Churchgoers and most clerics wore face masks as they attended an Orthodox Easter Vigil at the Trinity Cathedral in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi…An Orthodox priest used a microphone to involve a neighborhood in an Easter Vigil. People stood in their windows with candles lit to the sound of litanies and church bells in the city of Cluj-Napoca on the night of April 18-19
Thousands joined the annual gay pride parade in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, on September 15. Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, who is a lesbian, attended with her partner. Before the parade started, dozens of protesters bearing crosses and images of Orthodox saints gathered to condemn the event. Five of the protesters were detained. While the police did not comment on the detentions, local media reported that they followed clashes with police
Some 86 percent of Romanians are believers in the Orthodox church, which enjoyed a revival after communism ended in 1989. But its popularity has declined in recent years, particularly in cities