{"id":185502,"date":"2018-01-02T12:47:33","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T10:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=185502"},"modified":"2018-01-02T12:53:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-02T10:53:49","slug":"romanian-patriarchate-declares-2018-solemn-year-of-unity-of-faith-and-nation-commemorative-year-of-the-1918-great-union-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/romanian-patriarchate-declares-2018-solemn-year-of-unity-of-faith-and-nation-commemorative-year-of-the-1918-great-union-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"Romanian Patriarchate declares 2018 Solemn Year of Unity of Faith and Nation, Commemorative Year of the 1918 Great Union Founders"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of St Basil\u2019s Divine Liturgy celebrated Monday at the Patriarchal Cathedral, His Grace Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploiesti read out the synodal document by which the Romanian Patriarchate officially declares 2018 Solemn Year of the Unity of Faith and Nation, and Commemorative Year of the 1918 Great Union Founders.<\/h4>\n

Attending the declaration ceremony, Patriarch Daniel addressed those present stressing that \u2018ever since the appearance of the Romanian people, Christian faith has been the main constituent element of Romanian self-consciousness, and Romanian identity, along with Latinity or Romanity.\u2019<\/p>\n

The patriarch noted that it is an incontestable historical reality that \u2018Romanian ethnogenesis, or the Romanian people\u2019s formation, and its Christianization were two concurrent and convergent processes.\u2019<\/p>\n

His Beatitude added that \u2018united with Christ through Baptism during their development as a new people in history, Romanians carry in their souls the seal of the Mystery of Christ\u2019s Cross and Resurrection.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Patriarch of Romania went on to focus on the major contribution of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the promotion of the Romanian people\u2019s consciousness and spiritual identity.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Church has persistently cultivated in the souls of the Romanian believers the consciousness that they have the same national origin, the same Neo-Latin Romance language, and the same Christian faith.\u2019<\/p>\n

The patriarch said that the Church understood the truth of the Daco-Roman origin and the Latinity of the Romanian language, which \u2018was transmitted by the hierarchs, priests and deacons in their sermons, but especially by printing church books and spreading them in all provinces inhabited by Romanians.\u2019<\/p>\n

The patriarch also referred to the symbolic icons and pictures that were exhibited in the Patriarchal Cathedral to mark the beginning of the 2018 Solemn and Commemorative Year:<\/p>\n

\"\"
Icon of Holy Trinity (right), icon of St Andrew (centre-right), portrait of Patriarch Miron Cristea (centre-left), portrait of King Ferdinand I (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n