On Wednesday, March 24th, 2021, Father Daniel Ene, Diocesan Secretary and Dean of New York, New England and the Eastern United States to Mexico, ended his over week-long missionary visit. The visit took place with the blessing of His Eminence Nicolae, Metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas and at the invitation of His Excellency, Mr. Marius-Gabriel Lazurca, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the Mexican United States.
On Thursday, March 18th, Father Daniel met with His Excellency, Mr. Ambassador Lazurca, and with the members of the diplomatic team of the Romanian Embassy in Mexico. The discussions were about the realities of the Romanian community in Mexico and about the difficulties encountered during this pandemic period. On this occasion, Father Daniel presented, on behalf of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae, as a symbol of the appreciation and care of His Eminence to the Romanians living in Mexico, but also for the efforts of the Embassy, the Commemorative Icon of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas for the year 2021, the Solemn year of the pastoral care of Romanians from outside Romania in the Romanian Patriarchate. The icon represents the "Mother of God of Guadalupe - Patroness of unborn children" which is a missionary Icon of the Blessed Virgin, also known as "Icon of the Mother of God of Guadalupe", protector of the Americas. The icon keeps in the center this image of the Mother of God together with the image of the Holy Emperors Constantine and Helen, the protectors of the Metropolia, along with St. George the Pilgrim and St. Raphael of Brooklyn, the protectors of the Deanery of New York, New England and the Eastern USA. This gift is intended to be an occasion for blessing and protection not only for the walls, but especially for all those who currently work hard now and further on in the Embassy in order to take care of the Romanian people who live in these lands.
On Friday and Saturday, March 19-20, Father Daniel accompanied Mr. Lazurca to Cancun on the first working visit of the new ambassador since the beginning of his term, at the beginning of March. The haste and the place of this visit, the city of Cancun, show the importance and genuine care of the new ambassador for the Romanians in Mexico and for solving the current problems they face. On Friday evening, an official meeting of the ambassador with the Romanian community took place, in which Father Daniel also participated. The meeting was an opportunity to meet a young community which is active and eager to organize. After the meeting with the enlarged community, a meeting took place with Mr. Eduardo Albor, the Honorary Consul of Romania in Cancun.
Saturday, March 20, was a real blessing on the occasion of the service of the first Divine Liturgy in Romanian in Cancun. According to statistics, there are over 300 Romanians who work in the hotels of the famous resort, but there are also thousands of other Romanians who visit this holiday destination every year. The Divine Liturgy was held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cancun (Santuario Maria Desatadora de Nudos). The Divine Liturgy was attended by Ambassador Marius Lazurca and Honorary Consul Eduardo Albor along with many Romanian believers living in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. They had the opportunity to confess in this first week of Lent, to commemorate those asleep and to listen to the Divine Liturgy in Romanian for the first time in this part of the world. The Holy Mass was followed by several meetings with Father Luis Pablo Garza, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cancun, and with Monsignor Pedro Pablo Elizondo Cardenas, Catholic Bishop of Cancun, who also received from His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae the Commemorative Icon of 2021. During these meetings, the idea of establishing a Romanian Orthodox parish in this area where there is no Orthodox church was discussed. The nearest Orthodox Church is 300 km away in Merida, under the jurisdiction of the Antioch Church.
On Sunday, March 21, 2021, Father Daniel celebrated the Divine Liturgy again in the midst of the Orthodox and Romanian community in Mexico City, this time at St. Sophia Greek Cathedral with the blessing and participation of His Eminence Archbishop and Metropolitan Athenagoras of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean, as well as of Bishop Isihios de Makrianis (Ecumenical Patriarchate). At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Father Daniel offered His Eminence Archbishop Athenagoras, on behalf of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas, the Commemorative Icon of 2021 as well as the album Pages of History of Romanian Orthodoxy in America. The garden of the Greek Cathedral was then the meeting place of the Romanian community with Father Daniel and Ambassador Marius Lazurca. His Excellency together with Father Daniel then had lunch with the two hierarchs present and the clergy of the Cathedral in the Archbishop's Residence. The baptism of the young Mirela Mihaela also took place on the same day.
On Monday, March 22, at noon, Father Daniel and Ambassador Marius Lazurca had a meeting with His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius (Samaán) of the Antiochian Orthodox Church of Mexico, Central America and Venezuela, who also received the Commemorative Icon of the Year 2021 from His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae and the album Pages of history of Romanian Orthodoxy in America.Although the coronavirus pandemic did not pass, Father Daniel wanted to bring a message of solidarity to the Romanian community in Mexico, knowing that as important as physical health is, so is spiritual health and especially mental health (from the Greek ψυχή psūchê means soul). Many believers wanted to confess or have their homes blessed during these days of fasting, showing their desire for authentic and spiritual growing care. In his words, Father Daniel Ene reminded the Romanians in Mexico that they are not alone, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicolae carries them in prayers and that we must not forget our Romanian roots wherever our lives take us, our Orthodox faith, Romanian culture and traditions constituting the basis of our training as people who can play an essential role in any society and collective.The spiritual journey of Father Daniel Ene on the occasion of the Solemn year of the pastoral care of Romanians from outside Romania will continue with a missionary visit to Colombia between March 23-31, and Venezuela, April 8-14, where there is a Romanian parish with a Maramureș wooden church.
Fr. Daniel Adrian Ene
