Christmas pastoral letter

Romanian Orthodox Bishop in Canada urges joy and renewed witness at Christmas

In his Christmas pastoral letter, Bishop Ioan Casian of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada has called on the faithful to live the season of the Nativity with joy, hope and renewed commitment. “Let us live this time of the Nativity of the Lord with joy and hope, with trust in God and with renewed…

Dec 25, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Orthodox Bishop in Ireland and Iceland urges inner renewal in first Christmas pastoral letter

Bishop Nectarie of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Ireland and Iceland underscored the need for inner change and the rediscovery of spiritual purity in the face of contemporary challenges in his first Christmas pastoral letter since his enthronement. “Our renewal begins today — a perpetual today — for before the Lord there is no yesterday,…

Dec 24, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Serafim urges humility over comfort in Christmas message, highlights women’s role in Church and family

In this year’s Christmas pastoral letter, Metropolitan Serafim of Germany invites the faithful to move beyond the material comfort associated with the Nativity feast and to rediscover what he calls “the only new thing under the sun”: the humility of God who becomes Man. In the pastoral message titled “The Christian Woman in the Family,…

Dec 23, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Christ the Pilgrim comes to us in every person in need, Patriarch Daniel says in his Christmas pastoral letter

In his Christmas Pastoral Letter, Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church reflects on the mystery of the Nativity as a living encounter between God and humanity, presenting Christ as the divine “Pilgrim” who continues to come to people through love, humility, and mercy. Drawing on Scripture, patristic teaching, and the spiritual heritage of Romanian…

Dec 22, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Teofan urges unity and responsibility in Christmas encyclical

His Eminence Metropolitan Teofan of Moldavia and Bukovina calls on the faithful in his Christmas Pastoral Letter to cultivate unity, patience and responsibility towards one another. His Eminence reflected on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God as the foundation of Christian life and as the source of a way of living…

Dec 22, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop Benedict reflects on ‘theology of the cave’, linking Bethlehem to communist prisons

Bishop Benedict of Sălaj has proposed in his first Christmas Pastoral Letter a reflection on what he calls the “theology of the cave,” drawing a parallel between the humility of the manger in Bethlehem and the “cave” of suffering experienced in communist prisons. He stresses that no human suffering is too dark to be illumined…

Dec 22, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop Ignatie warns ‘Herod is among us’ as society drifts from Christ

Bishop Ignatie of Huși reflects in his Christmas Pastoral Letter on the atmosphere surrounding the Nativity of the Lord in the modern world, warning that contemporary society appears to be “suffering from many defects and countless spiritual fractures.” According to the bishop, the root cause of this condition lies within each individual. Without Christ, he…

Dec 22, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Whoever receives Christ receives the courage to love: Archbishop Atanasie’s first Christmas pastoral letter

“Whoever receives Christ receives the courage to love, to forgive, and to live without fear. In Him, fear is transformed into trust, and loneliness into a sacred encounter,” noted His Eminence Archbishop Atanasie in his first pastoral letter for the feast of the Nativity since his enthronement as shepherd of Orthodox Romanians in Great Britain…

Dec 22, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Metropolitan Nicolae of the Americas urges faithful to sing to God through deeds, not words, in Christmas message

The Christmas exhortation of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae, Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas, calls on the faithful to sing to the Lord not only with their voices, but above all through their deeds. In his pastoral letter for the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord, Metropolitan Nicolae Condrea brings to the fore the…

Dec 19, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Bishop of Southern Bessarabia’s Christmas pastoral letter: A call to compassion and unity

In his pastoral letter for Christmas, which is celebrated in the Metropolis of Bessarabia on January 7 according to the unrevised Julian calendar, Bishop Veniamin of Southern Bessarabia urged believers to embody God’s compassionate love for those in suffering. “Let us become the hands of God’s merciful love for our neighbors in distress, and like…

Jan 1, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Welcoming Christ in our hearts and souls after the fasting season: Bishop Mihail’s Christmas encyclical

In his Christmas encyclical, Bishop Mihail of Australia and New Zealand explains that the fast we conclude on the feast of the Nativity of our Lord allows us to receive the Infant Jesus, making Him a dwelling place in our hearts and souls. “Sanctifying our soul and body through repentance, through reading the Holy Scriptures,…

Dec 24, 2024Aurelian Iftimiu