Interfaith Dialogue Reflected in The Irish Times. A Defence of Romanian Immigrants in Ireland

Abstract

This article draws the portrayal of the church support for Romanians as depicted in articles from the most important Irish newspaper, The Irish Times (1992-2020). The articles analyzed show: the help of the Church of Ireland for the Romanian people in the aftermath of the 1989 fall of the communist regime; the interest that the Irish society showed for the Orthodox Church in the context of an increase in the number of immigrants from Romania, a predominantly Orthodox country; the efforts of the churches in Ireland to establish an interfaith dialogue for the benefit of the Romanian immigrants; the focus that remarkable Orthodox priests, such as Father Irineu Crăciun and Father Godfrey O’Donnell, benefitted from in the Irish press due to their constant work for the benefit of the Romanian community in Ireland.