Today, 2 November 2012, 11 priests of the Archdiocese of Bucharest were licensed as father confessors. The religious service was celebrated by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in the chapel of Saint Great Martyr George, of the Patriarchal Residence.
In the sermon delivered on the occasion, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel spoke about the importance of the father confessor for the community: “This service is important anytime and anywhere, but most of all today, when much spiritual guidance is needed for the faithful faced with the secularisation phenomenon, of man’s alienation from God. It is also important because the spiritual father is not a simple forgiver of sins, but a servant of God who helps the faithful raise when he is fallen and grow spiritually. Confession or repentance, just like prayer, is a thermometer of the spiritual life or a pneumometer, namely an instrument for measuring the spiritual life. This service as father confessor is a great gift for the Church, because the life of the Church is renewed through repentance, and joy is made to the angels, as Jesus Christ, our Saviour, says that the angels rejoice in heaven when a sinner returns to God. It is a holy mystery that brings purification and much joy in life. Man gets rid of a tormenting past and makes a new beginning for his life through the Mystery of Repentance”.
To end with, the Patriarch of Romania offered the new father confessors the Molitvelnic book and a blessing cross.
