Message of His Beatitude DANIEL, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, addressed on the occasion of the enthronement of His Beatitude JOHN X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Damascus, 10th February 2013:
Your Beatitude Patriarch JOHN of Antioch and All the East,
Beloved Brother in Christ the Lord and concelebrant ,
The election of Your Beatitude as the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East was received by the hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the Romanian Orthodox Church with great spiritual joy. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, whereby everything that is good is fulfilled, the righteous people from across the venerable Apostolic Patriarchate of Antioch was entrusted to your pastoral care - a Church blessed with so many great saint martyrs, hierarchs, monks, theologians and missionaries.
We trust, Your Beatitude, that both your rich experience in the theological academic realm at the University of Balamand, and, internationally, as hierarch of the Arabic-speaking Orthodox Christians of Europe, will prove to be very useful in the context of the difficulties which confront, at present, Christians in the Middle East.
For centuries, the fraternal relations between our sister Orthodox Churches have permanently developed, especially in the difficult times in their history. The good fraternal relations have strengthened both the common witness manifested in the dogmatic, canonical and liturgical unity, as well as the solidarity, through practical cooperation, especially in preserving and promoting the spiritual and cultural identity of the Arabic-speaking Orthodox Christians. It is therefore our duty to continue and deepen at present these ties between our sister Orthodox Churches, especially in this period of profound and rapid transformations in the contemporary society. Over time, the Christian Orthodox from the Patriarchate of Antioch had suffered greatly, but they resisted and faithfully kept the faith received from the Sts Peter and Paul the Apostles.
We are confident that if we constantly promote
'the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace' (Ephesians 4:3), God will help us to give together a Christian witness of peace and cooperation for the common good.
Therefore, we pray Christ our Lord,
'the Good Shepherd' (John 10:11) and
'the High Priest of our confession' (Hebrews 3:1) to give you His help in such an important and full of responsibility service as Primate of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East and in guiding the people who have been entrusted to your pastoral care on the path of salvation.
At the beginning of Your Beatitude's patriarchal service, we congratulate you and wish you many and blessed years to come!
With brotherly love in Jesus Christ and deep esteem,
†DANIEL
Patriarch of Romanian Orthodox Church
