The Romanian people, orthodox by its genesis, was lucky to have Patriarch Teoctist, a real Builder of the Kingdom of God, a skilful defender of the nation during one of the most disorientated time periods of his contemporary existence. Because if we look behind, seriously and with no rage, we notice that the time of big changes, actually of some tragic fractures of the human being, which hallmarked the end of the II millennium not only politically, but also technologically, socially, and religiously, didn’t catch us unprepared. This man of human and religious perfections seems that was born especially by divine Providence in a large Botosani gipsy family, at the Eastern border of Romania, during a devastating war (which led to the political completion of the Romanian people), when radical political, religious and economic reforms were occurring. He listened then to the most subtle call of his heart and entered a monastery, while being a child, getting thus to know all the joys of the religious life, all the stumbles of the ascent through this world ranks, as well as all the sufferings and pains the Romanian people went through in the XX century. When he was elected as Patriarch in 1986, both the Light times and the times that could have destroyed the Romanian nation within the Yugoslav disasters, were quite close. He had at the time the necessary theological grounding, the administrative and political-social one, as well as the knowledge of God without which any ascent in orthodoxy is in vain. We owe him and the previous two Patriarchs, who were his spiritual parents, Justinian Malina and Iustin Moisescu, the unity of the Romanian Orthodox Church, as well as preservation of its administrative and educational institutes, the “skills to find solutions during that time period” to preserving and restoring the Holy Churches and Monasteries, the real bastions of the Orthodoxy and Romanian people. Despite all the wickedness of the communist times and in spite of those who criticised the three patriarchs for the alleged cooperation with the former communist regime, we have Putna, Hurezii, Voronet, Nicula and the complex in Dealul Patriarhiei (a few examples) still open, without being devastated or destroyed completely, without sharing the same fate of the churches and monasteries in the former USSR (including in Bessarabia and Bucovina). The fact that the Romanian people remained a majority Orthodox nation, even more, the Romanian Orthodox Church became one of the most important churches in the world through its great clergy, theologists and confessors, is the unquestionable merit of Patriarch Teoctist during those times. To backtrack. Without sharing his mind and heart, canonisation of the Orthodox Saints of the Romanian people, including St. Stephen the Great and Constantin Brancoveanul, wouldn’t have been possible. Without Patriarch Teoctist, without his merits as doyen of the Orthodox Patriarchs, neither the brotherly talks within the Orthodox Church, especially following the 1989-1991 collapse, nor the close relationships between the Christian churches, nor the visit of John Paul II to Bucharest, would have been possible. The work of father Dumitru Staniloaie, one of the greatest theologists of the world contemporary epoch, the Bible’s new elaboration, including the deepest comment of all the Romanian Orthodoxy ever, done by metropolitan bishop Bartolomeu Anania, erections in Ardeal by metropolitan bishop Antonie Plamadeala, a far-reaching expectation for the entire Orthodoxy, the studies by confessors Cleopa and Parvu, generosity of fathers Sofian and Dobzeu, all these and many others, have become sweet-smelling and all-beautiful flowers of the Romanian Orthodoxy, because its first pioneers, and not in the least Patriarch Teoctist, who was present and took part in making the most important decisions by the Romanian Orthodox Church after the Second World War, and namely during the terrible Stalinist and the Communist International times, took also the political responsibilities of the time, as well as those of national and orthodox interest. Father Teoctist has a special relationship with Bessarabia. Two out of the three metropolitan bishops who consecrated him in 1986 were Bessarbians, Antonie Plamadeala and Nestor Vornicescu. Namely these Bessarabians, including here also archbishop Antim Nica, had been a trustworthy support to Father Patriarch during the most difficult periods of his activity, through their vicarage at the Romanian Patriarchy, through other Romanian Orthodox missions and creations. Patriarch Teoctist had been continuously struggling for the salvation of Bessarabia, of its clergy and people since the time of Patriarch Justinian, and, when the time became more favourable, he reactivated Bessarabia’s Metropolitan Church without any hesitation and, as it is well known, in spite of the time’s political decisions, making it possible to reunite Bessarabia with the Motherland through the fore-fathers’ church. The great personalities of Bessarabia, who were also his close friends, Ion Ungureanu, Grigore Vieru, Mihai Cimpoi and Nicolae Dabija, were always welcome at the Patriarchy, discussing with them the most important issues of the world, Orthodoxy and Romanian nation. His visit to Bessarabia, scheduled for the autumn of 2007, was also agreed with them. “Good, kind, careful” – that’s how most of the people would describe Father Patriarch Teoctist. Intelligent, imposing and ordinary, loved by ordinary people and loving ordinary people, servant of the people and of God, he always knew to be straight and determined against political destructions, yielding nothing when it came to the Orthodoxy foundations, unity of the Romanian Orthodox Church and of the Romanian people. He created and taught others how to create the Romanian Orthodox Church on the unbalanced field of Globalisation, built strong abutments in between the old foundations of Christianity and the innovating tendencies of the Church, including between those in the Catholic and Protestant world, was aware of the need of innovation, including as regarded the relationships among people and their social structures. It seems that these merits, under the unsafe circumstances of the global crisis around the world, were decisive for the future of Romania and its people, especially after 21 December 1989, during the troubled period of the revolution, pseudo-democracy and market pseudo-economy, pseudo-values and media diversions which rushed upon Romania and the entire Romanian nation as a unmerciful tornado. Patriarch Teoctist, born Toader Arapasu, a Romanian peasant name with a divine root, as well as with a root of fore-fathers’ longing keeper, didn’t manage to implement his greatest dream, the People Saving Cathedral. It seems that his human powers, given by him to overpass the 1989 precipices, couldn’t overcome the antinational and antiorthodox nonsense of those who have made “architectural” decisions in the last few years. But, maybe God’s grace sent us his earthly torment namely on 30 July 2007 to speed up this work of his mind and heart in order to settle the right faith and save the Romanian nation. God rest him together with all the righteous of this world! [Chisinau, July 31 2007] [Info-Prim Neo note:] “Dear colleagues from Info-Prim Neo Agency! I am sending you an article about Father Patriarch Teoctist, who I was happy to meet and visit a few times. It might be of interest to others”. [Andrei Vartic]