Please find below the address by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, on the 10th anniversary of the Basilica Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate, read out on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, Monday, 05 June 2017.
The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity is the joy of the Orthodox Church from everywhere and of every person, baptised in the name of the All-Holy Trinity, and who confesses through concrete deeds the “faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6) in the light of the loving communion of the Most Holy Trinity.
The perfect love that exists between the Persons of the All-Holy Trinity is shared through the sanctifying work of the Church with all her believers, but especially with those who gather through prayer and show through good deeds a humble and merciful love.
Given the current context of the secularised society, characterised by individualism and selfishness, when there are attempts to destabilise healthy traditions and perennial values, when some request freedom free from any responsibility and rights free from obligations, it is vital to reflect on the model of life and communion of the distinct, but inseparable Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. The Persons of the Most Holy Trinity offer Themselves to One Another and work together in perfect harmony, while Their glory shows the holiness and beauty of Their eternal love.
The contemporary man, assaulted by various and rapid avalanches of information, of shocking trends and experiments, becomes more and more dispersed and superficial, skeptical and suspicious in his soul. For these reasons, man has difficulties in receiving the message of the Church regarding eternal truths and perennial values, however he is able to understand more easily this message through the cultural and social actions of the Church.
In this regard, a major effort of our Church is to provide information through modern means of communication that reflect her liturgical, pastoral, cultural, social and educational activities. Such a missionary endeavour became reality ten years ago (2007) with the establishment of the Basilica Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate. The Press Centre consists of five components – Radio Trinitas, Trinitas TV, Lumina Publications, Basilica News Agency and the Press Office.
The Basilica Press Centre is like a hand with five fingers through which the Church works to inform properly believers about her life and activity today. By means of radio, audio-visual, printed and on-line communication, as a priority the Church points out the light of people, by presenting icons of merciful love and co-responsibility, through whom she invites indirectly her members and the people from outside to become in their turn icons of light and merciful love, that is, deeply human persons.
Thus, by modern means of communication, the Church becomes a messenger of good deeds illumined by divine grace in the world, so that people may see these good deeds and glorify God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:16).
On the 10th anniversary of activity, we ascribe glory to the Most Holy Trinity for the blessings poured out upon the ministry of the Basilica Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate. At the same time, we wish to thank all the dioceses and people who have supported and still support the good conduct of the media activities of the Romanian Patriarchate.
We also address congratulations, thanks and wish good health and salvation to all those who labour in the departments of the Basilica Press Centre of the Romanian Patriarchate with devotion, responsibility, professionalism and love for the Church and the fellow people!
Finally, we pray to the Most Holy Trinity to bless all the readers of the Lumina Newspaper, of the Basilica News Agency and of the Press Office, the listeners of Radio Trinitas, and the viewers of Trinitas TV from Romania and from abroad, granting them peace and joy, light and much help in all good deeds!
Many and blessed years!
†Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
