‘Unity. Faith. Nation’ is the motto under which 2,500 young people from Romania and abroad will meet in Sibiu during the fifth edition of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) on 6-9 September 2018.
The ITO 2018 event was launched officially at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Sibiu, on the International Day of Orthodox Youth, February 2, 2018.
His Eminence Metropolitan Laurentiu of Transylvania urged the young people of the Archdiocese to sign up for volunteer work to organise the International Meeting that will take place this autumn.
‘We are happy and ready to experience this communion with our young people, who are the future of our Church and nation,’ His Eminence said.
According to the official ITO 2018 website, ‘The goal of this event to be held in Sibiu is to provide a framework in which the young participants could find role models and undergo life-shaping experiences, in which they could experience the feeling of communion with other young people from Romania or abroad, in which they could share in the Christian Orthodox values and learn how to convey the Christian message to the communities they belong to.’
Transylvania’s Metropolitan Laurentiu noted that the Orthodox youth event of the year will also mark the 1918 Union centenary and the solemn year of the unity of nation and of faith. This is reflected in the ITO 2018 logo, which includes the colours of the tricolor in the cross of St Andrew Saguna formed of four young silhouettes, as well as in the meeting’s motto: Unity. Faith. Nation.
The fifth edition of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) will gather young people aged between 16 and 35 from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Greece, Serbia, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, Switzerland, Turkey, India etc.
Former ITO editions took place in Baia Mare (2014), Cluj (2015), Bucharest (2016), and Iasi (2017).
For more information please follow the ITO 2018 Facebook page or check the ito2018.ro website.
Photo courtesy of ITO 2018
