The 2026 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO 2026) concluded on Thursday at the National Cathedral with the Divine Liturgy and a ceremony handing over the torch to the Archdiocese of Iași, which has been designated to organise the next gathering.
Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishops Varlaam of Ploiești and Paisie of Sinaia celebrated the service, along with Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova of the Archdiocese of Bucharest. Metropolitan Agathonikos of Arusha and Central Tanzania of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa and Bishop Macarie of Northern Europe also attended the service.
The 2,400 young participants and volunteers at the gathering, as well as other worshippers, attended the service, the first Divine Liturgy celebrated at the National Cathedral this year.
Crisis of the family
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel addressed a message to the young people in which he emphasised that “the conjugal family and the ecclesial family are icons of the love of the Holy Trinity and blessings for humanity”.
His Beatitude warned that the natural, traditional conjugal family is facing a crisis and shifting toward an uncertain and confused future.
“Materialistic individualism and the pride of selfish freedom hinder both the affirmation of human life as existence in communion and solidarity, and the affirmation of the family’s sacred vocation as an environment for spiritual life and salvation. By salvation, we mean the union of mortal human beings with the eternally living God (cf. John 11:25).”
“The conjugal family can never be reduced to its biological, legal, psychological, sociological or cultural aspects, because the conjugal family is more than all these combined and transcends them. Indeed, love within the conjugal family has the vocation of being in the world an icon of God’s love for humanity and an icon of the eternal love within the Holy Trinity,” Patriarch Daniel added.
Iași to host next ITO
The Archdiocese of Bucharest handed over the torch of the 2026 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth to a delegation from the Archdiocese of Iași, which will organise the gathering in 2028.
“In the words of the Psalmist, ‘Praise the Lord, O young people!’ (Psalm 112), we glorify God for the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth held during these days in Romania’s capital, the city of joy,” said Daniel Cristian Lupu, who carried the Bucharest gathering’s torch together with Teodora Bratu.
Andrei Pohrib and Maria Stella Pascal, young representatives of the Archdiocese of Iași, received the torch, saying that ITO 2026 had represented for them an image of the Christian life.
“I hope that, years from now, we will remember this gathering and this moment as one in which we found a new meaning and a new direction, and understood that it is possible to live a beautiful Christian life within the Church. We look forward to welcoming you to ITO Iași 2028!” Andrei Pohrib said.
At the end, they thanked all the institutions that supported the organisation of the 2026 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth.
Photo: BASILICA / Mircea Florescu
