A man holding his child so she can kiss the relics of Saint Demetrios. All photos by Eli Driu.
This article originally appeared on VICE RomaniaFrom the 26th to the 28th of October 2017, thousands of people gathered in the Romanian capital of Bucharest and waited for hours for a chance to touch the relics of Saint Demetrios and also some holy artefacts which were brought to Romania by the visiting Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill – the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch is one of the staunchest supporters of Vladimir Putin, whose regime he has called "a miracle of God". The Russian government, in its turn, reciprocates the love by having granted the Orthodox Church millions in funding over the past few years.Like in Russia, the majority of the Romanian populationare Orthodox Christians– despite the clergy'sties to the former authoritarian communist regime. The Church has enormous political and economical influence, which has mostly been used in recent years topromotea deeply conservative and homophobic agenda.Romanian photographer Eli Driu was in Bucharest during Patriarch Kirill's visit, and documented the great lengths pilgrims went to, to get close to him and the other relics.Scroll down for more photos.
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