The Patriarch Of The Romanian Orthodox Church Enunciated Five Principles Of Christian Orthodox Social Philanthropy

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel enunciated five principles of Christian Orthodox social philanthropy during the Pastoral – Missionary Conference with the theme “Social – Philanthropic Mission of the Church, Spiritual Vocation and Practical Necessity” held on, 3 November 2010, in the “Patriarch Teoctist” Aula Magna of the Patriarchal Palace, as follows:

1. The philanthropic work of the Church is the continuation of the philanthropic healing deifying and saving work of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Son of God, Who was made man due to the love of humans and for their salvation, so that man should participate in the eternal life and love of the Holy Trinity.

2. Social philanthropy should not be separated from the ecclesiastic Liturgy, because prayer is a source of humble sacrificial love. The divine philanthropy or divine love for humans is celebrated in the Divine Liturgy, while the social Philanthropy of the Church is a concrete witness of this divine love present in the life and work of the Church, of the mysterious Body of Christ.

3. The social philanthropy of the Church is first of all a pastoral philanthropy, namely it should take into account the guidance of man on the way to salvation. The love of the Church for man should be, first of all, the care shown for feeding him with the spiritual food of the Holy Gospel, his healing with the grace of the Holy Sacraments and man’s growth by cultivating virtues and good deeds. Together with this pastoral or social philanthropy the material philanthropy is also developed regarding the body’s food and clothes, medical healing, and everything necessary for the biological life.
This attitude of the Church is inspired by the work of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who spiritually feeds the crowds with the annunciation of the Gospel of salvation, heals the sick and multiplies the loaves of bread. Obeying Christ, the Church gives priority to prayer or social life as a source of light and of holy love for her social work. This fact accounts for the presence of the charity priests in hospitals, military units, prisons, etc. Yet, if social philanthropy is separated from spirituality, it becomes secularised, and the man who is suffering is no longer looked upon as the mysterious image of Christ, but as a simple social person.

4. The Orthodox social-philanthropic work has the parochial and monastic life as source of inspiration, because the purpose of the social philanthropy is, first of all, to promote the brotherly communion in the Church and society, not only to meet some immediate material needs. So, both the solidarity with those in need and the gratitude for the well doers must be cultivated, in order to strengthen the communion among people.

5. The co-operation of the Church with various humanitarian associations, foundations and organisations is beneficial if it looks upon good health as a present of God and the life of man on the earth as time of preparation for the heavenly eternal life. In this sense, the love for one’s neighbour is the main criterion of man’s salvation, while the final judgement concerns especially the good that we could have done to our neighbour, but we have not.
So, no matter how big our social philanthropy may be, we must humbly admit that we have not done everything necessary.

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