The International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (Bucharest, 1 – 4 September)

Iulian Dumitrascu – Romanian Basilica News Agency – July 2016

The event is intended to be a large-scale one, with national and international attendance, aiming to assemble in Bucharest 2,500 young people between the ages of 16 and 35. In this context, an Orthodox Youth Reunion was organised in Baia-Mare in 2014, and the European Orthodox Youth Meeting was held in Cluj in 2015. This year, Bucharest, the capital city of Romania will host theInternational Meeting of Orthodox Youth

The Meeting aims to be a formative experience for the young participants in the educational, spiritual, cultural and artistic events in the Capital city of Romania, so that in their turn they may form others in the communities they belong to.

In the life of every nation, the youth play a crucial role by safeguarding its most valuable heritage: faith, traditions, cultural values etc. Thus, the values young people learn to promote, as well as the behavioural attitudes they generate may either strengthen society (through commitment, mutual support, cultural „consumption” etc.) or waste the achievements of their predecessors (by lack of interest in culture, lack of community engagement, going as far as civic „autism”). For the youth to embrace the former and not the latter attitude, a joint effort is needed to increase their awareness of their responsibility before God and human history. In this sense, young people need to be involved in meetings full of spiritual and cultural effervescence, they need formative and informative activities, as well as edifying dialogues enhancing both their minds and their hearts. Such meetings will prove to them that motivation and contentment are born from a rich inner life, which then bears fruit in each one’s family and professional life.

With this aim of spiritual, cultural and social education of the youth, Bucharest city aims to set in 2016 a landmark in the development of future Romania. The Capital city of the country, the core of its religious, political and economic life, as well as of its arts and culture, Bucharest is also the largest academic centre in the country, with thousands of young people attending its universities every year. Here they acquire many of the skills they will need in their professional career, but too little is done to shape characters ready for life.

Therefore, the Romanian Patriarchate wishes to lend a helping hand to the young generation and be its true friend along the path to Romania’s spiritual and moral renewal. Fully aware of the complexity of this path, the Patriarchate invites the youth to turn to Christ and seek first „the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), and all the rest – academic success, the joy of founding a family, achieving a professional goal, etc. – will come as a result of this encounter with Christ.

The Romanian Patriarchate understands that young people need to be not only guided, but also listened to and encouraged. The International Meeting of Orthodox Youth of September 2016, now at its third edition, provides a favourable setting for dialogue, mutual knowledge and the celebration of the joy of encountering Christ.

Objectives

• participating in the spiritual life of local communities of Bucharest;
• better forming and informing young people about the values of local, national and universal tradition, history, science and art;
• redefining the notion of joy, understood as encounter with Christ;
• engaging young people in various activities promoting arts;
• promoting volunteering among young people;
• increasing the number of volunteers among young people and within local communities;
• promoting the values of Christian family and the pro-life attitude;
• raising awareness that true success in life is defined by virtues and spiritual values;
• emphasising the importance of a complete education, both scientific and religious.

Participants:

Eparchies have the task of carefully selecting the young people, with special attention to fostering a good relationship with those under the age of 18 years old. Each group will have a coordinator. Participants will be selected according to the following criteria:

• orthodox young people, both male and female, aged between 16 and 35, involved in youth activities in parishes;
• active young members of youth associations;
• students of the Faculties of Theology and pupils of Theological Seminaries;
• young people aged 16-18 years old will be selected only with the written agreement of their parents.

Participating groups (from Romania and abroad)

• guests from the Romanian counties: 40 young participants/county x 40 counties = 1,600 young people;
• guests from the sister Orthodox Churches (13 Churches x 10 young participants) = 130 young people;
• guests from the Romanian Orthodox eparchies of the diaspora (9 eparchies x 10 young people) = 90 young people;
• the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate: 10 young people (5 from Timişoara and 5 from Maramureş);
• guests from the Metropolis of Bessarabia: 100 young people;
• Northern Bukovina (Cernăuţi): 50 young people;
• Southern Bessarabia: 20 young people;
• 500 volunteers from Bucharest and Ilfov county.

In this regard, the event’s program will include two workshops held in ten schools in Bucharest. Those workshops will provide the young people the opportunity to answer the question What is the place, role and importance of youth in the Church?. Besides these two workshops, the program also includes a concert, a conference spiritual, recreational activities, and the Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, surrounded by a group of priests and bishops.

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