Press release: New decisions of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church

The main decisions of the Holy Synod are the following:

1. Declaration of the year 2025, in the Romanian Patriarchate, as the Homage Year of the Centenary of the Romanian Patriarchate and the Commemorative year of the Romanian confessors and witnesses from the 20th century;
2. The establishment of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Great Britain, based in London, for more than 1 million Romanian Orthodox believers on this part of Western Europe;
3. Establishment of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Ireland and Iceland, based in Dublin.
4. Reminding the position of the Romanian Orthodox Church towards the political life and the election campaigns, in the context of the election year 2024, in the sense of non-involvement of the Church in the Political trends, according to article 7 paragraph 1 of Law no. 489/2006 on religious freedom and the general regime of cults, recognized cults being factors of social peace and any attitude pushing to public conflict in society, of political partisanships, of attacking person or provoking tensions in the relations with public authorities are contrary to the spiritual mission of the Church in society;
5. Approval of volumes on December and January of the Synodal Sinaxar of the Romanian Orthodox Church;
6. Approval of the Akathist of the Holy and Unmercenary Doctors Cosma and Damian from Asia (November 1);
7. Approval of the Akathist of Saint Gherasim from Chefalonia (October 20);
8. Approval of the Paraklisis of the Holy and Unmercenary Doctors Kir and John (January 31, June 28);
9. The organization, between March 1^st – 31^st, 2024, of a collection in the Romanian Patriarchate to help build housing in Armenia intended for Armenian refugees in Nagoro Karabagh;
10. The reminding of the fact that, through the Financial Control and Audit Corps from the ecclesiastical authority verify the financial and patrimonial situations from the parishes, dioceses and metropolias for whose correct application are responsible the Metropolitan Synod, respectively the Permanent Synod; in the respective financial and audit control bodies must be employed specialists (economists and financial auditors) characterized by fairness, professionalism and fidelity to the church.
11. The blessing, encouraging and supporting the initiatives of the Romanian Orthodox communities in Ukraine to restore communion with the Mother Church, the Romanian Patriarchate, by their legal organization in the religious structure called the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
12. The reaffirmation of the fact that all the Romanian Orthodox clergy and their shepherds from the Republic of Moldova who return to the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia are canonical and blessed believers, and any disciplinary sanction against them on the grounds of their belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church is considered null according to Synodal decision no. 8090 of December 19, 1992.
13. Appreciation of the rich social-philanthropic activity of the Romanian Orthodox Church during 2023, which produced positive effects visible in the Romanian society.

Chancellery of the Holy Synod