Patriarch Of Romania: “The Young People Are The Active And Creative Present Of The Church”

Gheorghe Anghel – Basilica News Agency – July 2016

More Than 2000 Young People Expected To Participate In The International Orthodox Youth Meeting In Bucharest:

On 6 July 2016, His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania met, at Patriarch Justinian Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest, the 190 priests of the Metropolitanate of Muntenia and Dobrudgea who are attending, these days, the courses for priestly degrees.

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel blessed and encouraged them, and wished them every success in their pastoral activity.

“We are glad to see you, especially because many of you are from other eparchies. We meet the priests of the Archdiocese of Bucharest twice a year in the pastoral conferences. We pray God to give you power and much joy in attending these courses with benefit and to successfully pass the examination. This means spiritual progress as well as better training in this continuous formation. The theme is a renewed one, but the main theme of our year is the religious education of religious youth. This is why we urge you to intensify this educational and formational activity of the youth not only through Religion classes in the state public schools, but also through extra activities in the parish”, His Beatitude said.

The Patriarch of Romania urged the priests to pay special attention to the young people in their parishes.

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church recently held in Crete specifies in its Encyclical that the care for young people of the Church must be intensified, mentioning that the young people are not only the future of the Church, but also the active and creative present of the Church if the young people are always kept close to it. There are lots of talented young people whom we consider to be gifts of God for family, Church, and society.

At the end of the meeting, the Patriarch of Romania offered two books to each priest attending the courses: Thematic guide for the priests’ courses in view of acquiring the professional degrees and Didaches (sermons) of Saint Hierarch Anthimos of Iviria.

The courses will be ended on 11 July 2016. Until then, the priests participate in a liturgical programme in Saint Ekaterina chapel of the Faculty of Theology.

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