Representatives of Orthodox Churches to the EU want to go beyond discussions and messages and tighten cooperation for the common good. It was the message transmitted at the 2023 New Year’s Reception offered by the Committee of Representatives of Orthodox Churches to the European Union (CROCEU).
The event was held on January 24, at the Ambiorix Orthodox Center in Brussels’ EU quarter. It brought together friends and partners of the Committee, diplomats and officials who are involved in the development of the dialogue between Churches and EU institutions.
His Eminence Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium (Ecumenical Patriarchate) offered a brief overview of the history of the Orthodox representation to the EU, over the past two decades.
The hierarch stressed the need for the Churches to make their voices heard in a coherent and united manner, given the many challenges Europe and the world are currently facing.
“Let us not stop at words, but let us do things together for the good of our European society and that of the whole world, but above all for the people who live here,” added Metropolitan Athenagoras.
Father George Vâlcu, CROCEU General Secretary, thanked to all present for the good cooperation and expressed his hope for its further development.
“As we still find ourselves in the midst of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, I am glad to see and to say that, while many others are speaking of an ‘ecumenical winter’ here in Brussels, we manage to keep our relation so warm, in spite of the most-of-the-times cold, wet and windy environment,” Father George Vâlcu said.
“I do hope that we will be able, in the year and in the years to come, to develop our relations even more, not merely at the diplomatic and general level and format, but giving them even more concrete substance and resulting in concrete policies, facilitating the achievement of the often-times spoken-of, though at times forgotten or at least ‘put into brackets’, common good,” added the CROCEU Secretary General.
The Permanent Office of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions is a member of the Committee of Representatives of the Orthodox Churches to the EU (CROCEU).
Its President is Romanian Archbishop Nifon of Târgoviște, Honorary Metropolitan and Patriarchal Exarch. The Office’s Vice-President is Romanian Metropolitan Joseph of Western Europe.
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC) is the biggest Christian Orthodox Church in the EU.
Photo: The Permanent Office of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions
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