The 2026 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth concluded on Thursday at Romania’s National Cathedral in Bucharest with the Divine Liturgy and the ceremonial passing of the event’s torch to the Archdiocese of Iași, which will host the next gathering in 2028.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishops Varlaam of Ploiești and Paisie of Sinaia, together with Auxiliary Bishop Timotei of Prahova of the Archdiocese of Bucharest. Bishop Agathonikos of Arusha and Central Tanzania of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and Bishop Macarie of Northern Europe also attended.
Around 2,400 young participants and volunteers, together with other faithful, were able to attend the service, which was the first Divine Liturgy celebrated at the National Cathedral this year.
Patriarch Daniel addresses the crisis facing the family
In a message to the young participants, Patriarch Daniel of Romania stressed that “the conjugal family and the ecclesial family are icons of the love of the Holy Trinity and blessings for humanity.”
The Patriarch warned that the natural, traditional family is facing a crisis and moving toward what he described as an uncertain and confused future.
He argued that materialistic individualism and an egocentric understanding of freedom undermine both human life as an existence rooted in communion and solidarity and the family’s vocation as a setting for spiritual life and salvation.
Patriarch Daniel further emphasized that the family cannot be reduced solely to its biological, legal, psychological, sociological or cultural dimensions. Rather, he said, love within the family has the vocation to become “an icon of God’s love for humanity and an icon of the eternal love of the Holy Trinity.”
Iași to host the meeting in 2028
The ceremony concluded with the Archdiocese of Bucharest handing over the torch of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth to representatives of the Archdiocese of Iași.
Young representatives Andrei Pohrib and Maria Stella Pascal received the torch on behalf of Iași, with Pohrib describing the 2026 gathering as an experience that offered participants a renewed sense of purpose and direction in Christian life.
“I hope that, years from now, we will remember this meeting and this moment as one in which we found new meaning, a new direction, and understood that it is possible to live beautifully, as Christians, within the Church,” he said, before inviting participants to reunite in Iași in 2028.
The gathering concluded with expressions of gratitude to the institutions and organizations that contributed to the 2026 International Meeting of Orthodox Youth.
Source: Basilica.ro / Photos: Mircea Florescu
