On Thursday, March 27, 2025, the working session of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church took place in the Aula Magna “Teoctist Patriarch” of the Patriarchal Palace, under the presidency of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.
The session was preceded by a Te Deum service celebrated by His Grace Nectarie of Bogdania, Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chișinău, marking the opening of the synodal proceedings and commemorating the 107th anniversary of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania (March 27, 1918). The memory of the Bessarabian founders of the Great Union was also honoured at the end of the service.
During the working session, the Holy Synod adopted the following decisions:
The Holy Synod announced that the Consecration of the Holy Chrism will take place on Great and Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025, in the presence of all Synod members in Bucharest.
A new Bishop of the Sălaj Diocese was elected, a ministry for which the Metropolitan Synod of the Metropolis of Cluj, Maramureș, and Sălaj had proposed the following candidates: His Grace Benedict of Bistrița, Assistant Bishop of the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac, and Cluj, and university lecturer at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Cluj-Napoca, and the Very Reverend Archimandrite Samuel Cristea, professor and spiritual father at the Metropolitan Nicolae Colan Orthodox College in Cluj-Napoca. Through a secret ballot, the Holy Synod elected His Grace Assistant Bishop Benedict of Bistrița as the new Bishop of the Sălaj Diocese.
The Holy Synod received with hope and blessing the expressed desire of several Romanian Orthodox communities in Ukraine to return under the pastoral care of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The Synod approved the Statute (charter) and eparchial coat of arms of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Holy Synod approved the initiation of canonization procedures for several Romanian holy women, in preparation for the year 2026, which has been declared the Solemn Year of Pastoral Care for the Christian Family and the Commemorative Year of Holy Women (myrrh-bearers, martyrs, ascetics, wives, and mothers).
Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate
Photo: Basilica.ro Files
