INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ORTHODOX YOUTH
IN THE DIOCESE OF CANADA
-Family, Faith and Love-
During the Homage Year of the Pastoral Care for Romanians abroad on the initiative and with the blessing of His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, the young Romanian-Canadian Orthodox gathered online on the Zoom platform. Canada has been traversed from east to west, and the joy of being a confessor of the faith together will remain in everyone's souls.
On February 2nd of each year we celebrate the Meeting of the Lord Church Feast as well as the International Day of Orthodox Youth. This day was established in 1992, at the XIV General Assembly of Syndesmos (World Organization of Orthodox Youth). The organization, which was founded in 1953, wants to boost the activities dedicated to young people as well as to better shape the role of youth in the Orthodox Churches.
In the middle of winter, we turn our attention to the Canadian Orthodoxy of tomorrow, represented by today's young people. The joy of being present and active in churches will help the young generation to discover and testify to our cultural, Orthodox and Romanian identity.
The Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada has been proposing for several years to organize and engage the youngest in activities through the programs of camps, meetings, conferences. The most important thing is that despite the distances, the time zone differences, all young people with Romanian roots live and confess Orthodoxy.
The hosts of the evening were Alexandra Ioana Geonea and Valentin Cioană who with enthusiasm and warmth made the participants in the three contests proposed to overcome their emotions, to enjoy and admire each participating work.
The winners of the Road to the Church drawing contest were 1. Natalia Mircioiu (Nativity of the Mother of God Parish - Gatineau, QC), 2. Andrei Geonea (Dormition of the Mother of God Parish - Timmins, ON) and Caterina Teodorescu (St. Ev. Matthew and St. Hristina - Ottawa, ON), 3. Alexander Onuț (St. Ev. Matthew and St. Hristina, Ottawa, ON).
The videos of the participants in the contest, which had the theme What Romania and Canada mean to me - were very emotional, and the choice of winners was extremely difficult. The members of the jury (Fr. Vasile Aileni, Fr. Emanuel Țencaliuc, Psa. Mihaela Țăpuc, Psa. Luiza Geonea and Stefanos Athenagoras) remarked that for all young people Romania means - family, faith and love. The family because all its roots are in Romania, the faith because Orthodoxy means Romania and love because the love for family and faith unites them with Romania.
The winners of this competition for the provinces of Ontario and Alberta were: 1. Maria Năstase (St. Dumitru Parish - Richmond Hill, ON), 2. Petru Arseni Gavriș (Cathedral of St. Emperors Constantine and Helen - Edmonton, AB), 3. Andreea Neagu (St. George and St. Andrew's Cathedral - Windsor, ON).
In Quebec the winners were: 1. Petra Ecaterina Poclid (St. George's Episcopal Cathedral - St-Hubert, QC), 2. Rafael Purcărea (St. George's Episcopal Cathedral - St-Hubert, QC), 3. Valentin and David Cioană (St. George's Episcopal Cathedral - St. Hubert, QC). And the excellent presentation made by Patrick Cioată from the Sunday School of St. Nicholas Parish - Vancouver, BC led by Mrs. Cristina Negrea, delighted the audience and showed the excellent potential of young Orthodox in Canada.
A special mention was given to the presentation made by the students of the Sunday School at All Saints Parish - Toronto, ON.
On the west coast, the winners of the Friends of the Church contest were 1. Maria Nectaria Bonciu 2. Mark Debreczeni, 3. Alexandru Hoduț and Daria Gîrboan all from St. Nicholas Parish, Vancouver, BC.
All 43 photos entered in the My Corner of Prayer contest were declared winners by the members of the jury, noting the beauty and richness of each place where young people pray.
In their interventions, special guests of the evening: Fr. Mircea Panciuk - dean, Fr. Dragoș Giulea - PhD, Fr. Emanuel Ionuț Țencaliuc offered some reflections on the Sacrament of Confession as well as on What it means to be a young Orthodox today. And the representatives of ROYA - Pompiliu Gârlonța (president - USA) and Ștefan Geleriu (vice-president - Canada) spoke to the young people about the challenges but also about the beauty of youth in Orthodoxy.
In his closing remarks, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian congratulated all the young participants and urged those present to continue this kind of meeting regularly in the future.
The enthusiasm of the youth, the pure joy and the building of sincere friendships are desideratums to which the young people of the Romanian Orthodox community in Canada are urged to go.
(recorded by Carmen Ognean)
