On Friday, May 24, 2024, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel delivered a message at the inauguration of the events commemorating the Day of Romanians Everywhere, which took place in the Patriarch Teoctist Aula Magna of the Patriarchate Palace in Bucharest.

“The beneficial influence of the Church is received, lived, and transmitted to children, especially through families formed by believers attached to the values of Orthodoxy,” the Patriarch of Romania noted in his message. “The family is the primary environment where faith is embraced, practised, loved, and passed on to descendants.”

Day of Romanians Everywhere

Christ is risen!

According to Law no. 101/2015, the last Sunday of May is celebrated as the Day of Romanians Everywhere. This day has a strong national and spiritual identity significance and is a great opportunity to reaffirm the common values that underpin our unity: the Romanian language, the Romanian culture, and the Christian traditions of the Romanian people.

Romanians who have left the country for various reasons have carried their ancestral faith into the wider world, keeping the church from home in their hearts, living the spirituality and holy Orthodox faith.

Therefore, the Mother Church, through the care of its spiritual children, has established numerous parishes and dioceses in the diaspora to meet the spiritual needs of Romanian Orthodox believers.

Thus, in addition to the already organized dioceses, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in its working session on February 29, 2024, approved the establishment of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, based in London, and the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Ireland and Iceland, based in Dublin.

Currently, in all these foreign dioceses of the Romanian Orthodox Church, there are a total of 1,578 parishes and non-parochial churches, 74 Romanian Orthodox monastic settlements, served by 1,519 Romanian clerics.

In the current context of global migration, the Romanian Orthodox Church is developing and intensifying its pastoral and social mission and responsibility towards Orthodox Romanians outside Romania, whom it considers its faithful children and an integral part of the Romanian Orthodox communion everywhere.

The beneficial influence of the Church is received, lived, and transmitted to children, especially through families formed by believers attached to the values of Orthodoxy. The family is the primary environment where faith is embraced, practised, loved, and passed on to descendants.

The closeness to God, the familiarity with the saints, and the lights of faith are discovered through the work of spiritual pastors and devout individuals, who manifest their faith in life with nobility and love.

Therefore, Romanians wish to preserve the unity of the family, consisting of man, woman, and children, because the family blessed by God represents the most precious intimate space in which conjugal love, as well as parental, filial, and fraternal love, is expressed.

Moreover, it is very necessary to educate the younger generation in the spirit of love for God, the Church, and the nation, as well as to cultivate essential virtues in the souls of children and young people, such as love and compassion, solidarity with people in difficulty, friendship, courage, and hope.

Thus, the mission of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the diaspora is linked to cultivating the holy aspirations of Romanians outside the country, the unity of the family, the Romanian language, the Christian faith, and Romanian culture in dialogue with the great universal cultures.

Therefore, the Church and the family are called to give birth to and nurture faithful, hardworking, and generous people with love for their nation and homeland.

We congratulate the efforts of the Department for Romanians Everywhere for the generous support provided to Romanian communities in the diaspora and for organizing events dedicated to the Day of Romanians Everywhere. We wish all Romanians here and everywhere peace and health, joy and salvation.

With paternal blessing and fraternal greetings,

† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Photography courtesy of the Basilica.ro Files / Mircea Florescu