A group of German researchers who came to Bucharest for an international and interdisciplinary conference on “The Beginnings of Christianity in Romania” were received in an audience at the Patriarchal Residence on Tuesday.
Welcomed in the Hall of the Romanian Saints, the guests were greeted with appreciation by Patriarch Daniel, who spoke about the ancient roots of Christianity in Romania.
“We are impressed by this German-Romanian collaboration and the fact that we are informed about the state of archaeology in Dobruja,” said the Patriarch, referring to the conference held at the Patriarchal Palace on Sept. 16-17.
“We are pleased to welcome you to this Hall of the Romanian Saints, featuring Saint Andrew the Apostle as the central figure, along with the Saints of Dobruja, the great Dobrujan fathers Saint John Cassian, Herman of Dobruja, and the great Daco-Roman Dobrujan Dionysius Exiguus – the modest – as he described himself.”
“We also have here the Saints from Wallachia, the Brâncoveanu Martyrs, and hierarchs, as well as from Moldova, Transylvania, and Banat. And some from Serbia, because in this western part of Romania, there were Christians from the 4th and 5th centuries, before the Serbs came to the area.”
The German theologians were accompanied by Rev. Prof. Daniel Benga from Munich and professors from the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest.
Fr. Benga introduced Patriarch Daniel to Professor Andreas Müller from the University of Kiel, “a friend of Romania who has written several studies about our country and is a professor of early church history at the Faculty of Evangelical Theology,” and Dr. Ulrich Wien from the University of Landau, who is also closely connected to Romania.
“They brought forth the idea to organize something to present Romanian Christianity in the West, and thus this idea was born,” noted Fr. Daniel Benga.
Fr. Benga said the guests appreciated the warm welcome in Bucharest and thanked Patriarch Daniel of Romania for his blessing.
The Patriarch recommended that Romanian theologians produce a book in English or German about Romanian Christianity, which should be current and include references to the symposium taking place in Bucharest. His Beatitude mentioned that the papers presented at the Romanian-German event could be published by one of the three publishing houses of the Romanian Patriarchate.
Photo: Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
Source: basilica.ro
