The plenum of the Chamber of Deputies has adopted, on Wednesday, by 258 votes for and 40 abstentions, a draft law by which August 16 is declared the National Day to commemorate the Brancoveanu martyrs and awareness of violence against Christians.
"The day of August 16 is declared the National Day to commemorate the Brancoveanu martyrs and awareness of violence against Christians. As a sign of awareness by Romanian citizens of the violence and persecutions that Christians were and are subjected to today in the world, between 20:00-24:00 hrs, the following buildings: Romanian Parliament, Government, the headquarters of the central and local public administration, the Arch of Triumph and Mogosoaia Palace will be illuminated by red light. On the occasion of this day public manifestations can be organized and religious services may be rendered in places where authorized commemorative events take place, according to the law," the draft law shows.
Constantin Brancoveanu was ruler of Wallachia between August 15, 1654 and August 15, 1714, when he was dethroned and captured by the Ottomans, transported to Istanbul together with his four sons where he was tortured and eventually executed by decapitation together with his sons and his treasurer Ianache Vacarescu. They were canonized by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1992 as the Holy Great Martyrs Brancoveanu, their feast day being August 16 so as to not coincide with the feast day for the Dormition of the Mother of God.
The Chamber of Deputies is a decisional forum in this case.