Committee of the Representatives of the Orthodox Church at the European Union at the Romanian Patriarchate
Church of Romania – May 2014
On 16 May 2014, the Committee of the Representatives of the Orthodox Churches at the European Union met at the Patriarchate Palace in the presence of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, within an international seminary. The problems the family is faced with in the context of the present crisis were discussed during the meeting.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a lecture entitled “Family in the Present European Context” in which he spoke among other things about the value of the family and its need to be supported: “While thinking of the present crisis of the family, we must never forget that family is first of all a gift of God – Creator of the humankind. Although human society passed through many trials and dangers, family has always been the most stable institution of humankind, ensuring its continuity in history. Secondly, we must sustain the effort of the Churches to defend the natural, traditional, universal family and oppose some new “models” of family which consider the natural union man – woman as one model among others. Thirdly, the intensification of the cooperation between Church and State in all fields related to social, educational and cultural importance of the family is a must, because the Christian matrix of Europe is part of its identity, although sometimes ignored today. Fourthly, the European Union must support family even more because the diminishing of the birth rate, aging of the population, instability of the family, abandon of the children and unemployment with the young people have a negative spiritual, social and economical impact over Europe in its entirety. Aiding the families to overcome today’s crisis and supporting the young married couples must be a permanent priority of the European social politics.”
Then, His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France – moderator of the Committee of the Representatives of the Orthodox Churches at the European Union, Mr Eugen Teodorovici – Minister for European Funds, Mrs Angela Filote – chief of the Representation of the European Commission in Romania delivered speeches.
