Marking the anniversary of the 24 January 1859 Union of the Romanian Principalities, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church issued a message of thanksgiving and national remembrance, describing the event as the “foundational union” that laid the groundwork for the modern Romanian state.
In his statement, the Patriarch stressed that the union of Moldavia and Wallachia was achieved through “God’s help” and the commitment of leaders who cultivated national unity, noting that the Romanian Orthodox Church played an essential role through its hierarchs, clergy, monastics and lay theologians.
He also recalled the historic moment in Bucharest when members of the Elective Assembly swore on the Holy Gospel and the Holy Cross to vote for union, before electing Alexandru Ioan Cuza as ruler of both principalities.
Patriarch Daniel argued that the 1859 union should not be seen as a “lesser” event, but as the basis for later milestones, including the formation of Romania in 1862, independence in 1877, the proclamation of the Kingdom in 1881, and the Great Union of 1918. He concluded by calling on Romanians to preserve and strengthen the gift of national unity, won through sacrifice and sustained effort, “for the good of the Romanian people.”
Please find below Patriarch Daniel’s message.
Union of the Romanian Principalities – Foundation of the Modern State of ROMANIA
The Day of the Union of the Romanian Principalities is a blessed occasion on which we give thanks to God and gratefully commemorate all those who contributed to the Union of the Romanian Principalities, thus highlighting the importance of unity and the dignity of our Romanian people.
The anniversary of the Union of the Romanian Principalities of 24 January 1859 became a national holiday through Law no. 171/2014, and in 2016, through the promulgation of the amendment to Article 139 of Law no. 53/2003 regarding the Labour Code, it was declared a legal national holiday, a non-working day.
The Union of the Romanian Principalities—Moldavia and Wallachia—on 24 January 1859 represented the crowning of an entire process of cultivating the national unity of the Romanians, a process to which the Romanian Orthodox Church made an essential contribution.
Through hierarchs, parish priests, monks, and lay theologians, the Romanian Orthodox Church contributed to this fundamental act of our history in both Moldavia and Wallachia.
On the well-known Metropolitan Hill in Bucharest, next to the historic Patriarchal Cathedral, stands the site of the former building of the Metropolis of Wallachia, where the works of the Elective Assembly of 1859 took place.
On 24 January, the Assembly elected the Ruler of Moldavia, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, as Ruler of Wallachia as well, thus accomplishing the Union of the two Romanian Principalities. Before the election, the members of the Elective Assembly swore on the Holy Gospel and the Holy Cross, before the icon of the Most Holy Trinity, that they would vote for the Union of the Romanian Principalities.
The Union of the Romanian Principalities, begun in Iași on 5 January 1859 and completed in Bucharest on 24 January 1859, is not the “Lesser Union”, as it is sometimes called, but rather the “Foundational Union”, because it laid the foundation for the formation in 1862 of the Romanian state, named ROMANIA; it was the foundation for gaining Romanian national independence following the War of Independence of 1877; the foundation for the elevation of Romania to the rank of Kingdom in 1881; and, above all, the foundation for the Union of 1 December 1918 in Alba Iulia, the Union of Transylvania with Romania—preceded by the Union of Bessarabia with Romania on 27 March 1918, and the Union of Bukovina with Romania on 28 November 1918.
For the Church, the Union of the Romanian Principalities laid the foundation for the official recognition of the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1885, while the Union of 1 December 1918 was a favourable factor in the elevation of our Church to the rank of Patriarchate in 1925.
For all the blessings of the Union of the Romanian Principalities, we give thanks today to God, glorified in the Holy Trinity, and we commemorate with gratitude Ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Metropolitan Nifon of Wallachia, Metropolitan Sofronie Miclescu of Moldavia, and all those who contributed to the achievement of the Union of the Romanian Principalities.
We pray that God may help us preserve and cultivate the gift of national unity, obtained through many sacrifices and much spiritual and material effort, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity and for the good of the Romanian people.
† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Photo: Basilica.ro files
