Bucharest Revisited

Last week, as the Orthodox Church celebrated Holy Week, we had the extraordinary privilege of welcoming back a former chaplain. Canon Hugh Wybrew was the Chaplain in Bucharest (and also in Sofia, Belgrade and Zagreb!) from 1971-1973. He went on to have a very distinguished career as a vicar in London, the Dean of the Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem, and as Vicar of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford. But he has always kept up his connection with Romania, and even after all this time, he speaks fluent Romanian (only one of his many languages!)

During his visit, we were received by Bishop Varlaam, Patriarchal Episcopal Vicar, at the Palace of the Patriarchate. This was a wonderful opportunity to return to the cathedral, where Fr Hugh occasionally sang in the choir, and where he spent many hours assisting the Orthodox Church’s Department for External Church Relations.

Fr Hugh is a great expert on Orthodoxy, and has written several books on the Orthodox liturgy. We attended the Holy Week services together, largely at Sf. Nicolae dintr-o zi, which was round the corner from his hotel.

One evening, we held a small drinks reception in church at which Fr Hugh shared some of his stories and memories of Bucharest in the early 1970s. We were captivated by his vivid depictions of life in communist Romania, and the accounts he gave of the Church of the Resurrection during that time. He was interviewed by Alison Mutler, and her report with some of the details about his time in Romania can be found here. On Sunday, Fr Hugh kindly agreed to preach for us, speaking profoundly about the reconciling power of the Holy Spirit.

It was a remarkable visit and testament to Fr Hugh’s boundless energy, friendship and generosity. We wish him well as he prepares to celebrate his 90th birthday in October!