Establishment of the Association of Orthodox Jurists

Aurelian Iftimiu – www.basilica.ro – May- June 2016

The founding meeting of the Association of Orthodox Jurists was held Thursday, 26 May 2016, in the Conventus Hall of the Palace of the Romanian Patriarchate. During the meeting, the bylaws of the Association was drafted and the president was elected.

At the end of the event, the members of the Association received the blessing of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, who referred to the goal of the Association, and to the relation between divine righteousness and human justice.

The Association of Orthodox Jurists aims at protecting and promoting Christian, spiritual and social values. Righteousness is one of the most important divine attributes, while human justice, as much as it is possible in this world, represents a reflection of divine righteousness. We also know that righteousness and mercy are inseparable in God. On this basis, there is absolution, which shows that mercifulness is above justice, but absolution should never replace justice, His Beatitude said.

The Romanian Patriarch also emphasised that freedom cannot be separated of responsibility. In addition, His Beatitude congratulated the members of the Association of Orthodox Jurists.

There is a paragraph in the Holy Scripture saying that when we perform deeds, which are well pleasing to God, we have to perform them with responsibility and joy. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11). Though not easy to understand, this is the way to be followed. Serving the Lord with fear and rejoicing with trembling means that freedom is always related to responsibility. It is very important to us to learn that freedom and responsibility cannot be separated. When emphasising freedom exceedingly we forget responsibility. That is why we need consultation, deliberation and cooperation. Therefore, we congratulate you, we thank you and we acknowledge that your mission is holy and necessary for both the Church and the society, in a context in which it is very important to organise our life as a gift from God, which has to be cultivated with responsibility and creativity. Orthodox laity has many gifts and we can observe them in every Association having the blessing of the Church, the blessing of the Holy Synod or of the hierarchs, members of the Holy Synod.

The Association aims to support the institution of the Church and her activities, the Orthodox communities, the family and traditional moral values, preached by the Church. It also aims at maintaining civic order and de jure order in the spirit of the law and Christian doctrine, and at defending the image and legitimate interests of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the society and the institutional system.

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