Romania's Orthodox Church formally introduces new blessing service for cars and drivers

The Orthodox Church in Romania has recently started performing a so called blessing for cars, a ten-minute religious ceremony during which the priest blesses the car and prays for the safety of the driver and passengers of the car. The new religious service was recently officially introduced when the car of a lawyer from Pitesti was blessed. The man decided to revert to the new blessing ceremony for fear of accidents. 'From now on I will feel God's power upon us, which will give us a clear mind and the strength to go on safely,” said the lawyer. The Romanian Patriarchy decided to introduce the new blessing service after having received numerous requests from drivers, and there is no fixed cost for this service, each believer can pay as much or as little as they want. The special blessing prayer has been introduced in an official prayer book after Romanian drivers have been asking for this kind of service as they also want a 'divine insurance' on their cars. As many as 88.5 percent of Romanians said they are orthodox according to the most recent census data, and the church is the most trusted institutions in Romania, according to surveys. In the country, it is a common practice for religious people to ask priests to bless their houses, both new and old buildings. editor@romania-insider.com