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Patriarch Daniel states in a message sent in the context of the incoming opening of the 2020-2021 school year that education is the fundamental priority of any society, but draws attention especially in school the sanitary rules to protect the health of the pupils and teachers must be respected.
"Education is the fundamental priority of any society that desires the spiritual development and material prosperity of its people. In developing an authentic education for life, the Family, the Church and the School are called to offer to pupils the help necessary for their development both on a personal level, as well as at community level, after the urging of the wise King Solomon: 'Keep, son, the teaching of your father and do not cast away your mother's urging...' (Book of Proverbs 6, 20, 23)", the Patriarch emphasizes in the message addressed to parents and teachers in the pre-university education at the start of the new school year.
The Patriarch draws attention that "due to the pandemic, the start of this school year takes place in a very difficult period regarding the individual and collective health."
"For that reason, especially in school the sanitary rules to protect the health of pupils and teachers must be respected carefully. As in the previous year, at the start of this new school year, the parishes will continue to help with school supplies the pupils in disfavored environments. This material help adds to the 5,000 tablets already offered by our Church to many children in disfavored areas," His Holiness Daniel states.
The Patriarch recalls that the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church declared 2020 an year of homage to the shepherding of parents and children, initiative by which "both parents and children are helped to foster mutual family love and cherish faith and education, as being the main lights of life in society."
In this context, the Patriarch pleads for the cultivation of a "hardy bond" and a "fruitful cooperation" between Family, Church and School, "in a world marked by individualist and secularizing ideological tendencies, which weaken the unity of the family and social peace."
On the occasion of the start of the 2020-2021 school year, Patriarch Daniel bids to pupils, parents, teachers and professors, "good health and much help, peace and joy, so that their work is a blessing to family, school and the entire Romanian people!".
