A delegation of the Romanian Patriarchate, led by His Grace Bishop Teofil of Trotuș, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău, was received on an official visit by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem on Tuesday.
Bishop Teofil presented the accreditation letters of the new Superior of the Romanian mission in the Holy Land, Protosyncellus Ioan Meiu, who had been installed at the Romanian church in Jerusalem on Saturday, August 23. The meeting was also attended by Patriarchal Counsellor Fr. George Lepădatu and Protosyncellus Ioan Meiu.
As a token of appreciation, the Romanian delegation offered the Patriarch of Jerusalem an icon of Saints Cleopa and Paisius, recently canonised by the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Romanian Saints in Jerusalem
“Together with the other members of the Romanian Patriarchate’s delegation—Patriarchal Counsellor George Lepădatu and the new Superior of the Romanian Settlements in the Holy Land, Protosyncellus Ioan Meiu—we conveyed to Patriarch Theophilos a message of congratulations from Patriarch Daniel, along with some symbolic gifts,” said Assistant Bishop Teofil of Trotuș.
“On our behalf, we offered an icon of Saints Cleopas and Paisius, about whom the Patriarch of Jerusalem has heard through books translated into Greek and circulating in the Greek Orthodox world.”
In turn, the Patriarch of Jerusalem presented the Romanian delegation with a special mother-of-pearl cross made in the Holy Land, as a blessing for the faithful of the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău.
“We received a special cross made of mother-of-pearl in the Holy Land, to bless the faithful of the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău, together with warm greetings and best wishes addressed to our Archbishop Ioachim, to whom we will present it upon our return to Romania,” Bishop Teofil explained.
On Sunday, Assistant Bishop Teofil of Trotuș celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Photo: Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău
