On August 1, 2021, Father Nicolae Lauruc has officially begun his new role as the vicar of the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate in Romania. He celebrated the first Divine Liturgy in his new dignity at the Orthodox Church in Ruscova, Maramures County, for the feast of the Prophet Elijah.

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in both Romanian and Ukrainian, informs orthodoxtimes.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Fr Nicolae Lauruc thanked the former vicar Fr. Ioan Pitura for the 30 years of ministry as vicar of the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate is an administrative-territorial unit canonically dependent on the Romanian Patriarchate, dedicated to Ukrainian Orthodox believers living in Romania. They participate in services held in their mother tongue by Ukrainian priests or Ukrainian speakers.

Currently, the Vicariate is based in the city of Sighetu Marmației (Maramureș County) and includes believers from the northern part of the country (Maramureș, Transylvania, Crișana, Banat).

In 1952, the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate was transformed into a Ukrainian Orthodox Deanery, after 1989, by the Decision of the Holy Synod no. 1432/12 February 1990, the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate was re-established.