Prayers offered as Romania takes over EU presidency

The members of the Permanent Office of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the European Institution offer prayers for all those in service to the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council.

‘Grant them wisdom and peace! Speak good things into their hearts so that through the faithful conduct of their duties we may live peaceful and serene lives in our beloved Europe,’ reads the message posted on the official Twitter account of the institution.

Romania took over the EU’s rotating presidency for the first time on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, succeeding Austria.

The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC) is the biggest Christian Orthodox Church within the EU.

In 2005, the Holy Synod of the ROC decided to establish a Permanent Office of the Romanian Patriarchate in Brussels, which became operational in 2007.

It is a concrete form of the openness and European responsibility of ROC and at the same time a response to the interest manifested by the EU in the dialogue with churches, especially after the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, which institutionalizes the dialogue with European churches.

The primary aims of the Permanent Office are:

– to monitor the policies and activities of the European institutions in domains of particular interest to our Church (e.g.: social, educational, environmental policies, human rights, bioethics etc.);
– to inform the ROC and Romanian citizens about the activities, policies, and projects of the EU;
– to ensure an effective communication, as well as the promotion and development of dialogue between our Church and the European institutions;
– to bring its particular contribution to the European construction.

Since 2010, the Permanent Office of the ROC is a member of the Committee of the Representatives of Orthodox Churches to the European Union (CROCEU).

Photography courtesy of

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