Message of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, to the participants in the 16th Pavleia Congress, 25 – 29 June 2010

Your Eminence Metropolitan Panteleimon,
Your Eminences and Your Graces,
Distinguished participants,

Pavleia International Theological Congress organised by the Holy Metropolitan See of Veria, Naousia and Kampania, during the last 16 years, has become a point of reference in the calendar of the cultural-religious manifestations dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle, in the entire Orthodox world and even in the whole Christian world.

Due to its consistent organisation worthy to admire, to the high theological level proved every time and to the topical character of the conclusions formulated within the works unfolded and proposed to the Orthodox Churches in view of improving the pastoral missionary activity in the 21st century, this Congress has a special place among the outstanding events by which Orthodoxy proves its oneness, holiness, catholicity, apostolic character and eternal values.

This is why we thank His Eminence Metropolitan Panteleimon for the invitation to participate in this Congress, through our representative His Grace Bishop Siluan of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Hungary.

The theme chosen for this year, The Church: Institution and Charisma, according to Saint Paul the Apostle, has a great importance for deepening Saint Paul’ ecclesiology and pneumatology from the perspective of the present Orthodox inner and external mission. Due to is theandric constitution, the Church is the space in which the transcendent meets the immanent, the spiritual meets the matter, the eternity meets time, God meets man, through the faith in Jesus Christ, God – the Man, the Head of the Church.

The dynamism of the ecclesiastic life lived in the human-divine institution of the Church is expressed by Saint Paul the Apostle in a plastic form, through the expressions “the building up of the Body of Christ” and “the growth of the building” (cf. Ephesians 2:21; 4:12). The spiritual building up and the growth are achieved through the charisma of mission, prophesy, preaching, faithfulness to truth, service, philanthropy, wisdom, knowledge, power of distinguishing spirits, purity, ascesis, and most of all through the charisma of love (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:7; 12: 28-31). There is a relationship of inter-dependence, co-operation and mutual dedication between the way of living the faith by the Christians and the operation of the Church institutions on one hand, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed over the faithful, on the other hand.

This intrinsic relationship has a special importance in today’s Europe. Just as the great personalities of the contemporary thought declared, and just as we can all notice with sorrow in our souls, today’s Europe is in danger to “lose her soul”. The crisis the whole world is faced with today is, first of all, a moral spiritual one. This crisis is generated by the absence of the “living in the Spirit”, in the Spirit of Truth and of Communion. This is why we all must remember the urge of Saint Paul the Apostle: “ not to restrain the Holy Spirit!” (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
We pray that this Congress should be a true liturgical call “Wisdom! Let us take it into account!”. As Europeans, let us take into account, with wisdom, the living of the Holy Spirit in the Church of Christ and the witness of the Church in today’s society!”

We congratulate His Eminence Metropolitan Panteleiomon for his consistency and insistence in “every good thing” and we wish all the participants in the working session, joy from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, the Head of the Church, in the light of His Holy Good Life Giving Spirit, for the glory of the love of God-the-Father!

With appreciation and brotherly love in Christ,

† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church