From 5-10 March 2014, the Patriarch of Romania was at the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople where he participated in the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches. Today, 10 March, noon time, His Beatitude returned to the Romanian Patriarchate together with the members of the delegation who accompanied him at the Synaxis of Constantinople (Istanbul).
On this occasion, His Grace Varlaam Ploiesteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch and Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrated a thanksgiving service at the historical chapel of Holy Great Martyr George of the Patriarchal Residence. The celebrating group was made up of Rt Rev Archimandrite Paisie Teodorescu, Patriarchal Counsellor, coordinator of the Patriarchal Residence and Office, Rt Rev Archimandrite Timotei Aioanei, Representative of the Romanian Patriarchate at the Holy Places and Superior of the Romanian Settlements in Jerusalem, Jordan and Jericho, and Rt Rev Archdeacon Traian Diaconul, Patriarchal Secretary.
The following members of the delegation that accompanied His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel at the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches of Constantinople attended the thanksgiving service: His Eminence Metropolitan Nifon, Archbishop of Targoviste and Patriarchal Exarch, Rev Patriarchal Counsellors Michael Tita and Stefan Ababei, and Deacon Mihai Musat.
To end with the thanksgiving service, the Patriarch of Romania delivered a speech which we render below: “We thank God, as we have already done in this prayer, for the help given to the participants in the Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches all over the world. This Pan-Orthodox Synaxis had special help from God because it succeeded in establishing the date, place and programme of the future Pan-Orthodox Synod called the Holy and Great Synod. This Synaxis turned out to be a special work for the welfare of the Orthodoxy. In the ’60s, the idea of a Pan-Orthodox or even of an Ecumenical Synod was enthusiastically accepted, but due to the political situation in certain countries called socialist at the time, a meeting of a Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Synod was postponed, but now, in an atmosphere of greater freedom, the date and manner of working could be established. We had the great joy, at this Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches, to work together and define some aspects concerning the preparation of the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Synod. I noticed especially the determination and firm wish of His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to fix a date and place for the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Synod to be organised. The place will be the Church of Saint Irene of Constantinople, the church where the 2nd Ecumenical Synod was held in 380-381. It is a church 100 metres long, 32 metres wide and the only greater one that has not been turned into a mosque when Mehmet II the Conqueror occupied Constantinople. This Church has a special symbolism. Its construction began in 330 and its founder was Saint Emperor Constantine the Great. It was restored later on by Emperor Justinian. This church has a special acoustics and it reminds all the work of the Church done in the city of Saint Emperor Constantine the Great. We have also visited several churches in Constantinople and attended certain religious services, especially that of the Akathistos of the Mother of God, and went on a pilgrimage to Saint Martyr Parascheva church, founded by Saint Martyr Constantine Brancoveanu in 1692, 22 years before his martyr’s death in Constantinople. We noticed the joy of the faithful and, certainly, the fact that the Romanian Orthodox parish priest Vlad Sergiu is loved over there due to his wisdom and pastoral activity. Our delegation made up of His Eminence Metropolitan Nifon, Archbishop of Targoviste, His Eminence Metropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe, Patriarchal Counsellors Michael Tita and Stefan Ababei and deacon Mihail Musat was an active one at all sessions and we tried to bring our contribution to the preparatory plan of the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Synod. Also appreciated was the presence of a delegation of the Romanian Patriarchate at mass-media level, namely four persons from BASILICA Press Centre, representing TRINITAS Radio station, TRINITAS Television and ‘Lumina’ newspaper. We had the joy to see every day the news sent home, to Romania, and feel, at the same time, to be a dynamic delegation. We had encounters with various Church Primates, so that we can say that this Synaxis was, to a great extent, a blessing of God. There were two sad aspects too, namely the fact that nobody was present on behalf of the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia because of some internal disagreements, and the delegation of the Patriarchate of Antioch did not sign the documents, decisions and message of the Synaxis and neither did they participate in the concelebration on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, because they wanted to show their sadness caused by the conflict with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem related to a situation newly created in Qatar. But we hope that a solution acceptable for both parts be reached through the negotiation of some other sister Orthodox Churches, so that all the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches should participate in the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Synod. We must also remember the fact that the concelebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Holy Great Martyr George of Constantinople turned out to be an expression of the Pan-Orthodox fraternity and communion. It was a very beautiful liturgy and commemoration or remembrance of those who passed away that followed afterwards, especially of the most remarkable servants of the Church who contributed to the rapprochement and cooperation among Churches. Great heed was paid to the renewal of the older texts, to their updating, so that what the Holy and Great Pan-Orthodox Synod will issue to be the authentic theology presented in an updated language, pastorally and missionary orientated. The future Pan-Orthodox Synod will not debate dogmatic issues, but will emphasise the need to cooperate for a more intense Orthodox mission in the world, taking into account the context we live in. Thus, the texts drafted several years ago will be updated, expressed in a language taking into account the new context we live in. We thank God for all these wonderful works and for the encouragement that this Synaxis showed through its message. The message is dense, not long and it refers to the situation in today’s world in which the Orthodox Church must manifest together as a single Church, namely the entire Orthodoxy. The message also referred to the hard situations the Christians in the Middle East live in, especially to the Christians who suffer a lot in Syria, as well as to the uncertain situation in Ukraine. The Primates and representatives of the Sister Orthodox Churches present at the Syntaxis urged everyone to pray for peace, good understanding and cessation of the persecution of the Christians in certain parts of the world, especially in the Middle East. It was a Synaxis of common work and prayer and more cooperation among the Sister Orthodox Churches was noticed in any issue emerged that must be solved through brotherly dialogue and good understanding of the other one. Thus, mutual listening to is more necessary than ever in order to understand, first of all, the point of view of the other one. Thus, it was a blessing, although usually such meetings are not organised during the first week of the Lent, because now every hierarch, clergy, and faithful is focused rather on the spiritual aspects. But tradition was also noticed there and we felt we were during the first week of Lent. The convocation of this Synaxis was done with the intention that its works reach the climax during the concelebration of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches at the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. So, the Sunday of Orthodoxy was the final point which showed the sacramental unity of Orthodoxy through concelebration. It should be mentioned the fact that our delegation was active in all the fields of the sessions, but especially His Eminence Nifon, Metropolitan and Patriarchal Exarch, who was present in the drafting committee of the message and of the final decisions, so that the point of view of our Church was a real contribution to these working sessions. Thus, we thank God for all and wait this year and during the years to come to intensify the relations with various Sister Orthodox Churches, especially with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and with some other Sister Churches too who expressed their desire to come to visit our country and Church. We thank His Grace Varlaam Ploiesteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, and the archimandrites for the common prayer, who received us together with the representatives of BASILICA Press Centre. May you live many blessed years!”, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel said.
From 6-8 March 2014, the Primates of the Orthodox Churches met in Synaxis in Constantinople, at the church of Holy Great Martyr George in Phanar district (Istanbul), and concelebrated the Divine Liturgy in the same church, on 9 March.
