Greetings on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the birth of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of The Romanian Orthodox Church

I had the joy of knowing His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel around 40 years ago, as a promising young lay-theologian, teaching in the Bossey Institute of the World Council of Churches.

In the following years, we had the opportunity to be together in many Ecumenical consultations and conferences, jointly facing crucial issues of the inter-Christian dialogue. In many cases, we tried to give the Orthodox witness from our theological knowledge and ecclesiastical experience.

Professor Daniel Ciobotea was endowed with a solid theological base due to His discipleship close to the renowned Romanian theologian, Father Dumitru Stăniloae, and was participating in ecumenical meetings in a responsible and creative way.

We were glad to be informed in 1990 about His involvement in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of Romania and His rapid promotion to important positions of His Church.

At that point, His involvement was not only important for the sake of His Church, but also for Orthodoxy as a whole: at the beginning as senior advisor of the gentle and humble-hearted Patriarch Teoctist of blessed memory, and later, after His elevation to the Patriarchal Throne (2007), at the Synaxes of the Orthodox Primates, and at the Holy and Great Council of Crete (June 2016).

He emphasized modem issues within the perspective and the light of the Orthodox Theology of the Transfiguration and Resurrection.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of His birth, we fervently congratulate Him and the Orthodox Church of Romania and we pray, from the depths of our heart, that, availing Himself of the precious gifts granted to Him by God, He will continue to shepherd the beloved people of the Church of Romania, with “the wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17), paternal affection, and unfailing love.

May He also always strive for the unity of the Orthodox Church and the radiation of the truth, the love, and the beauty of Orthodoxy in the contemporary society “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever” (1 Peter 4:11).

With the highest honour and profound brotherly love in Christ,

 Anastasios,
Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania

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