King Michael’s Message to the Romanian Orthodox Church

HM King Michael I of Romania’s message to the Romanian Orthodox Church on the occasion of the European Ecumenical Assembly, held in Sibiu, September 5-9, 2007

Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Church and the Royal Family have journeyed along the same road with the Romanian people. Both the autocephaly – granted four years after King Carol I declared Romania an independent and sovereign state, and the Patriarchate – established three years after the coronation of my grandparents Ferdinand and Maria, in Alba Julia, are crucial to our destiny. Carol I and Ferdinand were both Roman Catholic, while Maria was a Protestant, but this did not prevent them writing a most important page in Romania’s modern history.

The Romanian Orthodox Church has had – like the nation and her institutions, a difficult journey throughout the last century; a journey I too have taken and witnessed first-hand. The five Romanian Patriarchs I have been contemporary with proved to be important leaders for Romania. The lives and destinies of Miron, Nicodim, Justinian, Justin and Teoctist were complicated; they encountered hard times, injustice and impossible situations, as too did the whole of Romania and indeed the European continent.

This shared experience is at the root of the ecumenism we now celebrate and host, with pride and joy in Sibiu, this year 2007. The passion we encountered in the last one hundred years on this continent, divided by the Iron Curtain, took the form of savagery, shamelessness, abuse, deceit and wrongdoing.

The transatlantic world enjoys the benefit of a system able to blend prosperity, freedoms and democracy. These valuable assets are the pillars of stability, progress and connection. However, for intelligence to become wise, for stability to become permanenant, for balance to endure, we also need the blessings of generosity, responsibility, loyalty and faith. For if such values, not inscribed in any Constitution, are absent, there is no dignified future for Europe. The world needs pride-giving institutions, able to instill high moral standards, trust and decency.

The Romanian Orthodox Church will continue to play a unique and fundamental role in Romanian society. Romanians must re-unite within the Church. (is satisfied by its century-old existence.)   In this part of the world in particular, tradition and continuity are especially valuable assets, and – in trying times – the only assets we can rely on.

The bonds between the Church and the Royal Family are beyond words, for we share not only a common history, but also a shared future. There is no institution closer to the Church with Christ as her Sovereign Lord, than the Crown.

I am very happy to see the European Ecumenical Assembly hosted by the city of Sibiu, this autumn. This event is placed at Romania’s European institutional beginning and it marks a new beginning for our Church, which will soon have a new shepherd. Let it be a time of inspiration; let the creative energies of our continent be a source of good and harmony.

So help us God!

Michael R