World Syriac Congress opens in Bucharest, highlights Christian heritage and peacebuilding

More than 400 scholars, religious leaders, and academics from 35 countries assembled on Monday for the opening of the World Syriac Congress and the International Conference on Arab Christian Studies in Bucharest.

The opening ceremony took place in the Ion I. C. Brătianu Hall of the Palace of Parliament. Cătălin-Ștefan Popa, Director General of the Institute for Advanced Studies for the Culture and Civilization of the Levant, inaugurated the congress, highlighting the importance of the Syriac tradition for Christianity.

“Syriac Christianity is the Christian tradition that preserved and transmitted the language spoken by Jesus Christ and His first disciples.”

Romanian contribution to Arabic Orthodox printing Hon Metropolitan Nifon, archbishop of Targoviste, read the official message by Patriarch Daniel. 03.08.2026. Photo: Basilica.ro / Raluca-Emanuela Ene A message from His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church, titled Christian Mission and Evangelical Love in the Service of Peace , was read by Hon Metropolitan Nifon, Archbishop of Târgoviște and Patriarchal Exarch.

The Patriarch highlighted the historic ties between the Romanian Orthodox Church and…