DAY The Day of the Romanians all over the
world is a special moment and it has a major emotional, spiritual and cultural
dimension, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis says in the message conveyed on
this occasion today. According to him, Romania has a large Diaspora, which
could represent the force capable of promoting the Romanian values and
spirituality in a continuously changing Europe. The Day of the Romanians all
over the world is celebrated in the last Sunday of the month of May in order to
acknowledge the importance the state attaches to the communities of Romanians
living outside the country’s borders. In Italy this day has been marked through
a series of theatre shows. A team of professors and students from the
University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest has kicked off a project entitled,
‘A Caravan for the Romanians all over the world’, which has already had its
first shows in Rome and is going to give more performances in Lazio, Turin, Padua
and Venice. In Bucharest, over 300 Romanians from the historical communities
and from abroad have attended a three-day event entitled ‘Here-There’ unfolding
under the auspices of the Romanian president. ‘Here-There’ comprised a series
of events staged by the Department for the Romanians All Over the World jointly
with the Fine Artists Union in Romania and has brought together artists from
Romania and abroad from various fields, like art, design, music and literature.
STRIKE The all-out strike of the Romanian
teachers is going to continue into the next week with a fresh protest rally in
Bucharest on Tuesday. Demonstrations took place on Friday in several major
Romanian cities, as teachers are disgruntled by the government offer of 500 Euro
bonuses in two installments. The Executive has accepted though a 9% pay rise
for the auxiliary staff who are going to get bonuses around 200 euros also in
two installments. Trade unions in the country’s education system have asked for
a 25% pay rise and for wages of 600 euros for beginners. Employees in the
primary and secondary education kicked off their protests on May 22nd
disgruntled with the low wages and working conditions. Trade union leaders have
threatened with more protests unless their claims are met.
MEDAL Romanian rower Ionela Cozmiuc has today reaped gold in
LW1x race of the European Championships in Bled, Slovenia. The Romanian made a
spectacular comeback and managed to overtake a Greek opponent. The women’s four
from Romania walked away with gold from the same competition on Saturday, while
the country’s crew of eight became silver medalist in the men’s competition. We
recall that last year, Romania walked away with five gold medals and three
bronze from the European Championships held in Munich, the best Romanian
performance in the aforementioned competition ever.
HOLIDAY Catholic believers in Romania are today
celebrating Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the
other followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. This holiday, which completes the
Easter cycle – the Resurrection, the Ascension and the descent of the Holy
Spirit – is a major Christian event always celebrated on Sundays, fifty days
after Easter. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands believers, including the
president of Hungary Novak Katalin, participated in the great pilgrimage on
Catholic Pentecost in Sumuleu Ciuc, central Romania. The event there brought
together Catholics from all over the world, most of them Hungarian-speaking
believers, including from countries like Australia and the United States. The
pilgrimage in Sumuleu Ciuc boasts a history of 450 years and has at its center
the miracle-working statue of Virgin Mary in the Franciscan Church there.
Legend has it that around the year 1567, the Transylvanian Prince John
Sigismund would have tried to impose Unitarianism to the Roman-Catholic
believers who managed to keep their faith with the help of the aforementioned
statue. Hundreds of gendarmes, policemen and firefighters have been deployed
for the good functioning of the pilgrimage, while the local authorities have
imposed traffic restrictions.
(bill)
