On Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 November, the 11th edition of the Theological Symposium of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas was held. The organizer of this year was the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada in collaboration with the Pastoral Institute of Dominicans in Montreal.

The event was attended by H.E. Nicolae, the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas and H.G. Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada. The guest-speakers invited were from different Orthodox jurisdictions in North America and Europe: Rev. Fr. Răzvan Ionescu (Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of Western and Southern Europe), Rev. Fr.  Dragoș Giulea (Orthodox Church in America), Rev. Fr.  Lambros Kamperidis (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada), V. Rev. Fr.  Maxym Lysack (American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of USA), V. Rev. Fr. Joseph Purpura (Antiochian Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and upstate New York), Prof. Lucian Turcescu (Concordia University - Montreal), Dr. Adriana Bara and Denitsa Tsvetkova (Canadian Centre for Ecumenism - Montreal) and Dr. Gheorghe Butuc (Theological Seminary of the Archdiocese of the Lower Danube - Galați).

On the first day of the Symposium, the guest-speakers addressed different topics related to the contemporary aspects of the life of the church reflected in the daily life but also presented future perspectives: the philocalic culture as an opportunity of a united vision directed towards eternity of the different contemporary cultures, the image of God as Father and the importance of the Savior Jesus Christ as the revealer of this matrix relation for human nature, modern sciences and the new perspective of the unseen reality as the basis of the visible one and the overcoming of the positivist vision about the reality, the religious-spiritual revival in the Eastern European societies that knew communism, in particular Romania, the Christianisation of time and space by living the presence of God in the concrete reality of daily life, the need for a therapeutic vision of the presence of the Church in contemporary time, space and culture, the role of the mission of the Church towards the young people adapted to the contemporary culture that convey the essential Christian values, the importance of the popular iconography and its role in preserving the faith in the Transylvanian area, the role of the parish as a link between the cultural world left behind by immigrating and its reconstruction in the new framework of life, etc.

On Sunday afternoon, after the Divine Liturgy, at St. George's Diocesan Cathedral, the second part of the Symposium followed in the format of a round table in which the guest-speakers had the opportunity to approach other aspects of the contemporary church life with its difficulties. Several things were emphasized: the need for a message consistent with Christian values ​​addressed to the younger people who are in search for God, the problem of delineating an unsecularised spiritual vision to talk about God, the crisis as an opportunity for an authentic spiritual renewal, the statistical findings reporting a diminishing participation of the youngest in the life of the Church although born in a Christian-Orthodox environment and the need to propose new organizational and catechetical elements that can alleviate this difficulty etc.

Also in this context was launched the book of Rev. Fr. Răzvan Ionescu – Spirituality and science in the theology of the archimandrite Sofronie Sakharov.

During the symposium there was also a photographic exhibition with images about the Romanian village and a presentation of popular costumes on the occasion of the homage year of the Romanian village.