The Permanent Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church convened on Monday, under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel, to plan events for the year 2025, which marks the 140th anniversary of the Church’s recognition of autocephaly and the 100th anniversary of its elevation to Patriarchal status.
“We have decided to convene the Permanent Synod to inform its members about the Romanian Patriarchate’s preparations for next year’s Centennial of the Patriarchate, which has also been recognized as such by the Romanian Parliament,” Patriarch Daniel said during the meeting’s opening.
“This meeting aims to both strengthen communion and make the existence of the Permanent Synod more visible.”
“In general, the Statutes for the organization and operation of the Romanian Orthodox Church do not provide many attributions of the Permanent Synod, in contrast to what the Permanent Synod represents in other Orthodox sister Churches, where it actually leads the respective Church, and the other hierarchs meet more rarely when there are elections of hierarchs or changes in church legislation”, stated His Beatitude.
The importance of synodality
“In our Church, it has been considered that the entire hierarchy forms the Holy Synod, whereas in other sister Churches, the Permanent Synod is called the Holy Synod,” explained Patriarch Daniel.
“In our Church, among the responsibilities of the Permanent Synod is to consult on the election of new patriarchal auxiliary bishops, and in more special situations, it has an initiating role, which must then be confirmed in a plenary session of the Holy Synod.”
“We also have the traditional Metropolitan Synods, according to the ecclesiology of the Ecumenical Councils, to which the Romanian Orthodox Church remains faithful. According to this, the Metropolitan Synod was composed of the hierarchs of a province and was led by the metropolitan of that province. The Metropolitan Synods had the role of defending the true faith and strengthening ecclesial communion in a particular region,” His Beatitude continued.
“Therefore, in the new Statutes of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Metropolitan Synods have been entrusted with the responsibilities of preserving the true faith, liturgical unity, and assisting the dioceses. The Patriarchal Synod or Great Synod is the legislative body for the Church and constitutes the supreme authority in the Romanian Orthodox Church.”
“Although, according to the Holy Canons, auxiliary bishops do not have the right to vote, we have made an exception, so both they have voting rights. Therefore, synodality is a defining characteristic of Orthodoxy and, as such, must be defended and strengthened,” added the Patriarch of Romania.
Collaboration and Co-responsibility
“This primarily involves reinforcing co-responsibility for defending the faith and organizing the life of the Church. Thus, ecclesial awareness is cultivated first and foremost through synodal awareness. The autonomy of dioceses is administrative while maintaining unity in faith, sacramental life, canonical order, and general administration. It is necessary to demonstrate collaboration through mutual assistance,” His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel emphasised.
“In particular, over the past 10-15 years, as several million Romanians have moved abroad, greater responsibility has fallen to the Holy Synod and the Romanian Patriarchate to care for the Romanian diaspora, both for Orthodox communities near the borders and those in the Western diaspora.”
“In this working session of the Permanent Synod, we will review a document prepared by the Chancellery of the Holy Synod, which outlines the main events that will take place leading up to and especially during next year, 2025, when we will celebrate 140 years since the granting of autocephaly and 100 years since the elevation of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the rank of Patriarchate,” added the Patriarch of Romania.
The Permanent Synod consists of the Patriarch of Romania and the metropolitans, along with one archbishop and two bishops appointed annually by the Holy Synod.
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
