The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, received, on Tuesday, Mahmoud Alhabbash, counselor for religious matters to the President of Palestine, on which occasion the high Orthodox hierarch expressed his conviction that the authorities of this state will continue to support the Romanian Orthodox Settlements in the Holy Land, according to Agerpres.

„Blessed Father Patriarch Daniel expressed his conviction that the Palestinian Authority will continue to support the Christian religious settlements, making special reference to the Romanian Orthodox Settlements in the Holy Land, including regarding the functioning of the Center for Studies and Pilgrimages of Saint John Jacob in Jericho and the effort of the Romanian Patriarchate to restore the Romanian Settlement in Jordan,” a press release of the Sector of church, interreligious relations and external church communities of the Patriarchate, sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, reads.

The Patriarch expressed his hope that, after the last two years marked by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the pilgrimages of Romanian Orthodox believers to the Holy Land will intensify. Patriarch Daniel emphasized the role of pilgrimages in maintaining and promoting a climate of peace and good understanding between Christians and other religious communities at the Holy Places.

Mahmoud Alhabbash is in Romania on the occasion of the inauguration of a mosque in Ciocarlia, southeastern Constanta County.

Agerpres