The new Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church will be appointed on September 12

The members of the Holy Synod officiate on Tuesday, September 11, the ceremony of memory eternal at 40 days since the passing away of Romanian Orthodox Church Patriarch Teoctist. On Wednesday, after the ceremonies of the Holy Liturgy and Te Deum, the Holy Synod will meet in an extraordinary session for assigning the candidates for the position of Patriarch. On the same day at 17.00, the session of the Elective Church College will begin the election process. According to the church formal procedures, the position of Patriarch is open to any metropolitans, archbishops or bishops, nationals of Romania. The session of the Elective Church College for appointing the Patriarch is conducted by the metropolitan, archbishop or the bishop with the oldest holy order on the archbishopric rank, not included in the list of candidates. During the session, none of the members of the College is allowed to leave the room, unless for a serious reason, consented by the conductor. The ballots with the list of the proposed eligible hierarchs are stamped by the Holy Synod. Each member of the College ticks the name of the chosen candidate. After voting, each member kisses the Holy Gospel and introduces the ballot into the ballot box. The position of Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church will be taken by the candidate who obtains a half plus one of the valid votes. If none of the candidates gathers enough votes, the same session organizes a new voting. The procedure is repeated until one of the candidates reaches the absolute majority. In case of a draw, the odds decide. Until now three names of the potential candidates to the position of Patriarch are said to be preferred: the Metropolitan of Moldova region– Daniel Ilie Ciobotea, the Metropolitan of Oltenia - Teofan and the Metropolitan of Cluj – Bartolomeu Anania. Patriarch Teoctist passed away on July 30, at the age of 92 years, as a result of a hear attack caused by complications after a surgery. The Patriarch led the Romanian Orthodox Church for 21 years.