HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY VISITS THE ROMANIAN PATRIARCHATE

Romanian Patriarchate

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel welcomed His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion, at the patriarchal residence in Bucharest for a private visit on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Patriarch of Romania expressed his joy at having the Archbishop of the Church of England as his guest and thanked him for the support that Orthodox Romanians in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland receive through the rental of 38 places of worship by the Church of England for Romanian Orthodox communities in the United Kingdom.

The Archbishop of Canterbury expressed gratitude for the hospitality and highlighted three of the greatest challenges facing Western society, each of which has a particular impact on the Churches: secularisation, the tragedy of the war in Ukraine, and negative aspects of colonialism, all of which have repercussions on the Church of England today.

The Patriarch of Romania pointed out the challenges posed to Romanian society by the phenomenon of migration, with more than 5 million Romanians temporarily or permanently residing in different parts of the world.

In this sense, the Romanian Orthodox Church has developed many projects and social programmes for children, the elderly and the poor, but also for those affected by the war in Ukraine.

During the discussions, the significance of promoting initiatives in the field of education, particularly in underprivileged communities in Romania, including Roma communities, was underlined.

After his visit to Romania, the Archbishop of Canterbury will go to the Republic of Moldova to meet with His Eminence Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia.

Department for External Church Relations