Bucharest, March 5, 2025
Photo: basilica.ro
His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania celebrated 35 years of episcopal service on Tuesday, March 4.
The future Patriarch was consecrated as Vicar Bishop of the Archdiocese of Timișoara at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Timișoara on March 4, 1990, shortly after the fall of communism, reports the Basilica News Agency.
He was chosen as Patriarch on September 12, 2007, and formally enthroned on September 30. He celebrated the 
Patriarch Daniel celebrates 15 years as head of Romanian Orthodox ChurchPat. Daniel’s ministry both in Iaşi and in Bucharest has also been marked by extensive academic and publishing activity, as well as missionary and social activity.
“>15th anniversary of his Patriarchal ministry in 2022.
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Photo: basilica.ro
Pat. Daniel was born on July 22, 1951, in Dobreşti village, Timiş County. He received the name of Dan-Ilie in holy Baptism.
He studied theology in Sibiu from 1970 to 1974, and in Bucharest, under the guidance of St. Dumitru Stăniloae from 1974 to 1976. From 1976 to 1980, he studied at the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Human Sciences in Strasbourg, France, and the Faculty of Catholic Theology of Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. In June 1979, he defended his doctoral thesis on the relationship between theology and spirituality.
From 1980 to 1988, he was a lecturer at the World Council of Churches’ Bossey Ecumenical Institute in Switzerland.
On August 6, 1987, he entered the monastic life at Sihăstria Monastery, with St. Cleopa (Ilie) as his elder in the mantle. On August 14, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and a hieromonk the next day.
The next year, he was elevated to the rank of protosinghel and appointed Patriarchal Advisor on Contemporary Theology and Ecumenical Dialogue. He also became an associate professor in the Department of Christian Mission at the Theological Institute in Bucharest.
On March 4, 1990, he was consecrated Vicar Bishop of the Archdiocese of Timișoara. On July 1, 1990, he was enthroned as Archbishop of Iaşi and Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bukovina—a position he remained in until his election as Patriarch.
His tenure there was marked by the establishment of dozens of Orthodox schools, museums, libraries, cultural centers, memorial houses, publishing houses, Orthodox radio and TV stations, and much more.
From 1992 to 2007, he was a professor of dogmatic and pastoral theology at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Iaşi.
On September 12, 2007, he was elected Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and on September 30, he was formally enthroned. As in Iaşi, as Patriarch he has established numerous institutions, including the Basilica News Agency and the Patriarchate’s press office, publishing houses, pilgrimage centers, memorial houses, museums, and much more.
Since then, he has been professor of pastoral theology at the Theological Faculty in Bucharest.
Pat. Daniel’s ministry both in Iaşi and in Bucharest has also been marked by extensive academic and publishing activity, as well as missionary and social activity. In particular, the Church’s mission for the Romanian Orthodox diaspora in the West has greatly expanded.
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Source: Orthodox Christianity