Abstract
On the basis of a definition of God as “love”, human philanthropy is derived from Divine philanthropy, and therefore extends to all human beings. Because Divine philanthropy is most centrally expressed in Christ's incarnation and resurrection, Christ's identification with all who suffer presents the strongest motivation for human philanthropy. After a short review of the Romanian Orthodox Church's development after 1989, the author turns to his special case study, the Social-Medical Day-Care Christian Centre for older citizens. He describes the wan in which Church-based philanthropy can integrate social-medical with Christian pastoral care, and how this work draws the local communities into assuming a shared responsibility.
The most impressive “definition” that someone has ever given of God is that of Saint John, who defines God as “love” (1 Jn. 4:8). Using this denomination for God, Saint John the Evangelist shows that the attribute of love belongs preeminently to the Divine being. Love has its source in the communion of the Persons of the Holy Trinity and “defines God in His being as well as in His outward work.”Footnote 1 The entire creation is the outward manifestation of God's love. However, of all creatures, man has always been the object of God's special love ever since he was created. The Psalmist and King David expresses this truth in the words:
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. (Psa. 8: 3–6)
Thus man “is called through the act of creation itself to enjoy God's love”Footnote 2 and remain in it. Without love, man has no reason to exist nor do his creations and the communities his life is bound up with. Without love, man cannot become and cannot remain human. The most important thing occurring between God and the human soul is loving and being loved. This accounts for that ontological thirst of the human soul for God, expressed by the psalmist in an eloquent image, full of sensitivity: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God” (Psa. 41: 1–2).
Philanthropy has its source in the Holy Trinity. John the Evangelist says that “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). Hence, the first philanthropist was God. That is why philanthropy has two dimensions: the divine philanthropy and the philanthropy as a relationship between people. From a religious point of view, all people have the same religion and the same destiny. Being the descendants of the same couple of people, Adam and Eve, we are all the children of God, we are all equal, we have the same rights and the same obligations. “Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?” (Mal. 2:10).
Our common origin is also expressed by Our Saviour Jesus Christ in His words: “All ye are brethren, for one is your Father, which is in heaven” (Mat. 23:8–9). Descending from that first couple of people, we all bear the consequences of the sin they committed in Eden. At the same time, we are the beneficiaries of the Divine philanthropy, through which we have become the sons of God and brothers, as a result of the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God.
The strongest motivation of philanthropy has, therefore, always been and still is Jesus Christ the Savior, identified in any suffering person. In a mysterious way, any suffering person hides within him the presence of Christ, Who calls us to help him. Philanthropy is nothing else but the Gospel, brought into the present. True philanthropy cannot exist without the Gospel, because only in the Gospel do we find Christ identified with every suffering person: “ Inasmuch ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me” (Matt. 25:40). For this reason, one must forestall the secularization of philanthropy, its separation from the Gospel, as this means breaking up the link between philanthropy and the Divine love.Footnote 3
After 1989, the Romanian Orthodox Church, set free from the communist yoke, started to develop its philanthropic work more and more significantly. With a great deal of hopes to fulfill and many wounds to heal, the philanthropy of the Orthodox Church is profoundly motivated by Jesus Christ the Savior. Philanthropy is not a kind of “fashion,” but the missionary presence of the Church herself in the world, the dynamic icon of the Divine philanthropy. In the following, I shall describe one particular aspect of that work and concentrate on one particular example. Since the author of this article is deeply engaged in the work here presented, and since that work does not leave much free time, the description must be very brief.
With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Andrei, The Social Services Department was founded in the Archbishopry of Alba Iulia in 1997, and under the auspices of this Asociaăia Filantropia Ortodoxă Alba Iulia, an exceptional philanthropic work is carried out today. At present, the Archbishopry has more than 32 establishments of intense social-philanthropic activity. The priests, together with their good parishioners and in partnerships with various civic institutions, devote themselves completely to this holy undertaking of supporting people in distress.
In Sighişoara, in the middle of Transsylvania, The Social-Medical Daycare Christian Centre for older citizens, situated in 45, Târnavei Street, addresses the needs of those whose suffering and poverty has even increased as a result of Rumania's further integration with the European union. Many young people have left the country in order to find work abroad. They have left their parents behind, and usually are either unwilling or unable to support them. These old persons, on the other hand, receive minimal pensions which, given the general rise in prices, are unable to support them. The difficult context of our times thus requires imperiously the existence of such an institution meant to help the elderly people, regardless of nationality and religion (the tears of all people are equally hot).
Thanks to support that was offered by PHARE,Footnote 4 the center today is equipped so as to meet general European norms. Through its work, it is an honor to the church, as well as to the municipal authorities. The Daycare Centre offers services for approximately 106 persons, including:
-
hygiene services: Sighişoara does not have a public bath, therefore the underprivileged people benefit from this service which includes: haircuts, shaving, anti-parasitical treatment, washing and changing clothes;
-
religious assistance: the daily program includes the morning prayers, religious services, Akathists of the Saints, spiritual counseling;
-
social counseling: with a great deal of patience and devotion, the psychologist and the social workers try to help people overcome the difficult problems they have to face;
-
free medical assistance: our center includes a consulting room, where a physician and a nurse work together with a great number of volunteer physicians who gladly offer their services. There is also a kineto-therapy unit where every day approximately twenty people come for physical rehabilitation, and recently we opened a consulting room for elderly people who need hearing aids.
-
we also developed a network of home medical and social services, which includes cleaning the residence of people who are immobilized, shopping for them, paying bills, and medical consultations;
-
daily food for the 40 people assisted by the center and for 66 people at their own residence; the food consists of three meals a day, including Saturdays and Sundays;
-
for those who only have God left for support, and who are in terminal phases, we offer the possibility of spending their last days with the support of helpers and priests in one of the ten beds of the center.
It is a holy undertaking that honors our Holy Church, along with all those other Christian communities who have so generously supported our work financially and with their technical know-how. By God's commandment we all have the express obligation to serve those awaiting our love.
Our work has an extremely powerful impact on the community, creating a special bond between the citizens of the town. Full of love and generosity, they help us by offering food, clothes, and money, trusting that these get to the people who need them. Since this work is publicly perceived as offered by the church, it has greatly improved the public appreciation of the church even among those who grew alienated from it during communism.
As this undertaking is constantly expanding, we also appealed to the other Orthodox communities in the deanery of Sighişoara. In this context, the parishes in our area have supported us with much devotion. The priests and their congregations are aware of the fact that the Daycare Centre belongs to us all and that supporting it is a noble deed.
The aim of our project is to reduce the poverty of the target group, to alleviate the exclusion and social marginalization of poor people, and to create a safe and comfortable social environment for these persons. The resulting decrease in morbidity of the population saves a lot of hospitalization expenses, which would otherwise burden the public. The project also serves to educate the community in the spirit of avoiding the social exclusion of people in distress. Great emphasis is also put on training the staff employed to implement the project, and this encompasses not only technical expertise and psychological skills, but also a Christian growth in personal spirituality. As priest and director of the center, the author, along with Father Avram Florin as second priest, try to help not only the clients, but also our volunteers and employees on the way to recapturing a truly liturgical life, and thus to opening up to that Divine love which alone can support their service. In dealing with our clients, we priests are not only engaged in leading their prayer life, but at the same time, along with our families, take full part in all the physical work of their nursing care. We wash, dress wounds, offer food, and so on. In this both spiritual and hands-on physical service, we are able to witness the unity of God's philanthropic love on all levels of human need.
With the help of God and of good people, with the blessing of His Grace Archbishop Andrei of Alba Iulia, we intend to further develop our network of social services. In the large space situated in the attic of our building we wish to set up a pilot center for children with acoustic handicaps. We also want to open a hostel for approximately forty gifted children who live in the rural area and whose parents cannot afford to keep them in high school.Footnote 5
Notes
1. Fr. Prof. Dumitru Radu, Învătătura Ortodoxă despre Dumnezeu, Bucureşti, 1986, p. 105 (The Orthodox Teaching about God, Bucharest, 1986, leaf 105)
2. Fr. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, ‘Dumnezeu este iubire,’ Ortodoxia, 3, 1971, p. 378 (God is love, article in Orthodoxy, 3, 1971, leaf 378.
3. Fr. Mihai Vizitiu, op. cit, leaf 13.
4. The European Union has allocated nonreimbursable funds through a number of programs for countries from Central and Eastern Europe in their pre-accession period. One of these schemes it is called PHARE Economic and Social Cohesion (Poland and Hungary Aid for Restructuring Economy), named so because initially it was addressed to these two countries. Romania will receive funds for programs financed from this financial instrument for another three years.
5. Should readers wish to support these plans, please use the Romanian Commercial Bank, the Sighişoara Branch, account : “FILANTROPIA ORTODOXA SIGHIŞOARA”, Banca Comercială Română S.A., Sucursala Sighişoara. Cont IBAN : RO 60 RNCB 0191 015666990001.