The Metropolis of Bessarabia has dedicated the year 2026 to Metropolitan Antonie Plămădeală (1926-2005). The announcement was made on Saturday, December 13, at Durlești Monastery, which marked the patronal feast of the Apostle Andrew, according to the unrevised calendar.
Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia celebrated the Divine Liturgy together with Archbishop Casian of Lower Danube and Bishop Visarion of Tulcea.
On this occasion, Archbishop Casian brought a fragment of the relics of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the Protector of Romania. The relic was first taken to the Metropolitan Chapel in Chișinău, then carried in procession to the monastery, where it was placed for veneration by those who had come from Chișinău and neighbouring localities.
Apostolic continuity in the Romanian Orthodox Church
“The calling of the Holy Apostle Andrew is born out of encounter and is fulfilled in obedience. He did not set out on his journey based on a human plan, but from a heart that recognised the presence of God in Christ. That is why his preaching was not a transmission of ideas, but an outpouring of life received,” Bishop Visarion said in his sermon.
“Wherever he went, he left traces of light, because he carried with him not only the word of the Gospel, but the evangelical way of being itself. This is the calling of the Church and of every Christian: to become a living space of God’s work, so that truth may be revealed through deeds and faith may become the breath of daily existence.”
“In this apostolic continuity, our people rediscover their foundation, and the present gains meaning and direction,” the hierarch underlined.
Solemn Year ‘Metropolitan Antonie Plămădeală’
At the end of the service, the Tomos proclaiming 2026 as the Solemn Year “Metropolitan Antonie Plămădeală” in the Metropolis of Bessarabia was read out—an invitation to knowledge, gratitude and the responsible assumption of an invaluable ecclesial legacy.
Following the reading of the Tomos, Metropolitan Petru highlighted the decisive role played by Metropolitan Antonie Plămădeală in the life of the Romanian Orthodox Church and in efforts to reactivate the Metropolis of Bessarabia. He also noted the formative influence the late hierarch had on those present—his contemporaries and disciples in pastoral service and theological thought.
His personality was recalled as that of a scholar-hierarch, a man of synthesis between fidelity to Tradition and lucid, responsible engagement with history.
In closing, Metropolitan Petru thanked Patriarch Daniel for blessing the bringing of the reliquary from the Archdiocesan Cathedral in Galați, as well as Archbishop Casian and Bishop Visarion for their fraternal love and for the joy they brought through their presence in Bessarabia.
Photo: Metropolis of Bessarabia
