His Eminence Leo,
Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland


Your Eminence,

It is with sadness that we have learned about the passing away from this world, on July 1, 2010, of Metropolitan John of Nicaea, retired former Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland.

A distinguished scholar and a wise and caring shepherd for his flock, Metropolitan John remains in our memory and in the hearts of all those who met him as a devoted servant of Christ, the ”High Priest Whom we confess” (Hebrews 3:1), as a joyful person, yet, a profound theologian, author, and internationally renowned expert in canon law.

Metropolitan John, who served as the Primate of the Autonomous Finnish Church from 1987 until his retirement in 2001, has been a very close friend of the Romanian Orthodox Church and of our late patriarch Teoctist, being present in various events that marked the life of our Church. We keep fond memories of our personal last meeting with late Metropolitan John, exactly eleven years ago (July 1999), in an international congress dedicated to monasticism, which took place in St Daniil Sihastrul Centre in Durău, Moldavia.

While expressing, on behalf of the hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and of us, personally, our heartfelt compassion with the Finish Orthodox Church at these moments of grief, we pray the Almighty and Merciful God - as we have already done yesterday, during the Holy Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest - to give His peace to the soul of His faithful servant Metropolitan John and to repose him among the righteous in His Kingdom.

May his memory be eternal!


† Daniel
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church