Ciprian Olinici, with the participants of ITO 2026: The church and society need youtranslated

"The Church and society need you, not for what you will become in years to come, but for what you bring today", the Secretary of State for Religions, Ciprian Olinici, told the participants at the opening of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth (ITO) 2026 in Bucharest on Tuesday.

The Romanian official showed the significance of the presence of young people at the National Cathedral, which he described as "a place that gathers the memory and faith of a people", and which "let itself be inhabited by its youth for a few days".

"There are places built for a generation and there are places built for generations. The National Cathedral is such a building."

"Perhaps this is also one of the meanings or points of a cathedral. Not just to have room for those who come, but to make room for them. Not just to preserve what was, but to remain open for something that begins," the Secretary of State for Religions also said.

At the same time, Ciprian Olinici explained that the National Cathedral is, in its turn, "young", and the beginning of its history meets the course of some people at the beginning of the road: "What we inherit remains alive not because we repeat it, but because each generation...