CALL TO ROMANIAN UNITY AND DIGNITY

At the start of the year 2010, proclaimed by the Holy Synod as a Year of Homage of the Orthodox Creed and of Romanian Autocephaly through the Romanian Patriarchy, in the context of the 125th anniversary since the Romanian Orthodox Church became autocephalous and of 85 years since its elevation to the level of Patriarchy, the hierarchs of the Holy Synod make a Call from the soul to all Romanian Orthodox clerics and laics who are outside the country’s borders, found –without blessing—in other sister Orthodox Churches or in non-canonic church structures, to return to direct communion with the Mother Church, that is to the canonic jurisdiction of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The accomplishment of this desideratum represents the fulfillment of the provisions from the Statute for the organization and operation of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which mentions the fact that the Romanian Orthodox Church is the Church of the Romanian people and comprises the Orthodox Christians within the country and the Romanian Orthodox Christians outside the borders of the country (art. 5), while the pastoral and canonic organizing of the Romanian Orthodox Christians outside the borders of Romania is ensured by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church (art. 8). This principle is in full agreement with the decision of the Pan Orthodox Presynodal Conference at Chambesy – Switzerland (June 6-13 2009), which specifies that each autocephalous Church has the right to pastor its own diaspora.

The mentioned statutory provisions express the duty of the Romanian Orthodox Church and is based on the 16th canon of the First Ecumenical Synod (325 AD), which affirms the principle that an eparchy is not permitted to receive under its jurisdiction orthodox clerics and laics, without the blessing of the Church (eparchy) to which these belong.

In that sense, we mention also the fact that the process of return of Orthodox clergy and faithful of various nationalities to the Mother Church (for example to the Russian Patriarchy and the Serbian Patriarchy) has already started some time ago and it has shown that, through Orthodox ethnic mutual responsibility and solidarity, it is possible to overcome conjunctural historic divisions, motivated in the past by political criteria.

At this time, 20 years after the fall of the Communist regime in Eastern Europe, when Romania is a member of the European Union and of NATO and under the conditions in which the Romanian Orthodox Church is developing an unprecedented activity outside the borders of the country by reorganizing and founding of numerous eparchies throughout the world, we judge that justifiable reasons no longer exist for rejecting the call of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church to Romanian Orthodox unity and communion.

We believe that this attitude of Romanian Orthodox revival and reconciliation will consolidate and intensify missionary-pastoral, social-philanthropic and cultural-educational work of the Romanian Orthodox Church everywhere, strengthening at the same time Romanian Orthodox dignity, through the freeing of some of the Orthodox Romanians of the complex as “seekers of canonic shadows” among foreigners.

We regret that due to several reasons, some of our Romanian Orthodox brothers have headed towards other Orthodox jurisdictions, during the Communist era, however what used to be excusable in the past has become unjustifiable and even regrettable in the present, that is, the estrangement of Romanians one from another, up to the their religious separation.

In the belief that our call to Romanian Orthodox unity and dignity will be received with joy and responsibility, as the desire for fraternal communion and cooperation, we share with you special appreciation and fatherly blessing.

PRESIDENT OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

† D A N I E L
Archbishop of Bucharest,
Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrogea, Locum Tenens of the throne of Cappadocia Caesarea and Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church

together with all the members of the Holy Synod