His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel welcomed Thursday, 7 June 2018, a delegation of the Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).
The members of the delegation included His Eminence Hon Metropolitan Nifon, Archbishop of Targoviste and patriarchal exarch, JWG co-moderator, His Excellency Martin Diarmuid, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland and JWG co-moderator, Rev. Ioan Sauca, WCC deputy general secretary, His Excellency Bishop Brian Farrel, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Rev. Andrzej Choromański, director at PCPCU, Prof. Matheus Odair, director of the WCC’s Faith and Order Commission, and Dr. Martin Robra, WCC director for relations with member Churches.
Earlier, on June 4-7, 2018, the JWG delegation had a working meeting hosted by the Archdiocese of Târgoviște.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel welcomed to Romania the JWG delegation and pointed to the importance of Christian co-operation in the face of various current challenges such as migration, secularization, and military conflicts in some regions of the world.
These realities of the contemporary world have a profound impact on the Christian communities, with the phenomenon of migration affecting to a significant extent the Romanian society, which causes the aging of communities, especially in rural areas.
At the same time, increasing secularization in some European regions and the conflicts existing in society call on Christian communities to act jointly.
In this context, the Patriarch of Romania stressed the importance of intensifying youth activities to counter the negative effects of secularization and migration.
On behalf of the delegation, the Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland, Martin Diarmuid, thanked the Romanian Patriarch for the warm welcome and pointed to the need to deepen the inter-Christian dialogue adapted to the context of today’s world in order to be able to proclaim the Gospel of our Saviour Jesus Christ with greater force and credibility.
His Excellency recalled the cultural and spiritual contribution of the Romanian Orthodox communities in Ireland to the enrichment of the Irish, multicultural and pluri-religious society.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel thanked the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin for the support given to three Romanian Orthodox parishes in Dublin, especially to the St Columba parish, by providing a liturgical space. He also expressed the hope that these communities will contribute to the consolidation and deepening of the good relations between the two peoples and Churches.
Department for External Church Relations of the Romanian Patriarchate
Tr by Basilica.ro
Photography courtesy of ZL
