NEW BEGINNINGS

The St. Peter and St. Andrew Center opened officially on January 17, 2011 in Bucharest.  The building, confiscated  63 years ago, was returned to the Assumptionists after the fall of the Communist regime.

The Center is first of all a place for ecumenical dialogue and research especially with the Orthodox Church.  It is also a residence with a dozen rooms available to university students.  The Center  houses an important theological library of some 15,000 volumes mostly in the area of ecumenical studies and research.

The Assumptionist community is made up of three religious: two Romanians and one Frenchman.  The building was renovated thanks to the generosity of the French and Dutch Provinces.   The books for the library were returned from Rome, Athens, Jerusalem and Holland where they had been stored at the time of the expulsion.

The Orthodox Church is by far the majority Church in Romania with a small community  of Latin and Byzantine Rite Catholics.  The Assumptionists have been engaged in ecumenical work in this country since the late 1800’s and are delighted to continue that ministry in the post Vatican II context.

We pray for the success of this important ministry so dear to the heart of Fr. d’Alzon and the first generation Assumptionists.