"In all the countries of Eastern Europe, we've seen it isn't enough to make the sign of the cross and show piety on paper. Being Christian means making choices in our daily lives, as these martyr stories clearly show."

"The Mother of God always accompanies us and insofar as we recognize ourselves as children of her tears, to that extent our hearts are opened to the mystery of God's love. Our pilgrimage begins in our soul, where communion with God begins. In the depths of our souls, we can always say YES to God and His promise will be fulfilled with each of us."

"Symbolic theology shows what immense perspectives may be opened, starting from the Scripture in the liturgy, to make our faith more profound, to transform our life into a daily liturgy and to recover, ourselves, the face of the icon by whom we were created."

"One has to trust that God loves you. He does not choose you because you are intelligent, beautiful or have other human qualities; He chooses you because he loves you and you have to trust in His love and I think this is the main principle and a very important thing for a bishop."

"Although Communism collapsed 14 years ago and although we have followed all of the requirements to recover our property, the Romanian state is not the least concerned with resolving the problem. Our Church continues to face pressure and discrimination in administrative matters both at the state and local levels. We suffer intimidation, violence and injustice."

"A serious examination of conscience requires that we recognize that there are times in the life of each Christian when one's faith is seriously and urgently challenged by the events taking place around him or her. Like it or not, these challenges show us just how seriously—or not—we are living our baptismal commitment to Christ. Most of us, most of the time, would prefer to keep our heads in the sand, ostrich-like, than to face truths about ourselves. This is why the Church has found it so vitally necessary to have seasons, such as Lent, during which we must pull our heads out of the sand and take a good, hard look at the world around us and how we are living in it."