His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel has urged Romanians living far from the country to stay in constant contact with their loved ones at home, cherish their family, and give a Christian education to the young generation.

Please find below the message of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel for the Sunday of the Romanian Migrants (August 22, 2021).

Solemn blessing for all Romanians outside Romania: full text

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church proclaimed 2021 as a Solemn Year of the pastoral care of Romanians outside Romania and a Commemorative Year of those asleep in the Lord; the liturgical and cultural value of cemeteries.

The solemn and commemorative themes highlight two of the essential coordinates in the pastoral-missionary activity of our Church.

In the current context of the global migration phenomenon, the Romanian Orthodox Church develops and intensifies its mission and pastoral responsibility towards Orthodox Romanians outside Romania, whom it considers its faithful sons and daughters and an integral part of the Romanian Orthodox communion everywhere.

In this sense, through the co-responsibility of all the hierarchs of the Holy Synod and, especially, of the Romanian Orthodox hierarchs who pastor the clergy and the faithful outside Romania, the Romanian Orthodox Church carries out a rich liturgical, pastoral, missionary, cultural and social work in the parishes, monasteries, cultural and social-charitable institutions of the Romanian Orthodox communities located in the vicinity of Romania and the Romanian diaspora.

Given the large number of Romanians outside Romania (currently estimated at almost ten million, respectively, six million Romanians living in historical or traditional communities in neighbouring countries of Romania and four million Romanians living in church communities in the diaspora), the Romanian Patriarchate supports the efforts of Orthodox Romanians temporarily or permanently settled abroad, to preserve their religious, ethnic, linguistic and cultural identity.

The pastoral care and special appreciation shown by the Romanian Patriarchate towards the Romanian Orthodox communities outside the country has been materialized, in recent years, by setting up numerous parishes and new dioceses to meet the multiple spiritual needs of Romanian Orthodox believers in Bessarabia (Republic of Moldova), Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Central and Northern Europe, Western and Southern Europe, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, as well as by establishing representations (Jerusalem and Brussels) and Romanian Orthodox communities (Mount Athos, Syria and Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, South Africa, Japan, Croatia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates / Dubai).

The participation of Orthodox members from Romanian communities outside Romania in the liturgical life, as well as in cultural events and social-philanthropic actions organized by the parishes in the vicinity of Romania and the Romanian diaspora, is a particular benefit and joy for both them and the servants of the holy altars.

At the same time, the harmonious coexistence of Romanian migrants with the citizens of the host countries is needed for social integration, but without the cultural assimilation of Romanians.

With much paternal love, we urge Romanians living far from the country to stay in constant contact with their loved ones at home.

We also advise Orthodox believers in the country and abroad to cherish the family – consisting of a man, a woman and children – because the God-blessed family is the most precious intimate space in which conjugal love, but also parental, filial and brotherly love are expressed.

We urge all to educate the younger generation in the spirit of love for God, the Church, and the nation and to cultivate in children and youth the essential Christian virtues: faith, hope, and love of God and fellow people.

We also urge Romanian migrants in different parts of the world to properly honour, according to our Christian Orthodox tradition, those who have passed away to eternal life.

The prayerful commemoration of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord is an act of living Orthodox faith and a testimony of love for others.

In particular, we thank the servants of the Romanian Orthodox Holy Altar outside Romania for their activity and fidelity.

At the same time, we urge them to intensify their pastoral and missionary work to preserve and cultivate the Orthodox Christian faith of the Romanian spiritual and cultural values.]

We pray to the All-Merciful God to bless all Romanians, in the country and outside Romania, and give them good health and help, peace and joy, for many and joyful years!

With much appreciation and paternal blessing,

† Daniel

Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro