Patriarch Daniel welcomes New British Ambassador at Patriarchal Residence
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
Basilica News– OCP News Service – 06/03/2024
Bucharest-Romania: On March 6, 2024, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel welcomed the new Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Bucharest, His Excellency Giles Matthew Portman, at the Patriarchal Residence for a presentation visit.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel extended a cordial reception to Romania and expressed gratitude for Ambassador Portman’s extensive diplomatic background.
In expressing his desire for the two peoples’ relations to continue and strengthen, the Patriarch of Romania mentioned the recent decision of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church to establish the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Great Britain. This decision was prompted by the significant number of Orthodox Romanians who had settled in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, either temporarily or permanently.
His Excellency extended gratitude for the reception and underscored his delight at being designated as his country’s ambassador to Romania.
He further expressed his eagerness to understand the Romanian people’s spiritual richness and the realities of Romanian society, which he had already witnessed during his visits to various monasteries and churches in Moldavia and Bukovina.
The Patriarch of Romania reflected on the extensive social-philanthropic initiatives carried out by over 850 Church institutions in response to the present-day requirements of the Christian communities, particularly concerning the elderly and children entrusted to the guardianship of relatives and low-income families.
Furthermore, His Beatitude emphasised the exceptional assistance provided by Romania as a whole and particularly by the Romanian Orthodox Church to Ukrainian refugees, the majority of whom were mothers with children, in the wake of the lamentable consequences of the conflict in Romania’s neighbouring country.
The Patriarch concluded by extending his best wishes for the diplomatic mission of the British Ambassador in Bucharest.
Source: Basilica News
