Romania's costly passion for building churches
By Tessa Dunlop BBC News, Romania

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23420668


Romania is in the middle of a church-building boom, with some 10 new places of worship completed every month, and one vast cathedral slowly taking shape. But some Romanians take issue with the expense, in one of Europe's poorest countries - and particularly the use of funds from the public purse.

To travel across the north of Romania from Suceava to Maramures is to be bamboozled by exquisite religious eye candy.

Everywhere you look there are churches - big, small, medieval, brand new, tin-roofed, wooden, painted - each has its own appeal.

The vast majority of the population - nearly 90% - are Orthodox, and in the wake of Ceausescu's downfall the Church has capitalised on its pre-eminent position in the country, building new churches at a rate of one every three days, including an enormous cathedral currently under construction in the centre of Bucharest.

On completion, the plan is that the Cathedral for the People's Salvation will be the tallest religious building in south-eastern Europe and tower over its immediate neighbour - ex-Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's enormous Palace of the People.
Bucharest cathedral under construction

Romania is undoubtedly a very spiritual country, with religious rituals, icons and celebrations forming the fabric of many people's lives - on the Saints' Day of Constantin and Elena in Maramures I witnessed the congregation spill out of two local churches on to the surrounding hillside.

However questions are increasingly being asked about the funding of the new cathedral and the Orthodox Church more generally, much of which comes from the cash-strapped state.
Campaigner against cathedral with poster reading: 'Not from my taxes' The cathedral will eventually be 125m tall

A leading critic is the flamboyant Member of Parliament and head of the Green Party, Remus Cernea. "In Romania we have a big problem between church and state," he says. "My view is that if the church wants to build something it's OK until the money for the building of this church is the money of the people, of the state - public funds."

Recipient of an IMF bailout in 2009 and one of the poorest countries in the EU, Romania gives millions of euros to the Orthodox Church every year.

From central government funds the church receives more than 100 million euros for priests' salaries, and many more millions for the construction and renovation of church buildings.

Funds also flow in from local councils, city mayors, state companies and the parishioners themselves - though I found no-one who could confirm exactly how much money the Orthodox Church receives each year in total.

Remus, who is proposing a bill to change the way the church is funded, believes the close financial relationship between church and state is part of a bigger problem.

"In many cases politicians give public funds to churches and in exchange the priests support them in electoral campaigns. Often you see the construction companies who build the churches owned by people who are very close to the politicians. So it's a kind of circle of money," he says.

Both the current growth of the church in Romania and the Orthodox hierarchy's close relationship with the political classes are partly explained by the punitive effects of Ceausescu's extreme regime when dozens of historic churches were destroyed and many Orthodox leaders collaborated with the communists in order to survive.

"Many people were simply forced out of religion during communist times, so in a sense it was natural to return," says Liviu Andreescu, a scholar of church-state relations.
Restoration under way in 2009 on the church of the Mogosoaia Palace The church is restored, while a statue of Lenin is trampled underfoot (Mogosoaia Palace, 2009)

The collaboration between many church leaders and the communists helped perpetuate "the strong sense of co-operation between church and state that we see today, with many religious activities funded by the state", he argues.

Romania's Minister of Religious Affairs, Victor Opaschi, concedes that there is a close working relationship between the church and politicians during electoral campaigns, and that this is "not a good thing".

But he says there are outstanding historic problems. "The communists took from the church and it lost nearly all its property," he says. "Now the state is trying to compensate for this by giving back a small proportion of what it has taken."

Priests also receive money from their congregations, often entering parishioners' houses to ask for donations.

When Orthodox priest Casian Pandelica refused a bishop's request to raise 50,000 euros for church refurbishment from his 800-strong parish in the village of Reviga, a stand-off ensued, culminating in an aggressive dawn police raid that he believes was instigated by the church hierarchy.

Expelled from the Orthodox Church but supported by his local community, he now holds services in a makeshift chapel.

Inevitably perhaps, Pandelica is deeply suspicious of the church's financial motivations, says it does little good work in the community and even suspects church leaders of corruption.

In remote Moldavia, famous for its exquisite painted monasteries, I met the only member of the Orthodox hierarchy who would speak to me, Archbishop Pimen.

An old man with wise blue eyes and a twinkly smile Pimen is renowned throughout Romania for his spirituality.

He admits that "not all priests give as much as they should" but denies that the church does too little work in the community. "If all the money used for new churches was given to poor people would it cover their needs?" he asks. "We have an absolute need for new churches and they are being built for very little money."

However, as the Patriarch asks for yet more money for the new cathedral, increasing numbers believe that the cost of church construction is too high.

Maramures villagers and Bucharest's youth differ sharply over the church

Nearly all the young people I spoke to, especially in the capital Bucharest were not regular churchgoers, and felt the money would be better spent elsewhere.

But for the time being, the scene in Maramures on the Saints' Day of Constantin and Elena is a reminder that the Orthodox religion in Romania remains a vital component of many people's lives. Its pre-eminent position in society is undeniable.

Parishioner Elena, who was celebrating her name day in traditional costume, invited me back to her modest family home where icons hung in every corner.

"We're a religious people - we're a people who believe," she says. "We don't lose our traditions and our habits. That is how it is here.

God bless Romania and give them the strength to stand up to the enemies from within and the foreign agents who will try their best to sabotage.  

I know they are Rumanian Orthodox so they are in schism, technically.  Everything else is considered valid.  

The post-Vatican II popes would try to suppress this urge to restore their faith by encouraging the government to build soup kitchens and abortion clinics.  The abortion clinics is encouraged on the sly.  

What I would like to know is when they will return the Catholic property that was confiscated by the communist government. They have also passed laws that are inimical to Catholic intrests there.  

Which laws are inimical to Catholic interests?  

Here is more information on Romania and churches;
A group of 20 U.S. lawmakers is pushing the State department to encourage Romania's government to return property confiscated from minority religious groups under the former communist regime.

After World War II, the Romanian Catholic Church “wasn’t allowed their buildings – religious objects were seized: it’s about time to make things right,” U.S. Congressman Andy hαɾɾιs (R-Md.) told CNA on Aug. 15.

“That’s our hope, that the Romanian government does reparations for what’s been seized, and makes things right.”

hαɾɾιs authored a letter, signed by a bi-partisan group of 12 Republicans and seven Democrats, asking the U.S. Department of State to “vigorously engage the Romanian government to end the travesty of justice which it has perpetuated by failing to fully restitute properties illegally confiscated from religious denominations after 1945.”

Romania was behind the Iron Curtain following World War II, and in 1948 the country's communist government forcibly dissolved the Romanian Catholic Church, which is a Byzantine – or Greek – rite Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. It is headed by the Major Archbishop of Fagaras and Alba Iulia, Cardinal Lucian Muresan.

When the Church was dissolved, its properties were given to the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The communist party’s practice of confiscating church properties in Romania primarily affected Romanian Catholics, but properties of the Hungarian Reform, Lutherans and Unitarians were also seized. Jєωιѕн properties were also confiscated.

Some 86 percent of Romanians are Orthodox, and five percent are Roman Catholic. Romanian Catholics account for only one percent of the country's population.

After the communist regime fell in 1989, the Romanian government continued to deny Romanian Catholics the use of their churches, and until 2004 even prohibited them from being able to file lawsuits to win the churches back.

According to the Department of State’s 2012 International Religious Freedom Report, many lawsuits since 2004 have been delayed in court, and there have been moves in the Romanian parliament to stop restitution processes that would return the properties to their original owners.

The State department has repeatedly called the Romanian government’s failure to transfer properties back to the Romanian Catholic Church a “significant problem.”

“The lack of progress on restitution of … churches transferred by the former communist government to the Orthodox Church in 1948 remained a significant problem,” its latest report on international religious freedom stated.

The U.S. Congress adopted a resolution in 2005 calling for the restitution of religious properties in Romania.

The letter authored by hαɾɾιs noted that “unfortunately, the Romanian response has been a pattern of disregard, delay, obfuscation and hindrance.”

It also noted several offenses by the Romanian government against religious freedom which happened in 2013 alone.

Particular attention was given to an April 17 law which “delays and complicates restitution” and an April 23 law “which deliberately omitted return of archival materials” which were seized from religious minorities in 1947.

“Rep. Chris Smith has cited the thousands of claims received by the European Court of Human Rights in Romanian property matters,” it added.

The State department issued a letter in response, signed by acting assistant secretary Thomas B. Gibbons, who said that property restitution “is an Administration priority that we have long raised with Romania and other European partners.”

“Advocating for the rights of Romania’s religious and ethnic minorities, including the rights of the Jєωιѕн, Hungarian, Greek-Catholic and Roma communities, is a key priority of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest.”

The Romanian Greek-Catholic Association, a California-based advocacy group for Romanian Catholics, thanked the members of Congress who sent the letter to the State department, and voiced hope that the initiative will lead to a respect for “basic human rights” in the country.

“Their initiative provided hope for so many Catholics in Romania who are striving to have their human rights respected and be able to worship freely and without constraint in their own churches,” said Father Chris Terhes, president of the association and a priest of the Romanian Eparchy of St. George's in Canton.

He called on lawmakers to continue demanding that Romanian officials “restitute the properties confiscated under the communist regime, which would close a sad chapter of the Romanian history and help the country evolve to a functional democracy.”

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/lawmakers-call-for-return-of-property-to-romanian-catholics/