The Patriarch Of Romania Received The President Of Georgia At Antim Monastery
Romanian Orthodox Church
His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church received His Excellency, Mr. Mihail Saakashvili, President of Georgia, on a visit, at Antim Monastery. Besides His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, also present was His Grace Varlaam Ploieşteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, together with the monks of the Antim Monastery.
As Trinitas Radio station informs, the encounter between the Patriarch of Romania and the President of Georgia lasted 20 minutes, and it took place at Antim Monastery, because this one was founded by Saint Hierarch Antim the Ivirean, Metropolitan of Wallachia (1708 – 1716), a native of Georgia. He had the monastery built between 1713 and 1715, which continues to be today one of the most remarkable monuments of architecture, painting and sculpture in our country.
On this occasion, His Beatitude evoked the historical relationship between the Romanian and the Georgian peoples established by Saint Hierarch Antim the Ivirean: “He was a man that God endowed with many gifts, especially with good command of several languages. He spoke several foreign languages, and for us, the Romanians, he was a gift of Georgia for Romania, because he learned the Romanian language so well, that today we have in the books of rite he drafted prayers that are still topical today.”
His Excellency Mr. President Mihail Saakashvili thanked His Beatitude Daniel for reception and declared he was very pleased with the visit to the Monastery founded by Saint Hierarch Antim the Ivirean, a representative place for the Georgian people. He also spoke about the need of building monuments for the personalities that made great honour to Georgia abroad.
The Patriarch of Romania awarded the President of Georgia the medal of the Homage Year 2010 dedicated to the Orthodox Creed and to the Romanian Autocephaly and the English version of the Album entitled “The Romanian Patriarchate – Mission – Organisation – Activity”.
