Almost 300 high school students from all over the country, accompanied by dozens of teachers, took part in the opening ceremony of the interdisciplinary Olympiad “Romanian Culture and Spirituality” (Romanian language and literature) on Wednesday in the Reunification Cathedral in Alba Iulia. and religion), reports Agerpres. On this occasion, the Orthodox Archbishop of Alba-Iulia Irineu celebrated the Te Deum service.

Addressing this cultural and educational event, Archbishop Irineu noted that, in addition to the accumulation of knowledge, both faith in God and the formation of moral character are very useful in the Romanian school.

“In our postmodern society, marked by secularizing tendencies and religious indifference, we are faced with a culture of worthlessness and a spirituality devoid of evangelical truth. Thus, more and more Christians fall prey to hedonism, materialism, atheism, selfishness, and indifference to their own kind. Therefore, I believe that in Romanian school, in addition to the accumulation of knowledge, both faith in God and the formation of moral character are very useful. A person cannot be truly cultural and spiritual if he does not put Christ at the head of his existence and formation,” said the Archbishop of Alba-Iulia.

What is the Interdisciplinary Olympiad in Romanian Language and Literature and Religion

In addition to the participating students and teachers, the ceremony was attended by Vasile Timis – inspector general of the Ministry of National Education, priest Giorgii Zambore – patriarchal inspector of the theological and educational sector of the Romanian Patriarchate, representatives of the county and local administration. .

The Olympiad itself takes place on Thursday and Friday at the Orthodox Theological Seminary of “St. Simeon Stefan” in Alba-Iulia. On Saturday, the award ceremony and the closing ceremony of the Olympiad will take place in the Student Culture Building in Alba Iulia.

The competition has an interdisciplinary and interfaith character, and the discipline itself contributes to the interference of the concepts of the Romanian language and literature and religion.

According to the organizers, the Olympiad is a competition of excellence aimed at high school students who have the skills to document, read and interpret the message of literary text on sacred themes and non-literary text about the world, and have skills, inclinations and special interests in language disciplines, Romanian literature and religion .