Reverend Fathers, Beloved Faithful,

We learned with sadness the news that the Dormition of the Mother of God Parish church in Boian (Willingdon), Alberta caught fire and burned completely in the evening of June 6, 2023. The parish in Boian is the oldest Romanian parish on the American continent, and the church was built according to the model of the one in the village of Boian in Bucovina by the first Romanian immigrants to Canada. The church was declared a historic monument by the Government of Alberta in 1974. 

I have visited the parish several times, to remember first of all the 100th anniversary of the construction and consecration of the church in July 2005. It is a sad moment for the serving priests, Father Mircea Panciuk who served the parish since 1969, the new parish priest Fr. Gheorghe Petrovan and the community of Boian. I urge you to pray for priests and believers that God will strengthen and comfort them in this trial!

† Metropolitan Nicolae