Nearly 2,000 participants and volunteers at the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO 2026) in Bucharest took part on Wednesday in interactive training workshops on project management, digital communication, and responsibility in interpersonal relationships.
For approximately 1,800 Romanian participants, the activities took place in classrooms at the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest and were coordinated by more than 70 ITO 2026 volunteers.
The workshops covered the stages of a project — planning, implementation and evaluation — with an emphasis on teamwork, taking responsibility and managing unforeseen situations.
‘The young people did an excellent job’
During the practical component, participants were divided into teams and asked to build a bridge from stationery materials, applying the principles presented during the workshop.
Andreia Paraschiv, an ITO 2026 facilitator, highlighted the participants’ response to the challenge.
“The young people did an excellent job. They responded promptly, they were enthusiastic and they were happy.”
“We are proud of their projects and hope they will return home with joy and with the initiative to develop new projects and support the communities to which they belong,” the volunteer emphasised.
‘In religious communication, we are not seeking likes’
Meanwhile, young people from other countries took part in activities organised at the Patriarch Justinian Faculty of Orthodox Theology. Their day began with prayer at St Catherine’s Church, where prayers were offered in several languages, including Romanian, English, Greek and Arabic.
Participants then chose between two workshops. The first focused on how the Church can communicate its message in the digital environment and was led by Fr Gheorghe Anghel, a lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies in Bucharest.
“In religious digital communication, we are not seeking to attract likes, nor are we necessarily seeking to attract followers in the digital space. Rather, through religious communication, we are seeking to attract followers of Christ.”
“The responsibility is much greater, because if you make a mistake in religious communication, it could cost you a soul,” the priest cautioned.
‘We cannot neglect our relationships with those around us’
The second workshop, entitled Freedom, Responsibility and Relationships, invited young people to reflect on personal choices and how those choices affect others.
“We placed a great deal of emphasis on the connection between personal choices and how what we theoretically do in our private, individual lives affects those around us, and on the fact that we cannot neglect our relationships with other people,” said Teodora Diana Paul, president of the Students for Life Association and an ITO 2026 trainer.
“They had many very diverse opinions. The workshop was designed so that everything we discussed would be built upon their ideas, which we would then help shape and moderate,” she added.
After the workshops concluded, participants visited several tourist, cultural and spiritual landmarks in Bucharest. A guided tour of the Palace of Parliament was also organised for young people from the Romanian diaspora and other countries.
Photo: Alexandru Paraschiv
