Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church emphasized the crucial role of cooperation between the state and religious denominations during a meeting held at the Roman Catholic Episcopal Palace in Oradea on Tuesday. The event, part of the ongoing activities of the State-Religious Dialogue Commission, aimed to strengthen collaboration between the government and religious institutions.
Patriarch Daniel highlighted three key areas of partnership: education, healthcare, and social-philanthropic work. He praised ongoing projects like “Donate Blood, Save a Life!” and the “Health for Villages” campaign, emphasizing their positive impact on society.
The Patriarch also called for legislative changes to grant religious denominations exclusive rights to determine how their revered figures are honoured, aiming to protect religious practices and symbols.
He expressed confidence that further cooperation between the state and religious communities would benefit Romanian society’s development.
The meeting, organized by the Secretariat of State for Religious Affairs, brought together religious leaders and government representatives to address common concerns and continue the fruitful dialogue initiated earlier this year.
Please find below the full text of Patriarch Daniel’s message titled “The Activity of the Dialogue Commission Between the State and Religious Denominations is Beneficial for Romanian Society”.
The Activity of the Dialogue Commission Between the State and Religious Denominations is Beneficial for Romanian Society
The working meeting between the representatives of Romania’s religious denominations and representatives of the Romanian State, currently taking place at the Roman Catholic Episcopal Palace in Oradea, marks the third meeting since the establishment of the State-Religious Dialogue Commission on Monday, October 2, 2023, at the Victoria Palace.
This consultative body is extremely valuable in fostering dialogue and cooperation between the State and religious denominations, which benefits Romanian society.
At the previous two meetings, religious representatives highlighted several practical issues they face in their activities. The Romanian Government has already provided solutions for most of these by adopting or amending certain legislative acts, which encourages us to continue the dialogue.
Cooperation between the State and recognized religious denominations is vital in at least three significant areas: education of children and youth, public health, and social-philanthropic work.
Currently, the Romanian Patriarchate combines social-philanthropic and medical work in three major projects, the first two of which have been running for over a decade with remarkable results: the “Donate Blood, Save a Life!” Campaign, the “Health for Villages” Campaign, and, more recently, the Cervical Cancer Prevention Campaign through the Babeș-Papanicolau diagnostic method. These beneficial activities for society must continue and be intensified.
In another context, our Church appreciates the cooperation between the State and religious denominations in conserving and valuing religious treasures.
At the same time, we believe that this effort should not be limited to heritage objects or historic monument buildings but should also be reflected through the creation of an appropriate legislative framework, allowing all recognized religious denominations, based on their constitutionally guaranteed autonomy and following their own statutes or canonical codes, to decide on the ways to honour canonized, beatified, sanctified individuals, those recognized as righteous, or acknowledged as their identity symbols.
Therefore, the Romanian Orthodox Church requests the support of the State, as well as the other recognized religious denominations, for the amendment of Article 29 of Law No. 489 of December 28, 2006, regarding religious freedom and the general regime of religious denominations, by adding a new paragraph that states:
“(2) Religious denominations have the exclusive right to determine how canonized, beatified, sanctified individuals, those recognized as righteous, or acknowledged as their identity symbols, are honoured.”
Such a legislative amendment would play an important role in complementing and strengthening the legal framework related to the exercise of religious freedom in our country with a necessary and practical regulation aimed at protecting the religious denominations’ activities of honouring and commemorating symbolic, emblematic, and holy figures within each denomination.
The proposed legislative amendment aligns with and complements the provisions of Article 13, paragraph 2 of the Law on Religious Denominations, which states that “In Romania, any forms, means, acts, or actions of religious defamation or incitement to religious hatred, as well as a public offence against religious symbols, are prohibited.”
In conclusion, we extend our thanks to the host of this event, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oradea, as well as to the Romanian Government and the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs for organizing this new meeting between representatives of Romania’s religious denominations and representatives of the Romanian State.
We are confident that joint activities that benefit the lives of the Romanian people and the development of Romanian society will be more easily organized through the necessary and natural cooperation between the state and religious denominations, as well as among the recognized religious denominations themselves.
† DANIEL
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Photo: Basilica.ro Files / Mircea Florescu