Message of His Excellency Traian Băsescu, President of Romania, on the occasion of the enthronization of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Romania [30 sept. 2007]

Your Beatitude,

Your Eminences,

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

We witness today a significant event for the life of the Orthodox Church of Romania, a moment of hope, of fulfilment and renewal, a moment of great responsibility towards the Romanian society and towards history.

The Orthodox Church had, through its creativity, a fundamental contribution in the formation of the Romanian cultural and spiritual identity, by encouraging the emergence of a „civilisation of the common good”, as a historian used to say, and by assuming along the years a solidarity of destiny with the nation.

The cultural and moral legacy of the Romanian orthodoxy represents a heritage that is unanimously valued and which contributes to the European diversity. I believe that due to its experience in the dialogue and the cooperation with the other Churches and religious Cults, with respect towards diversity and for the benefit of the entire society, the Orthodox Church of Romania has an important role in the building of a receptive and responsible Christian identity, in the European family.

Distinguished guests,

In Romania, we recognize and support the contribution of the religious cults, as part of the society which enjoys the confidence and the respect of its citizens, to the elaboration and development of projects based on an active communitarian spirit.

In this context, I am convinced that the Orthodox Church will continue to participate in the public debates and programs that aim at concrete actions meant to prevent poverty and corruption and confirm the values of family and solidarity.

We all share the responsibility towards the common good, which we can accomplish with the help of those who have the mission to support the ethical dimension of public life.

Your Beatitude,

The freedom regained by the Orthodox Church of Romania in the aftermath of 1989 achieves today, with the election of its new Patriarch, its plenary expression.

On this occasion, I wish to express my confidence in the capacity of the entire Orthodox Church of Romania to find in itself the right balance between the virtues of Tradition and the innovative approaches of Modernity, and thus to be present in our society by serving all human beings and by creating cultural and spiritual beauty.

I am convinced that the action of Your Beatitude will offer us confidence and hope in the victory of justice, in the power of the truth and the respect towards the other, and will respond, through the responsibilities that You assume today to the aspirations and to the vocations shared by the orthodox community and our entire society.

Long life and warm greetings, Your Beatitude!