During his opening remarks at the National Conference of Church Painting, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel urged for decisive action on saving Romania’s villages.
‘Let us not look nostalgically with that so-called mioritic passivity.’
‘Let us take action with energy and responsibility to save the Romanian village and its priceless heritage,’ the Patriarch said on Monday.
‘Unite prayer and action, solidarity and brotherhood with the will to effectively and efficiently help the Romanian village,’ he underscored.
His Beatitude noted that ‘the cultural heritage of Romania, which is one of the most valuable riches we still have, is largely a religious cultural heritage.’
This religious heritage ‘builds bridges between past, present and future generations and represents an inexhaustible source of religious and artistic inspiration, an attraction for pilgrims and tourists, while contributing to the country’s economic development.’
Addressing almost one hundred iconographers and church painters at the Patriarchal Palace, His Beatitude said that ‘the artistic liturgical creations in the field of folk art by their identity represent the perpetuation of a sensitivity of the rural community, which preserves the Christian faith and the Romanian tradition.’
Pointing to the purpose of this year’s national conference, the Patriarch said that it seeks to harness ‘the progress made in preserving religious heritage.’
The conference also aims at updating and presenting ‘the research in the field of church art, so that specialists in all fields may be able to complete their practical work by adding further theological, historical and aesthetic knowledge.’
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene
