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The situation of the church in Romania
During the past year there have been reports of a number of restrictions to the religious freedom of some minority groups, which have complained of intervention by government officials to prevent their proselytising, and interfere with their religious worship.
The government treats groups that are legally recognised very differently from those that are not; obtaining registration and recognition of their legal status continue to pose problems for the numerically smaller groups.
It is for this reason that a number of international organisations, NGOs and minority religious groups have criticised the law on religious freedom which was approved in December 2006 and has been in force since January 2007, since they claim that it tends to “institutionalise” discrimination.
There are only eighteen officially recognised religious groups, although an official register does not yet exist.
Still unresolved is the problem of the recovery of properties belonging to the Eastern-rite (Greek-Catholic) Church, confiscated in 1948 by the Communist regime and transferred to the Romanian Orthodox Church, which today refuses to return them. The Greek-Catholic Church was the only Church subject to confiscation of this kind during that period.
There have also been reports of episodes involving the Orthodox Church showing hostility towards non-Orthodox Christian denominations and criticising proselytism by Protestants and other religious groups.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have also complained of discrimination against them in Sighisoara where, without offering any valid reasons, the authorities are preventing them from constructing buildings for religious use. The Greek-Catholic Church has reported a similar incident in Sapinta.
On the other hand, according to the religious communities, a number of bureaucratic issues have improved in the course of the year. For example, some minority groups have reported encountering no difficulties in obtaining permission to use public halls for their gatherings.
Similarly, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Baptist Church have reported no problems in obtaining visas for their missionaries, in contrast to the previous period.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints however has reported problems of this kind.
Another unresolved issue is that of pastoral ministry to the Armed Forces. The only chaplains currently are Orthodox priests, with the exception of one representative of the Catholic Church and one from the Evangelical Alliance (Baptist Church). This situation is perceived as discriminatory by the Greek-Catholic and Reformed Churches. The Greek-Catholics report that their request for a representative among the military clergy was rejected by the Ministry of Defence in March 2008.
On 12th February 2009 L’Osservatore Romano published an interview with Archbishop Ioan Robu of Bucharest, the president of the Romanian Episcopal Conference, in which he described the conditions faced by the Catholic Church in Romania.
Bishop Robu spoke with pride of the situation of harmonious coexistence among the different Catholic communities, which though speaking a multitude of languages “[…] share the Catholic communion, experiencing it following a plurality of ecclesial traditions, Byzantine, Latin and Armenian. We really do experience Catholicism in its plurality.”
He also emphasised the urgency for ecumenical dialogue, avoiding all polemics and manifesting instead the need to convey to the faithful those elements of communion between Catholics and Orthodox on the level of doctrine, spirituality and daily life.
He then recalled the host of martyrs of the Catholic Church in Romania, observing that it was partly thanks to the shedding of their blood, that even in the darkest years of the Communist regime, faith had never completely vanished from Romanian society.
Finally he spoke of the fundamental role played by those Romanian priests called to be missionaries to their compatriots throughout Europe.
On 24th and 25th August 2009, L’Osservatore Romano reported on a request presented by the Orthodox Patriarch Daniel to the Romanian President Traian Basescu. In an open letter the bishop asked for religious instruction to be made a compulsory subject in Romanian secondary schools. He emphasised that free access to religious education is explicitly envisaged by the Constitution, contrary to what was stated in a proposal by the Presidential Commission for the Analysis and Formulation of Educational Policies, which asserts that religion is not a compulsory subject and has no official status.
How you can help
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports several projects in Romania. You can support these projects by donating via their national offices.
Below you can find one or more finished projects ACN supported in the past.
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"In view of the situation and the historical circumstances, the Greek Catholic Church in Tirgu Mures holds a particular position. We beg you to support this project if it is at all possible." So writes Archbishop Lucian Muresan, Major Archbishop of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia. Read more >>
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On 25 December 1989 the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was brought before a military tribunal and summarily executed, together with his wife. Shortly before this, over 1000 people had lost their lives demonstrating for freedom and democracy. But finally, as throughout the former Eastern Bloc, the Communist regime fell here too. Read more >>
Statistics
Population: 21.19 Million
Christian Population: 20.87 Million
Religious statistics:
Christians: 98.5%
Other: 1.5%
Romania: The legacy of Catholic persecution (audio)
Romania: The persecution of the Greek Catholic church
Romania - Towards the Sun
Romania: The legacy of Catholic persecution