On Thursday, March 30, 2023, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel welcomed His Excellency Arthur Mattli, the outgoing Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation to Romania, on a farewell visit.
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel expressed his joy to meet Mr Arthur Mattli again, complimented him on his extensive diplomatic activity in Romania, and thanked him for contributing to the “Saint Nectarios” Palliative Care Centre in Bucharest.
The Swiss Ambassador congratulated the Romanian Patriarchate for its excellent cooperation with the Embassy of Switzerland in Romania and, in this context, proposed the establishment of a structure to train personnel specialising in palliative medical assistance, taking into account the work of the “St. Nectarios” Palliative Care Centre of the Archdiocese of Bucharest while highlighting the high quality of care received by patients.
The Patriarch of Romania appreciated the proposal, adding that the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church declared 2023 as a Solemn Year of the pastoral care of the elderly and 2024 as a Solemn Year of the pastoral care of the sick.
In addition, His Beatitude thanked the Ambassador for the 181 million Swiss francs in financial support offered by the Swiss Confederation until 2022 for various programmes conducted in Romania.
Towards the end of 2022, the Embassy of Switzerland and the Romanian Ministry of Finance will sign a new agreement of about 221.5 million Swiss francs to help new projects in a variety of sectors.
At the end of the meeting, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel wished Ambassador Arthur Mattli much success in his future diplomatic mission.
Department for External Church Relations
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene
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