Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church praised the commitment of hundreds of young volunteers during the Gala of the “Youth in Action” programme, held last Tuesday, November 18, in Bucharest, in the context of the Centennial Year of the Romanian Patriarchate.
His message highlighted the spiritual depth of Christian volunteering, describing it as “lived theology and self-giving love,” and commended the volunteers’ contribution to recent major religious events, including the consecration of the National Cathedral’s mosaics and the feast of Saint Demetrius the New.
Please find below Patriarch Daniel’s full message.
Volunteering of “Youth in Action” – Service, Communion, and a Beautiful Witness in the Centennial Year of the Romanian Patriarchate
Venerable and Reverend Fathers,
Distinguished Guests,
Dear Young Volunteers,
This year, which marks one century since the elevation of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the rank of Patriarchate, has been for our Church a time of remembrance, gratitude, and confession of faith, but also a call to missionary responsibility within society.
In this light of the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate, we gather today to thank God and to express our appreciation to you, the volunteers of Youth in Action!, for the dedication, faith, and steadfastness with which you have served and continue to serve Christ’s Church, through projects that have become landmarks of communion and beauty both in the Capital and in the archdiocese.
Through your faith and activity, you have shown everyone that the Church is your home — a place of growth in generous love and the space where the light of faith is transformed into good deeds for the comfort and strengthening of people. This Gala is therefore a moment of gratitude and appreciation for your offering, as well as an opportunity to reflect on the deep meaning of Christian volunteering in the contemporary world.
In this light, your contribution to the events surrounding the consecration of the mosaics of the National Cathedral was a discreet yet powerful witness, a steadfast and attentive response through which you placed your talents at the service of liturgical beauty, order, and the common good.
Day after day, in multiple shifts, from the morning of Sunday, 19 October 2025, until Thursday, 06 November 2025, you supported the reception of pilgrims, the proper conduct of solemn moments, communication, and event management — transforming effort into an occasion for prayer and unity.
Likewise, your service during the feast of Saint Demetrius the New, Protector of Bucharest, strengthened the “ecclesial family” of the Capital in a concrete and discerning way, consolidating communion and bringing joy to the hearts of those who came to venerate the holy relics.
Christian volunteering is not only about “doing”, but is lived theology and self-giving love placed in the service of one’s neighbour, according to the word: “And you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
In the Church, volunteering is “a sacrifice pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:16), transforming the merciful love of Christ into deeds. Thus, the volunteer becomes both witness and doer of Christ’s generous love for humanity, freeing himself from selfishness and transfiguring physical effort into spiritual communion.
Through the educational, philanthropic, cultural, and catechetical projects in which you are involved, you show that the Church proposes models of life, friendship, responsibility, and spiritual beauty, as the documentary film we are about to watch also suggestively illustrates.
In your work, the integrating dimension of the Church — the “community of all ages” — has also been visible: you have learned from the elderly patience and discernment, and they have received from you joy, dynamism, and the search for happiness, showing that dialogue between generations is a sign of the endurance of Christian faith in history.
At the same time, you have answered the Church’s call to weave together faith with education, culture, science, and social responsibility, showing that the illumination of mind and heart support one another. Faith offers light to knowledge, culture makes visible the beauty of the soul, true science becomes responsible service to life, and social care translates generous love into concrete actions — all of which sustain a mission rooted in the merciful love of Christ and in constant respect for the image of God in every person.
We rejoice to see that you do not separate your service from its source — namely, the Holy Liturgy and personal prayer. Prayer enlightens the mind, warms the heart, and strengthens the will to do good; from the Divine Liturgy, your volunteering receives light, joy, and spiritual power.
Thus, you remain in the Church both those who pray and those who work, united in the same love, so that each project may become a place of encounter with God, of growth in fraternal communion, and of friendship.
Dear young people,
We thank you for the diligence, humility, and beauty of your service: on feast days and ordinary days, in large projects or small gestures, in the centre of the Capital and in other places where your presence, action, and smile are needed.
We pray that the Most Holy Trinity, the Mother of God, and all the saints grant you health, peace, and joy, and multiply your talents in every good deed, for the glory of God, the good of the Church, and your joy and ours, of all!
With fatherly appreciation and blessing,
† DANIEL
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Foto credit: Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
