BUCHARESTNational Church

Council

many and various forms of merciful love

The members of the NationalChurch Council met Tuesday,

February 19, 2019, for the annual working session at the

Patriarchal Residence inBucharest, haired by His Beati-

tude Patriarch Daniel.The NCC members reviewedthe most important activities

carried out last year by the Ro-manian Orthodox Church and

set project proposals for 2019.The Patriarch of Romania read

out the synthesis report stress-ing that in 2018 the Romanian

Patriarchate spent 24 millionEuros for the entire social and

philanthropic work.

The Patriarch went on to refer to the activities of the Romanian Church abroad, by strengthening the ties withthe other local Orthodox Churches, by promoting respectand cooperation at inter-Christian and inter-religious lev-els, and by intensifying the ministry of the Romanian Orthodox communities in the diaspora.‘Analyzing the existing data, we note that the RomanianOrthodox Church has faithfully followed its major respon-sibility for spiritual life, religious education of youth, andsocial-philanthropic mission,’ Patriarch Daniel said duringthe annual NCC meeting.His Beatitude spoke about the ‘many and various forms’of merciful love noting that ‘material mercy may be foodfor the hungry, clothes for those deprived of them, medi-cine for the sick, material aid for the poor, and the like.’Referring to philanthropy, the Patriarch said that ‘we mustalways see Christ’s hand extended to us in every hand ofa man in need.’At the end, Patriarch Daniel expressed his appreciation for

the ‘spiritual and material efforts of all those whosupport the many activities of the Romanian Ortho-dox Church.’ Ü

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oReviewing the pastoral-liturgi-cal and administrative activity,

the Patriarch recalled the consecration of the Holy Altarof the National Cathedral and

the first memorial service heldfor Romania’s national heroes

inside the Cathedral.His Beatitude pointed to the

canonization ceremonies heldfor St Joseph the Merciful, Met-

ropolitan of Moldavia, and StGeorge the Pilgrim, and notedthat in 2018 the Holy Synod of

the Romanian Orthodox Churchglorified Bishop Dionysius

Erhan of Cetatea Alba and Ismail.

As regards the ecclesi-astical situation inUkraine, the HolySynod stressed the following aspects:For almost thirty years,the issue of the Ukrain-ian schism was notsolved, nor was anyappeal made for a pan-Orthodox mediation, aswas the case in thepast with the schism inBulgaria. Noticing thisdeadlock in resolvingthe situation, the Ecu-menical Patriarchategranted the Tomos of autocephaly to the hi-erarchs, clergy, and believers who were inschism with the Russian Orthodox Churchand the entire Orthodoxy, but this Tomos wasaccepted only by the Ukrainian Orthodoxpeople who were not in communion with theMoscow Patriarchate. Therefore, the problemof Ukrainian ecclesiastical unity is not fully re-

solved at present, also because in Ukrainethere is a large Russian population having adirect relation to the Moscow Patriarchate.Regarding this tense ecclesiastical situationin Ukraine, the Holy Synod of the RomanianOrthodox Church reiterates its stance ex-pressed during its previous working sessionsof 24 May and 25 October 2018. It was thenrecommended that, through dialogue, the Ec-umenical Patriarchate and the Moscow Patri-archate identify a solution to thisecclesiastical dispute by preserving the unityof faith, by respecting the administrative andpastoral freedom of the clergy and faithful inthis country (including the right to auto-cephaly), and by restoring Eucharistic com-munion. In the event of an unsuccessfulbilateral dialogue, it is necessary to convenea Synaxis of all Primates of Orthodox

Churches to solve the existing problem.For a concrete and correct decision of theHoly Synod of the Romanian OrthodoxChurch, at a forthcoming working session,the Holy Synod will consider with priority thatthere are 127 Romanian Orthodox parishes in Ukraine, especially in Northern Bukovina,which are under the jurisdiction of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patri-archate. A real consultation is needed withthese Romanian Orthodox people, who areconcerned with preserving their ethnic andlinguistic identity. In this sense, it is neces-sary to obtain written assurances fromUkrainian ecclesiastical and state authoritiesthat the ethnic and linguistic identity of theseRomanians will be respected, and that theseRomanian Orthodox will have the possibilityto organise themselves within a RomanianOrthodox Vicariate and to be able to cultivatespiritual relations with the Romanian Patriar-chate, in order to be supported by sendingliturgical and theological books in theirmother tongue, that is, in the Romanian lan-guage. It was noted that a UkrainianOrthodox Vicariate has been operatingin Romania since 1990. Ü

HOLY SYNOD to consider with priority the 127 Romanian Orthodox parishes in Ukraine

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In the event of an unsuccessful bilateral dialogue, it is necessary to convene a Synaxis of all Primates of Orthodox

Churches to solve the existing problem.”

‘When i entered thechurch,’ Metr. ioan

said, ‘i met this sister,who did not cry outto me to help her,

however her troubledcalled me. she has

four children, and shestayed where she

could, and now shewants to go back

home.’

”After hearing that the disadvantaged woman had noteaten a warm meal for two weeks, Metropolitan Ioaninvited her over to eat lunch together at his resi-dence commending her to the care of a nun.The Metropolitan of Banat addressed all the motherspresent in the Cathedral saying that anyone of themcould have been ‘in her pain and sorrow,’ urgingthem to help the woman ‘get home and pass thethreshold of winter.’ His Eminence noted that whenwe pass by someone in trouble we should ‘stop asChrist stopped and comforted the Canaanite woman.’Metropolitan Ioan of Banat is renowned for his char-

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Banat Metropolitan invites poor Mother of four children to eat lunch together

Following the DivineLiturgy celebrated Sun-day, February 10, 2019,

at the Metropolitan Cathedralin Timisoara, His EminenceMetropolitan Ioan of Banatinvited a poor mother of fourchildren to eat lunch at hisresidence.The Metropolitan was im-pressed by the woman’s storyand offered to help her.

itable actions.Is has become a tradition for theMetropolitan ofBanat to celebratehis name day withhomeless people,and he has builtseveral houses forfinancially disadvan-taged families. ‘There is nothing exceptional. This isnormality for meand we should dosuch actions asoften as possible,’Metropolitan Ioan ofBanat said. Ü

satu Mare deanery Buyinghouse for 7-children faMily that lost hoMe in fire

ARomanian family with 7 chil-dren that lost its home to afire in early February will be

able to buy a new home thanks tothe generosity and Christian love ofthe clergy and faithful of the SatuMare Deanery of the Maramureşand Sătmar Diocese in northwestRomania. ©

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Through collections organized in thechurches, $11,265 (9,940 euros) was collected for the family.The fire broke out on Saturday evening, February 2, due to an electrical short cir-cuit, destroying the family home in the vil-lage of Tătărești. The local authorities and

Construction works for a cablecar planned to be built in thearea where the historic

Sümela Monastery in Turkey’sBlack Sea province of Trabzon’sMaçka district is will start inMarch, authorities have an-nounced.Companies will tender for the project onFeb. 19, Trabzon Mayor Orhan FevziGümrükçüoğlu has said.The planned cable car will operate be-tween three stations and will cover a dis-tance of 2.5 kilometers. The project aimsto provide an easy access to the historicalmonastery, which is visited by around700,000 people every year.Maçka Mayor Koray Koçan has said theplanned cable car project will lead to a fur-ther increase in the number of tourists vis-iting Sümela Monastery, perched on ascenic cliff facing the Altındere Valley.“I believe that several tourists will comejust to get on the cable car. The Sümela

construction for süMelaMonastery caBle car project to start in March

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Monastery had lastly seen 700,000 tourists[ayear before it was closed for restoration]. I be-lieve that we will double this figure with thecable car. We’ll reach a number around 1.5-2million,” Koçan said.Sümela Monastery was closed to tourists in2015 for a restoration process that aimed to ad-dress the danger caused by the rock massesaround Karadağ Mountain where it is located.Restoration works have also been ongoing in-side the historical monastery.Once opened totourists, which is expected sometime this year,the monastery’s unknown parts, includ-ing chapels, will be opened for visits. Ü

community arranged for the family to be immediately moved to a former pharmacybuilding.Thanks to the collection organized by localpriests, the family with 7 children under theage of 18 will soon be able to purchase a newhouse. Ü

BULGARIAN PRIEST REMEMBERS SOFIA’SSAINTLY BEGGAR

”Marking Dobre Dobrev’s 1st death an-niversary, Fr Kiril Sinev, a Bulgarian priestwho serves in Ruse, told the Basilica NewsAgency how people remember the saintlygrandfather who devoted himself to rais-ing money for Bulgaria’s Orthodox Church.Father Kiril Sinev said that even theElder’s name Dobre (which derives fromthe Bulgarian word dobar, good) speaks ofhis kindness and goodness.‘The citizens of Sofia remember Dobrestanding in the porch of the PatriarchalCathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky,dressed in peasant clothes, holding aburning candle and a plastic glass, bowingdown in front of every man entering thechurch to pray.’

What he did was notbegging, but giving

alms.

He was an opengospel, as he lived

and spoke according to the

biblical commandments.

‘He gave all his fortune to the Church, liv-ing in a room in the courtyard of the StsCyril and Methodius Church in his homevillage. At the end of his 103-year-old life,we learned that he was not an ordinarybeggar. The money he gathered for God,’Fr Kiril said.‘Throughout his life,’ Kiril Sinev recalled,‘he gathered around 80,000 leva, whichhe gave to some churches and monaster-ies.’Fr Kiril Sinev stressed that ‘the greatestdonation ever made by a person’ to Sofia’sPatriarchal Cathedral was made by ‘theSaint of Bailovo.’The life of the saintly

beggar was first published byBorislav Radoslavov in a volume titled ‘Elder Dobre, the BailovoSaint.’ Ü

© Kiril Sinev

Extensive restoration works tostart at Sofia's St Alexan-derNevsky Cathedral

Patriarch Theodore of Alexan-dria visited the city ofDolisie in Congo Ü

Religion Olympiad for Romanianstudents in America reaches10th edition

Ecumenical Patriarchate es-tablishes Synaxis of All Mil-itary Saints Ü

New Dean appointed for Insti-tute for Orthodox TheologyHigher Studies at Chambesy

Metropolitan Iosif of Western& Southern Europe consecratesOrthodox Church in Trappes

Met. Nektarios: If we saythat we are Orthodox, we willhave the finger pointed at us

In Brief:

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'Being pro life means being pro-love'

A few days before the Marchfor Life 2019, the newly-elected president of the Students for Life Associa-tion, Eliza Clotea, a seniorstudent at the University ofMedicine and PharmacyCarol Davila, Bucharest, con-fessed in an exclusive inter-view for Basilica.ro that themost difficult part of her ac-tivity is the ‘fight against theobstacle of mentalities’.Eliza said she has a difficultwork to do, but ‘with astrong will and love a worldfor love can be built’.

Basilica.ro: Eliza, what is the most difficult part of your activity and whomdo you count on when all seems thehardest?E.C. I believe that the most difficult moments are those where we fight againstthe obstacle of mentalities, meaning thatwe meet with people that doubt the neces-sity of a pro-life culture and bring forwardthe argument of legality: Why should wehelp a woman keep her child if abortion islegal?Sometimes it is harder to explain someonethat what is legal is not necessarily moralor good, or the fact that in most casesabortion is not a woman’s choice, but in-stead it is something she is pressured todo.A woman in pregnancy crisis ends up“choosing abortion”, because of the pres-sure she is subjected to from those aroundher, from her partner, her husband, herfamily, her relatives. It is necessary to explain these things, because there are

many that don’t know them, neverheard about them, and otherwise,the main aspect of the pro-life mes-

sage will never be understood: Being pro-life means being supportive with those inneed.I am happy and thankful that the founderand former president of the Students forLife Bucharest, Alexandra Nadane, andother older volunteers are close to mewhen I need them, to ask them for advicewhen my experience is not enough, to findthe best solution for a problem and for themoments when I need encouragement.Basilica.ro: How does medicine gohand in hand with volunteering? Butespecially with pro-life volunteering?E.C. They go together very well. I thinkthat every student, even one who studiesmedicine, recognizes and discovers thatthere is time for volunteering, if he is honest with himself and tries to arrange hisschedule. Pro-life volunteering is one ofgreat benefit, both personally and for thesociety.From my point of view, as a student inmedicine, I do not think there is a betterplace to volunteer. We, medical studentsand future physicians, are closest to lifeand we know how precious it is at every

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moment and place of its existence.

”Before the mom knows that sheis pregnant, her baby is doing alot of stunning things.Science has gone a long way and it revealsevery day new things about the miracu-lousway in which a child develops in hismother’ womb. From the first second ofconception, the baby has unique DNA, dif-ferent from that of his parents. At about 16days his heart is starting to beat - with themachines that can be found in researchlaboratories it can be detected, but theusual ultrasounds in hospitals do not havesuch a performance yet.At only 8 weeks, baby’s organs are almostfully developed, and the little one has ex-actly the look we each have when lookingat ourselves in the mirror. I would say thathe’s a “tiny human” - actually a real per-son, a real person from the first second!These things are special because every-thing is happening so quickly and some-times, before the mom knows that she ispregnant, her baby can do a lot of stunningthings.Basilica.ro: There are a few days leftuntil the March for Life. How arepreparations?E.C. We are very busy preparing the Marchfor Life! It is the time to put all the detailsin place. But the emotions are also raising,getting bigger ... bigger, bigger and bigger,so that we say: well, Thank God there isonly one month left until March 23!Talking now about serious things: what isvery important when we prepare the Marchfor Life is the message. If people under-stand the need for support for women inpregnancy crisis and the need for a pro-life, pro-love culture, then they will cometo the March for Life. This is why the wholeMonth of March is called "The Month forLife" and includes a series of pro-life eventswhich increase the visibility of the Marchand give people the opportunity to discoverthe beauty of engaging in this movement.We are not only pro-life in March, but

throughout our whole life. We are onlydoing more exercises in March so that wecan be this way throughout the year!Basilica.ro: Approximately 5,000 peo-ple marched for life in 2018 inBucharest. What are your expectationsfor this year? Can you offer some in-sight into the schedule of this year’sMonth for Life?E.C. Sure. First of all, we hope that theweather will be nice, sunny and there won’tbe any snow again. But even if it's cold,like last year, we will not be upset if ournose freezes a little bit...We want to see as many people as possibleso that our message, the pro-life message,is strong: Yes, unborn babies and pregnantwomen need our support and we are withthem.I have read an extraordinary commentmade by an American editor a while agothat said "Here’s what separates the Marchfor Life from any other march: nobody inattendance is marching for themselves. No-body is demanding rights or privileges forthemselves. Everyone is marching on be-half of those who cannot march." That isexactly the way it is and this is the reasonwe need to march.Related to the Month of Life, it will includepro-life events that seek to cover as manyareas and themes as possible: we will havea pro-life training, pro-life and pro-familyscreenings of artistic movies with great ed-ucational power, Babies go to the Parlia-ment, a trip, a Gala for Life, a PancakeWorkshop , a photo workshop for youngfamilies, we will also offer flowers to moth-ers who are expecting or gave birth onMarch 8th.On Saturday, March 16th, the Run for Life2019 will be held, where more than 500runners are expected to take part. Themost important moment of the Month forLife will be the 2019 March for Life "Uniquefrom the First Second" on Saturday,March 23rd. Every event, even a small one, has

Exclusive interview with Studentsfor Life President Eliza Clotea

its role and we encourage everyone to takepart in as many as possible. We will bepublishing on March 1 the calendar ofevents organized by our organisation andthese can be found on our webpage, stu-dentipentruviata.ro. We are very happy ifother associations organize their ownevents this month.Basilica.ro: Going back to volunteer-ing, what was your biggest fulfilmentas a member of the Students for LifeAssociation?E.C. The moments when I work with othervolunteers to set up an event, but alsowhen we achieve our mission and lookgratefully at the outcome of our work.

”These are the moments when Irealize how beautiful things gohand in hand: God’s will and whatvolunteers do. There have been many moments likethose, which help me when I need encour-agement or when I encounter different dif-ficulties.Basilica.ro: Hundreds of volunteers arepreparing the pro-life events in March.What are they motivated about? Whatis the most important reason to be avolunteer pro-life? Why should anyoneattend the March for Life or get in-volved in organizing the March?E.C. First of all, I think it's about gratitude.They are grateful that they have received the

gift of life, that someone said YES for them.I think this is particularly true among my

generation, of which more than two thirdsare missing. I was born in 1995 when, ac-cording to official statistics, 68% of chil-dren were aborted. The percentage is evengreater, unfortunately, because medicalabortions and abortions done in privateclinics are not included in these statistics.

”It is a tough reality, but many ofus are missing.People who, through the unique purposethat God had given them, would havebrightend up our days and would havebrought many good things into this world.At the same time, volunteers want to help,to do something useful and good. Thegreatest good that someone can do for theperson next to him is to save his life, tosave him from the suffering that destroysand to bring him closer to the truth. This iswhat volunteers and all those involved inthe pro-life movement are trying to do.Through the love we show to women inpregnancy crisis and their children, weprove that we understand what it means tobe a human: to show love to those in needof support, of help. This is why we are alsoparticipating at the March for Life. We showthat we understand what love, compassion,humanity means, and that hundreds ofyears of scientific and economic develop-ment have not driven these fundamentalvalues away from us, but have given usmore evidence to do what is natural: toprotect every life, at any time and in everyplace of its existence.

Brief bio:Eliza Maria Clotea

Born in 1995, fromBrașov. 5th year

medical student atthe University of

Medicine and Phar-macy Carol Davila,Bucharest. She hasbeen volunteering

at Students forLife since 2015and since June2018 she is the

president of theorganisation.

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Prince Charles and RomaniaThe Prince of Wales is strongly attached to Roma-nia, a country he often visits.Over the last two decades, His Royal Highness hassupported several charities in Romania, and four

years ago he established his owncharitable foundation, The Prince ofWales Foundation Romania (FundaţiaPrinţului de Wales România).Through his foundation, PrinceCharles has invested over 1 millionpounds to promote and sustain Ro-mania’s natural and cultural heritage,as well as in various programs con-tributing to the country’s rural devel-opment.Prince Charles is a supporter of ‘TheAmbulance for monuments,’ a projecthelping old Romanian churchesto be rehabilitated. Ü

prince charles attends orthodox service at roManian parish in london

HRH Prince Charles of Wales attended an Ortho-dox service hosted by St George RomanianParish in London in the presence of over 200 Ro-manians living in Great Britain on Thursdayevening, February 14, 2019.The Parish of Saint George in London is underthe canonical jurisdiction of the Romanian Or-thodox Metropolis of Western and Southern Eu-rope, Great Britain’s Deanery, being the firstRomanian Orthodox Parish that appeared on themap of the Romanian emigration in the BritishIsles.The Romanian community built around theParish of “Saint George” in London operatedfrom the early beginnings in the Anglican Church“St. Dunstan’s in-the-West”, rebuilt in 1831 onthe site of an older church.The service was attended by His Eminence Met-ropolitan Iosif of Western and Southern Europe,Romanian priests and believers, as well as repre-sentatives of the Church of England.The service chanted in Romanian, English andGreek included hymns to the Pantanassa Icon ofthe Mother of God, since a replica of Vatopedi’swonderworking icon of Virgin Mary is enshrinedin the church.‘Prince Charles has greatly appreciated the valueand the old age of the beautiful iconostasis fromAntim Monastery, which offers every Sunday thenecessary environment for carrying out Ortho-dox services,’ the rector of St George parish, Fr.Constantin Popescu told the Basilica NewsAgency.

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‘The Good to Know’ is the online magazine of the Basilica NewsAgency.This project initially started in 2017 was named ‘The Basilicamonthly review,’ and was published at the beginning of every monthuntil its rebranding this year.This periodical will be published online only, being available in PDFformat for downloading or reading. Every issue will be published onthe Issuu platform for a more engaging and interactive reading experience.Containing a summary of the religious events in the entire Orthodoxworld, ‘The Good to Know’ online magazine can be freely printedout and distributed for more thorough information and spiritualbenefit.

The magazine features a selection of articles that invite our readers

to peruse the full content of our website, each article being con-

nected to the information on the basilica.ro website through a back-

link. ‘The Good to Know’ online magazine will be published both in

Romanian and English.Don’t forget to communicate the Good to Know to others!

CommunicatingThe Good to

Know

Patriarch Daniel opens ‘The Portrait of the Romanian Village’Photo Exhibition in BucharestThe opening ceremony of the first photographyexhibition organized by the Basilica NewsAgency took place on Wednesday, February 27,2019, at the Patriarchate’s Palace in Bucharestas part of the Agency’s initiative to promote thebeauty of villages in Romania.The 50-photo exhibition, titled ‘The Portrait ofthe Romanian Village’, is a project carried out bythe Basilica News Agency marking the SolemnYear of the Romanian Village.Brief opening remarks were offered by the direc-tor of the Basilica News Agency, Aurelian Iftimiu,who stressed that this is the first initiative of theorganization ‘aiming to bring the values and tra-ditions of the Romanian villages up to date.’ Basilica’s director expressed his thankfulness to the Patri-

arch of Romania who blessed and supported this project,also addressing thanks to the photographers and all part-ners who made the event possible.His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel noted that the photos aredisplayed ‘not just to impress us emotionally, even untotears, but to determine us to take action in favour of thevillage.’ Otherwise, ‘we describe it beautifully and ourpraise becomes some kind of a memorial service of theRomanian village. But we need its revival.The Patriarch of Romania pointed to the problems facedby people in rural areas stressing that when addressingthe topic of the Romanian village it is important to avoidtwo extremes: ‘idealizing the village and ignoring its cur-rent reality’.His Beatitude appreciated Basilica’s initiative noting thatthis is ‘only the first step’ that must be completed withother exhibitions on various concrete themes that willhighlight both suffering and joy, as well as the beauty oflife in the village. Ü

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