Patriarch Daniel meets Thessaloniki mayor, highlights Romanian-Greek spiritual ties

On Thursday, 24 September 2026, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox Church received Stelios Angeloudis, Mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece, at the Patriarchal Residence in Bucharest.

The meeting was also attended by Her Excellency Evangelia Grammatika, Ambassador of Greece to Romania; Vasilis Gakis, Deputy Mayor of Thessaloniki for Culture, Tourism Development and Intermunicipal Cooperation; and Anastasis Douros, Director of the Mount Athos Centre in Thessaloniki.

Following his welcoming remarks, Patriarch Daniel highlighted the cultural, academic, and spiritual ties that have developed over time between Romania and Thessaloniki.

He noted that many Romanians, particularly students and theology researchers, choose to pursue university studies in this important centre of Orthodox theological education, often receiving scholarships from the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.

His Beatitude expressed appreciation for the contribution of Thessaloniki’s ecclesiastical and academic institutions to the education of numerous Romanian hierarchs, clergy and theologians, as well as to strengthening the bonds of fraternal communion between the Romanian Orthodox Church…