Barnabas Fund, 20 August 2021 (excerpts)
Romania celebrated a national day to commemorate Christian martyrs and victims of violence on 16 August.
The date was selected to coincide with commemoration of Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia, who was captured and tortured by the Ottomans in 1714. Along with his four sons, he was martyred when he refused to renounce his faith in Christ on 16 August that year.
This National Day seeks to present the importance of Christianity in Romania’s history and the continued widespread persecution of Christians around the world to the general public, especially young people.
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2018 revealed Romania to be the most religious nation in Europe, based on four factors: the importance people ascribe to religion in their lives, regular attendance of religious services, frequency of personal prayer, and certainty of belief in God.
Christians are harassed in more countries than the followers of any other religion (145 according to a 2020 study, also by the Pew Research Center).