Bishop Ioan Casian of Canada highlights significant historical moments for Romanian and Universal Orthodoxy in 2025

Bishop Ioan Casian of Canada emphasized that we have entered a year with significant historical moments for Romanian and universal Orthodoxy. Three of these moments directly concern the Romanian Orthodox Church, while the fourth pertains to the Orthodox Church as a whole.

His Grace referred to the celebration of the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate (1925-2025), the commemoration of Romanian Orthodox priests and confessors from the 20th century, the celebration of 140 years of autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church (1885-2025), and the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325-2025).

“The year 1925 signifies the recognition of the level of pastoral maturity and responsibility reached by the Romanian Orthodox Church, which has traversed centuries of resistance, humiliations, and appropriations of goods and incomes that should have contributed to its proper functioning,” emphasized Bishop Ioan Casian.

Speaking about the commemoration of Romanian Orthodox priests and confessors from the 20th century, Bishop Ioan Casian recalled those canonized by the Holy Synod, noting that this decision “brought much joy and enthusiasm to our communities.”

“All these Romanian saints offer us the perspective and example of a Christian and Romanian life with eternal significance. They provide us with a cultural and social perspective, a sense of distinctly Romanian ecclesiastical communion, fully integrated and significant for universal Orthodoxy.”

Moreover, the Romanian Bishop of Canada stated that the First Ecumenical Council, marking its 1,700th anniversary, along with other councils, “did not manage to transform our world into the Kingdom of God but have brought society closer to God, to dialogue with Him, giving it a more humane social and cultural specificity.”

“Let us make this year 2025, in the Church and outside of it, a year of joy, communion, preaching, and unity in the diversity of confession, a year of remembering the meaning of our Christian mission today, of the fact that in this work, we always have Christ beside us, guiding, inspiring, and helping us,” urged His Grace.

See the full New Year’s message from the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada.

Photo: Doxologia


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