Today, His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Cause of the University of Bucharest. The event went off in the presence of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in “Prof. Constantin Stoicescu” room of the Law Faculty. Laudatio was read by Univ. Lecturer Dr Madeea Axinciuc, director of the Programme of Religious Studies of the University of Bucharest.
Then, His Beatitude Theophilos delivered the lecture on the theme entitled “Mission of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem today”. The lecture can be consulted here.
“The final observations on the mission of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem today are designed to reach peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land and in the world. Jerusalem – the Foundation City of Peace – affirms in the name of the Patriarchate, not only its vocation but also the vocation of humanity through extension. Our task is to build a world of peace and reconciliation, and Jerusalem is both our inspiration and main scene. All those who love Jerusalem and the Holy Land are deeply worried about the present and evolution of the state of things in the Middle East. Fanaticism and sectarian violence threaten the very structure of our existence, but we remain firm in facing fanaticism in all its forms. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem has been an agent of peace and reconciliation in all its history, so that we have a century old experience in regard both to living in various circumstances and to bringing different communities together to ensure the good living for all of them. The Patriarchate is aware that in order to make peace and reconciliation flourish the religious people must fight, to the same extent, for justice, mutual recognition, basic human rights, safety and security for everybody”, His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem said.
“The Patriarchate of Jerusalem holds a unique position in the religious, cultural and even political scenery of the Middle East and recognises the burden of the mission it was entrusted with by virtue of its vocation”, His Beatitude Theophilos also said: ‘We continue to make biggest efforts to remain faithful to this legacy of faith and to serve our apostolic mission. We need your prayers, we ask for your support and encourage you to deepen, with every separate generation, the relationship between your country and the Holy Land. At the same time we must remember that the political and national aspirations must not be confused with the work of the spiritual mission in the region of the Middle East, because this thing can lead to situations never met before and hard to anticipate for the Orthodox Church as happened with the Christians of Iraq and Syria. The local Christian community of the Holy Land needs your engagement and help. Yet, we know that you will enrich yourselves to a great extent through the pilgrimages you go on and through the relations you develop with us, because the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is a solid bridge between the national Orthodox entities and the political spheres in the region.’
Besides the delegation of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of the Romanian Patriarchate, the members of the Senate of the University of Bucharest, members of the teaching staff of several faculties, students and people of culture attended.
The event ended with a short concert performed by “Armonia” chorus of the Archdiocese of Tomis.
The 141st Primate of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, with the lay name of Ilias Giannopoulos, was born in 1952, in the South of Peloponnese peninsula, in Greece. In 1986, he was appointed patriarchal representative for the World Council of Churches. He served as abbot in Cana Galilee, and then as exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Qatar. Soon after his appointment as Archbishop of Tabor Mountain, on 9 August 2005, he was elected Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and of All Palestine, of Syria, Arabia, beyond the River Jordan, of Cana Galilee and of the Holy Zion. His enthronement took place on 22 November 2005 in the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
