From October 18 to 19, 2019, the Romanian Orthodox Parish of the Resurrection of the Lord in Hamilton, Ontario, was the host of meeting of the the newly established Deanery for Central Canada.
The proceedings of the first meeting were chaired by His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada. They debuted on Friday, October 18, in the afternoon, with the intonation of the prayer Heavenly King. In the presence of the priests of the Romanian parishes in the Canadian Province of Ontario, Rev. Fr. Dean Viorel Tencaliuc presented the conference entitled Orthodoxy and its current situation. Then followed a series of discussions on the topic of the conference. Next, the hierarch of Canada officiated, along with all the priests present, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sicks. The homily was pronounced by Rev. Fr. Gheorghe Țiu from St. Ap. Andrew's Parish in Mississauga, Ontario.
The first day of the session ended with the intervention of Rev. Fr. Nicolae Codrea from Descent of the Holy Spirit Parish in Windsor, Ontario, who held the conference with the title Miron Cristea - first Patriarch of Romania: 100 years since his election as Metropolitan Primate and 80 years since his passage to the Lord.
The proceedings continued on Saturday, October 19th. The Mandate attestation Commission was appointed and Rev. Fr. Vasile Aileni of the All Saints Parish in Toronto read the Minutes of the previous Assembly in 2017. His Grace Ioan Casian presented the catechetical and charitable pastoral programs proposed to the Romanian parishes in Canada entitled Reflections on the Mission and Pastoral Programs of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada.
It followed the administrative part of the meeting, during which were presented the Biannual report of the activity of the Deanery for Central Canada in the period 2017-2019 by Rev. Fr. Dean Viorel Țencliuc, the Report on the parish documents necessary for the eparchial archive as well as the Financial report of the Parishes in the Province of Ontario, prepared by Adrian Pătru and presented by H.G. Bishop Ioan Casian. Also, the members of the Deanery Consistory for the next two years were elected.
Further, Rareș Răducu, the president of ROYA at the level of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas, presented the activity and programs currently being carried out by the organization of the Orthodox youth on the North American continent and urged the attending priests to send and support the young people from the parishes to attend the ROYA activities and camps.
At its turn, Presvitera Claudia Aileni, President of AROLA described the projects that the organization she leads is running. At the same time, she brought to the attention of those present the AROLA Congress 2020, which will enjoy the presence of Rev. Fr. Stelian Tofană, a full professor at the chair of the New Testament Study at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.
In the end, H.G. Bishop Ioan Casian thanked Rev. Fr. Lucian Pușcariu of the Resurrection Parish of Hamilton, Ontario, for the hospitality shown by hosting the first meeting of the Deanery for Central Canada. The hierarch gave to each priest an icon representing the protectors of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada: the Mother of the Lord, the St. Ap. Andrew and St. John Casian, as well as the book on the Great Martyr Ephrem the New - the healer of bodies and souls. Later, Rev. Fr. Dean Viorel Țencaliuc proposed to H.G. Bishop Ioan Casian, to study the possibility of starting the canonization process of the His Eminence Archbishop Victorin due to the rich and fruitful activity he carried out on the North American continent among the Romanian parishes.
At the same time, the date for next meeting was set to take place at St. Andrew's Parish in Mississauga, Ontario, in 2021.
