The working session of Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church took place at the Patriarchal Residence of Bucharest, under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.
To start with the meeting, His Beatitude said that the priority of the Romanian Orthodox Church is, at present, aiding the sick and needy.
“Our main concern for this period is to help the sick more, especially the poor sick people. It is much sufferance with the people. These days of feast in Bucharest showed us on one hand that the devotion of our people is very big, but sufferance is as big. There are lots of sick people who suffer”, said the Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, as Trinitas Radio station informs.
The hierarchs of our Church approved the text of the pastoral letter that will be read on the first Sunday of the Advent of the Nativity of the Lord (18 November 2012). The pastoral letter urges the monks and priests to take more active part in aiding the sick and needy.
“The focus of the pastoral letter is to make the parishes and monasteries sensitive to aiding the sick, aiding first of all through the prayer because this is the first work of the Church. The pastoral letter also asks that the Christmas Advent should be reflected in collections of money, clothes, and food for the sick, especially for the old sick people who cannot move and must feel that the hierarchs, priests, monks of the Church, as well as the faithful are the hands of the merciful hands of Christ for those who need our help”, the Patriarch of Romania also said.
Another subject to talk about is the improvement of the theological education, also showed His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel: “We must prepare the students much better, especially from a spiritual point of view, because the very big tendency of secularization is seen in certain schools, so that we must listen to what the deans of the Faculties of Theology who met this autumn at Tismana Monastery say and what proposals they made for the renewal of the theological academic education. On the other hand, the European academic requirements are different from those they had before our admission. Much heed is paid not only on reading the course, but also on research, study, and publication of books and studies especially in magazines of international circulation. We have special responsibility to involve more in the organization of the theological education, of the spiritual and intellectual quality as well”.
The Holy Synod session is held today, 29 October 2012, at the Patriarchal Residence.
The meeting was preceded by the Te Deum and the Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Grace Paisie Lugojanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Timisoara.
