The Office of the Holy Synod

The patriarchal administrative assistant and the patriarchal counsellor of the Office of the Holy Synod, under the direction of the patriarchal Assistant-Bishop, prepare the works for the convocation of the central deliberative and executive ecclesiastical bodies and those which are submitted for their consideration.

The Office of the Holy Synod draws up, preserves and prepares for publication in the “Romanian Orthodox Church” magazine, the minutes of the working sessions of the central ecclesiastical bodies, communicates their decisions to all the diocesan centres and keeps records of how they are carried out, except for those that are given to the sectors of the Patriarchal Administration as provided for by art. 38 of the Statute or to other central ecclesiastical institutions.

It drafts the correspondence of the central ecclesiastical bodies and their President with the central public authorities in matters concerning the religious life of the Romanian Orthodox Church. It drafts and submits for approval the patriarchal decisions on the attributions of the managerial staff of the Office of the Holy Synod and of the other central ecclesiastical institutions. It centralizes data on the areas of religious life in the Romanian Patriarchate for record and publication in the Church press.

The Office of the Holy Synod is the keeper of the seal of the Holy Synod.

To carry out its duties, as a central administrative body, the Office of the Holy Synod has the following services: the Office of Representation and Communication, the Canonical-Legal Office, the Church Inspection Body, the Secretariat, the Registry and the Archives of the Romanian Patriarchate, the Personnel Service (Human Resources), the IT Service, the Holy Synod Library, the Personal Data Protection Manager and others, whose work is organized by the Patriarchal Administrative assistant (art. 36 of the Statute).

The Ecclesiastical Inspection Body has general powers of ecclesiastical inspection in the liturgical, spiritual and administrative and economical fields. The Church Inspection Body is coordinated by a General Church Inspector, who also acts as a referent to the Higher Church Consistory. The members of the Ecclesiastical Inspection Body carry out their work on the orders of the Patriarch of Romania, in accordance with the duties laid down in the Statute, the Church Regulations and the legislation in force (Article 37 of the Statute).