kharkiv and Dnipro regions, wounding at least six people and hitting critical infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings, regional officials announced on Saturday. According to the Ukrainian Air Forces, Russia launched 13 Shahed drones, targeting regions in northeastern and central Ukraine. Local air defenses shot down all the drones, the commander of Ukrainian air forces announced. In another development, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said that energy supplies have been covered in the last 24 hours using domestic energy production, energy imports, as well as emergency energy aid delivered by Romania, Poland and Slovakia.

     

     

    ATTACK – Poland too announced it was targeted by alleged Russian cyber-attacks, which may also have been directed against Germany and Czechia, Reuters reports. Warsaw expressed solidarity with the two countries in light of the cyber-attacks targeting democratic institutions and political parties, the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a press release. Germany too accused Russia on Friday of launching cyber-attacks against the Social-Democratic Party in power, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and local defense and airspace companies, but also targets from other countries, warning the attack will not remain without consequence.

     

     

    LIFE EXPECTANCY – Spain has the highest life expectancy rate at EU level – 84 years, above the EU average of 81.5 years. According to a Eurostat report, Romania has the third-lowest life expectancy in the EU, 76.6 years, followed only by Latvia with 75.9 years and Bulgaria with 75.8 years. However, the biggest increase in life expectancy rates across the EU over 2019-2023 was reported in Romania. 15 of the 27 EU Member States exceed the EU life expectancy average. Countries with lower rates are those in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, whereas countries in the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Central Europe have higher life expectancy rates.

     

     

    HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s champions, CSM Bucharest, are today taking on Metz of France away from home in the return leg of the EHF Champions League quarterfinals. In the first leg Metz won 27-24 in Bucharest. In men’s handball, Dinamo Bucharest has qualified to the EHF European League Final Four, where it will play SG Flesburg Handewitt of Germany. In the other semi-final, Fuchse Berlin, the defending champions, will go up against Rhein-Nekar Loewen in an all-German match. The Final Four tournament is hosted by Hamburg over May 25-26. (VP)

  • Traditional Easter dishes

    Traditional Easter dishes

    In todays edition of the Cooking Show we bring you recipes for lamb soup, a dish usually served at Easter, and lamb stew with spring onion and garlic.



    For the lamb soup, you will need one lamb head, the thighbones, its neck and tail. In addition, you will need 2 medium-sized carrots, one parsnip, one cup of rice, one bunch of spring onion, pepper and salt to taste, one egg yolk, one cup of sour cream and two bunches of fresh lovage.



    Boil the lamb parts in a pot with 6 liters of water and skim off any foam that rises to the top. Add the finely chopped vegetables and leave to boil over a low heat for approximately an hour. Add the rice and leave to boil for an additional quarter an hour. A very popular souring agent, widely used in Romanian cuisine, is fermented wheat bran. In the end add the liquid obtained by fermenting wheat bran and leave to boil for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and salt to taste. Mix well the egg yolk with the sour cream as you would a dressing and serve hot with freshly chopped lovage leaves.



    The so-called “stufat”, a delicate spring lamb stew, is very popular in the period right after Easter in Romania and all over the Balkans. You can make it with either leg of lamb or lamb ribs, about a kilos worth. It doesnt take much to make the recipe. All you need on top of that is five tomatoes, about 15 sprigs of spring onion and another 15 of green spring garlic. Cut the onion and garlic into segments about an inch long.



    In a pan heat some oil, and cook the meat on all sides at low heat, turning it periodically. Set the meat aside, then, in the same oil, sweat the pieces of onion and garlic. Also, cut the tomatoes into little cubes. Now take a covered deep oven dish and mix inside the lamb, onions and garlic, as well as the tomatoes. In some versions, a bit of flour is added to the mixture to thicken the sauce. Top with a bit of water, then set in the oven at medium heat for about half an hour. Take out the vessel and throw in a glass of wine, as well as salt and pepper to taste, then leave to cook in the oven for about another quarter of an hour. It is a recipe as simple as it is delicious.



    Poftă bună! Enjoy!


  • April 8, 2018

    April 8, 2018

    EASTER — The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the most important day in the Christian Calendar, was celebrated on Sunday by Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians all over the world, including Romania. At midnight Christians gathered in Churches and monasteries to receive the holy fire and sing Christ is risen! The Holy Light was distributed to Christians by Patriarch Daniel at the Orthodox Cathedral in Bucharest. The Holy Fire was brought from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. In his public Easter message, Patriarch Daniel said Christ’s Resurrection gives meaning to our lives and urged people to share the joy of this celebration with their family and friends.



    MESSAGES — Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis wished Romanians Happy Easter alongside their families and friends. In turn, Romania’s Defense Minister, Mihai Fifor, conveyed an Easter greeting to all Romanian military, wherever they may be, at home or in various corners of the world, as well as to the veterans and the families of the victims who were killed in the line of duty. “In moments like these, more than ever, we should not forget the sacrifice our military make every day for each and every one of us, to defend the security and stability of Romania and the Alliance we are part of”, Minister Fifor said in his message.



    SECURITY MEASURES – Over 50,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry were mobilized to maintain public order, safety and security across the country during Easter. Gendarme and police troops were chiefly deployed around churches and other religious institutions. 250 thousand people are expected to attend more than 700 public events that will take place in Romania in the next four days. Traffic police, equipped with more than 300 traffic radars and backed by helicopters, will be monitoring traffic on Romania’s motorways during the Easter days. The Inspectorate for Emergency Situations said over 1,000 emergency calls were received on Resurrection Night, mostly for first aid. No church reported any fire problems. Over 4,600 officers of the fire brigade and over 800 fire trucks, as well as 320 first aid units were standing by on Saturday night.



    ATTACK — German officials say there is no clue to confirm that the man who drove a truck into a crowd of people in the Western city of Muenster on Saturday is in any way linked to an Islamic terrorist cell. Two people were killed in the attack. The driver, a German national, shot himself after the attack. According to some sources, the man had a history of mental health issues.



    ELECTION — Some eight million Hungarians are today expected to hit the polls to choose the 198 members of the Hungarian Parliament, which will stay in officer for the next four years. Opinion polls place the current ruling party FIDESZ, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his anti-immigrant and euroskeptic policies, as favourite to win. According to our correspondent in Budapest, Viktor Orban is expected to win his fourth term at the helm of the executive after a long anti-immigration campaign. His party however is estimated to lose its two-third majority in Parliament, which it has been enjoying after the 2010 and 2014 elections.



    TENNIS — Romania’s Davis Cup team on Sunday defeated Morocco in the second round of Europe/Africa Zone Group II. On Saturday Marius Copil defeated Amine Ahouda in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 while Adrian Ungur beat Lamine Ouahab, 6-0, 7-6. On Sunday in the men’s doubles Marius Copil and Florin Mergea defeated Amine Ahouda/ Lamine Ouahab, 6-2, 6-1. In the singles Marius Copil will play Lamine Ouhab and Adrian Ungur will face Amine Ahouda. Romania will play either Poland or Zimbabwe in the third round. In other news from tennis, Romanian Ana Bogdan, 90 WTA, lost the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, totaling over 225 thousand dollars in prize money. Bogdan was ousted by the WTA third-ranked Garbine Muguruza of Spain, 6-nil, 7-5.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)