In the contemporary Romanian theological landscape, the figure of Bishop Ignatie stands out in a unique way, through the courageous manner in which he participates in the debate of ideas that society incessantly delivers to the public sphere, and through the firmness and competence of his discourse, which does not elude moral crises and all kinds of deviations that cause damage to the Church's image.
Spandugino & Horeb Publishing House offers us a new volume signed by His Eminence Ignatie Trif: "The Present Seen Through Stained Glass", a volume that compiles texts "through which His Eminence engaged with the public sphere" in response to challenges that, in a way, awaited the Church's answer, even if articulated through one of its representatives.
Sever Voinescu's preface elucidates for us why the endeavor undertaken by His Eminence through his new book is so important: "The texts impress the faithful, especially because they see how the bishop, emerging from the Church, does not distance himself from it. Moreover, he carries our Church with him onto the streets of our time. We thus have the answers of an enlightened hierarch to the challenges of his century. Formulated with responsibility and love of Christ, as veritable benchmarks for a possible Christian response articulated in Romania in 2026, the texts of this book show us His Eminence Ignatie as an elegant and firm intellectual." The present volume complements, in a way, the research directions with which His Eminence has accustomed us over the years, through the way he speaks to us about attention from the perspective of the church-going Christian.
Simone Weil was of the opinion that attention produces the light that makes seeing possible. Being attentive to the needs of others becomes an ethos par excellence.
Through his books, His Eminence proposes an ethics of attention, whether we speak of "The Malady of Ideology and the Therapy of Truth", of the dialogues with Cristian Pătrășconiu from "The Bread and Light of Life", or of the monumental work "Saint Gregory Palamas and the Theology of Uncreated Energies", a rigorous study of the Hesychast controversy that presents the extended legacy of its works. There is a vocation of testimony in the work of His Eminence, a vocation that one glimpses in the highly inspired commentaries on the texts of Saint Gregory Palamas. I do not believe I am exaggerating when I state that the entire body of work by His Eminence to date is watched over by the thought of Saint Gregory Palamas.
Aware that the entire essence of theology is indebted to the way life and mystery intertwine, His Eminence Ignatie invites us, through each book, following the Palamite model, to experience and life in relationship with God.
You would be tempted to believe, reading his books, that you are in the presence of a formidable polemicist, but returning to the inspiration of Saint Gregory, you will understand Bishop Ignatie's legacy differently. It does not lie under the sign of polemics, but under the sign of restoring the connection between experience and the understanding of God, which dispels the darkness of passions and unbelief, and reveals the author as a confessor of faith, following the saint's model, whose theology we discover in the form of "authenticity and the possibility of man's deification".
This seems to be the core intent of the book that the bishop offers us as assumed testimonies: rethinking faith in modernity, with the naturalness of the Christian who is not afraid of the challenges of the time he traverses, but finds "a good answer" to the signs of the times.
The Filter Through Which You See the Light
What makes it so special in theological literature, Sever Voinescu also insightfully notes, is the fact that, in reality, "the present book is the inner countenance of His Eminence. Through snapshots organized into three parts, His Eminence Ignatie tells us who he is, who he is not, and what he hopes for. The coherence of this self-portrait is ensured, as if by a foundation of the most performant concrete, by faith in Jesus Christ and by the consciousness of duty towards the Church which he serves with such worthiness".
To have this inner countenance, one needs to assume a type of vulnerability, the fruit of lucid and natural humility, which is quite rarely received in the ecclesiastical environment, but fundamental in the encounter with the Church Fathers.
Even from the title, His Eminence invites us to reflection – it's his way of putting us on guard. Why would we need to see the present through stained glass? So as not to abandon the filter through which you see the Light. Stained glass is one of the few art forms that cannot be understood without light: it doesn't reflect light, but filters it, transforming it into a constitutive element of the work.
The title seems a metaphor for the human condition – it is an invitation to filter the present towards Light, to see the manifestation of God's Creation through the filter of today's light. The Christian is called to partake of Light by filtering the signs of the times, and the beauty of their life emerges precisely from this filtering. Without light, stained glass remains a simple glass composition, but through light, it becomes an aesthetic, symbolic, and spiritual experience.
Without the Light of Christ, the Christian's life is devoid of transcendence and meaningless. His Eminence suggests through the title that every vision is already an interpretation and that we need a good filter of the Light so as not to lose the Way.
The bishop's triptych proposes three registers for filtering the Light, suggestively titled: Aevum,Responsum and Professio, where we receive the way His Eminence expressed himself publicly on various occasions, articulating a unified whole in the diversity of issues addressed through communion with the teaching of Christ.
I always say that a committed Christian is also guided through the informational thicket with which they are assailed. This book is an example of civic and theological clarity for those seeking answers to the dilemmas of our times.
The first part groups, under Aevum, several speeches and articles of historical and national character. In a time of all "nationalisms," the way His Eminence relates to love of country and patriotism should become a benchmark for us "to cultivate value and heal ourselves from folly," because the way we express our patriotism is not substantiated either in our personal lives or in public life, the author warns us.
The X-ray he performs on communism and its effects to this day reveals a lucid and thoroughly informed spirit regarding the horrors that mutilated the character of Romanian society, which has not recovered from its agony even thirty years after the December 1989 Revolution. The model of the anti-communist fighter Monica Lovinescu, which the author outlines, is most welcome. Through her "diagnostic" voice, she had the courage to call evil by its name, at the risk of losing her life. A lesson in character that we no longer embrace in today's so-called democracy.
The recovery of "the evangelical countenance of Christ" in our lives
The second register of the book, Responsum, contains some "weighty" texts that should be read in every school of theology, as a model of response to the various challenges of modernity. How can one not pay attention to the bishop's remark: "Unfortunately, some want to transform the Church merely into an NGO, as a provider of social, cultural services, or civic attitudes, reducing its mission to the mundane sphere, whereas its purpose is to make us aware of the verticality of our transcendence. The Church is the mystical Body of Christ in humanity, which is perpetuated through the Liturgy, seconded by philanthropy."
This would be the direction that even the servants of the altars, "from bishop to peasant," should not forget.
The 'weighty' texts are necessary and pertinent answers, I would even say expected, especially from a hierarch of the Church, to the slanderous transgressions against the Orthodox Church, whether we are talking about Cristian Tudor Popescu or Olivier Schmitt. I don't hide that I would have been extremely interested to read a commentary on Gabriel Liiceanu's book 'My Jesus', perhaps another facet of a particularly interesting commentary that Bishop Mihai Frățilă provides in one of his essay books.
Nor do I overlook the important articles 'On Abortion' and 'Woman as a Gift…', which in a way echo the adage of the Lebanese bishop George Khodr: 'Tell me what you think about women, and I'll tell you who you are.'
The triptych concludes with the third register, Professio, in which His Grace gathers several lectures, interviews, and cultural inquiries, through which he makes known his eminently theological and cultural vision through his own life. In this regard, I would recommend 'Bilbor, Alba Iulia, and Athens – the 'great academy' of my existence,' as an example to understand how the criterion of faith's authenticity is validated through fidelity to one's roots, because 'home' is 'the matrix of love and the software of fullness,' to quote another text that makes you ponder.
There would be much to detail in this section as well, but I leave the reader the joy of discovering the diversity of themes for themselves. From the catechism for young people to pastoral realism, His Grace guides us through the world of his convictions in an elegant and elevated language, supported by numerous bibliographic references, which are all sources for further reading.
I would compare Bishop Ignatie's 'stained glass windows' with Marc Chagall's stained glass windows at Reims Cathedral. If the painter illustrates there the continuity of sacred art in the modern era, emphasizing color, transparency, and the sensory experience of light, His Grace invites us to bear fruit in the light of deeds, being attentive to the signs of the times, by recovering the 'evangelical image of Christ' from our lives.
Rev. Cristian Muntean
The photo of His Grace Ignatie was taken by Basilica News Agency