His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel marks 19 years on Wednesday since his enthronement as Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Born in the village of Dobrești, Timiș County, on 22 July 1951 to Alexie and Stela Ciobotea, he received the name Dan-Ilie at baptism. He attended primary school in his native village before continuing his education in Lăpușnic.
He began his secondary education in Buziaș and continued at the Coriolan Brediceanu High School in Lugoj. His academic formation included studies at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Sibiu and doctoral studies in theology in Bucharest, under the supervision of St Dumitru Stăniloae the Confessor, as well as in Strasbourg.
In 1987, he received the monastic tonsure, with St Cleopas of Sihăstria as his monastic godfather. Three years later, he was elected Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Timișoara and ordained to the episcopate. On 7 June 1990, he became Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bukovina.
During his years in Iași, he developed numerous initiatives in the administrative, academic, pastoral and social-philanthropic fields. On 12 September 2007, he was elected Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Building the National Cathedral
One of Patriarch Daniel’s first initiatives after his enthronement was laying the foundation stone of the National Cathedral on 29 November 2007.
The cathedral’s construction represents the fulfilment of an aspiration pursued by the Romanian people for several generations. It is dedicated to the nation’s heroes and to St Andrew the First-Called, Protector of Romania.
The altar of the National Cathedral was consecrated in 2018, as Romania marked the Centennial of the Great Union. In 2025, during the centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate and the 140th anniversary of the Romanian Orthodox Church attaining autocephaly, the cathedral’s mosaic iconography was consecrated.
“The building and consecration of the National Cathedral represent the fulfilment of an ideal which we, as Patriarch, received as a mandate, together with the Holy Synod, the clergy and the faithful, from our worthy predecessors,” the act of consecration of the mosaic iconography states.
New saints in the calendar
In liturgical life, Patriarch Daniel’s recent ministry has added numerous Romanian saints to the Church calendar and established new feast days.
In 2024, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church approved the canonisation of 16 Romanian spiritual fathers and confessors of the 20th century. A year later, it canonised 16 Romanian women saints—martyrs, monastics, wives and mothers.
Among the new commemorations added to the calendar is the Translation of the Relics of St Demetrius the New to Bucharest, established on the occasion of the event’s 250th anniversary.
Patriarch Daniel’s full biography is available on the Basilica News Agency website.
Photo: BASILICA / Mircea Florescu
