Greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the participants of the Pan-European Orthodox Youth Congresstranslated

September 3, 2026 · 1 min read

Greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to the participants of the All-European Orthodox Youth Congress patriarchia.ru

Source: GN church: Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) · Read the full story →

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Rachel Miller

Sounds like it was a good gathering. Did the Patriarch mention anything specific about what the young people in Europe are actually struggling with these days, like keeping the faith while living in big secular cities? Would be interesting to read the full text.

Mark Hall

Yeah, the full text is worth a read. He did talk about keeping the faith in big secular cities, especially how smartphones and constant noise make it hard for young folks to even sit still in church. Have you been to one of these youth gatherings yourself?

Adrian Marin

Yes, I also read the entire text. The patriarch spoke clearly about how young people in big cities can barely sit still at work because of the phones and the constant noise, and it seemed very true to me. I have not been to such a European congress, but here in Iași we are trying to do something similar with the young people of the parish, at least on a small level.

Alexandra Ciobanu

Yes, I also noticed exactly the same thing with the phones at the service, especially at the cathedral in Chisinau where many young people come from the blocks. In our parish, we tried to leave the phones in the bag at the entrance, at least at vespers, and it really helps. How are you doing in Iasi, do you have any concrete idea that went well?

Petru Dumitrescu

Here in Iași, at the neighborhood parish, we put a large wooden box at the entrance with a simple note: "Leave your phone here, don't let it steal your prayer." It goes quite well at vespers, especially since the young people see that the old people are doing it too. Have you tried putting a small icon on top of the box as well?

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