The Romanian Orthodox Patriarch: moral and religious education of children and youth confronted with secularized approach
September 24, 2015. The 8th National Assembly “Christ conveyed to children”, was organized by the Romanian Patriarchate in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research and World Vision Organization in Romania, at Caraiman Monastery, from 21 to 23 September 2015, as the website of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate reports.
The Romanian Orthodox Patriarch Daniel expressed his concern about the immense responsibility of the Church to transmit religious faith, cultural and national identity, to educate the new generations of children and youth. The purpose of the educational act in religious school education and in parish catechesis aims towards forming the child and the young man in order to become faithful, loving Christ and the Church, capable of dialogue and cooperation in family and society.
The Patriarch also mentioned that today’s Christian population of Romania is confronted with a more and more secularized approach to education, which aims at excluding the Christian contribution in the educational process. This happens in exchange for a system limited only to the knowledge of the material, limited and passing world, without apprehending the work of God’s grace over creation and in people’s life.
At the end of his message to the Assembly the Patriarch explained that the final target of the religious and moral education must be the spiritual upbringing of children and youth in the love of God and fellow people, by involving them both in the liturgical life of the Church, and in the cultural, social and philanthropic activities of the parish community.