Senseless-Systematic Destruction of Greek Catholic Property in Romania

NOTE: Be sure to read the comments for this article,  which serve to open the situation to more than one perspective.

The homepage of the Romanian Greek Catholic Association has a photo of this parish church in Sapanta (above) that does not at all appear as though it is being renovated.   With due respect, if my home were renovated in like manner I'd be living out in the yard very soon.

The destruction of confiscated Romanian Catholic parish churches in Romania is an ongoing tragedy of familial proportions.  Sadly these instances are occurring in the immediate moment.  They are not forty or sixty years old, and there is no indication that their frequency is declining.   A website in English highlights this one case out of many:

"The Romanian Greek-Catholic Community is facing with a cultural and religious wipe-out: the Greek-Catholic churches are systematically destroyed by the Orthodox Church representatives, whose actions are supported and accepted by the Romanian authorities, the Romanian Greek-Catholic Association accuses in a letter addressed to Hillary Clinton, the US state secretary.   

Romanian Greek-Catholic Association, Inc. is a non-for-profit association registered in the United States of America, aiming to support the Greek-Catholic communities.  

Head of the association priest Cristian Terhes argues that "the citizens are harassed and threatened because they declare themselves Greek-Catholic; the rights and freedoms of the Greek-Catholics are systematically infringed, without the State interfering".

The quoted letter draws attention upon the situation of the Geek-Catholic church next to the Merry Cemetery from Sapanta, Maramures (North Romania, Transylvania) and upon the fact that "the Romanian state institutions could not find the time for the last two weeks to enforce a court decision that specifically demands an end to the demolishing and building actions".

"Since the abolition of Communism in 1989, the Romanian authorities haven’t done anything to return the assets confiscated by the communists to their rightful owners", the association claims. The organisation requests the State Department to reintroduce "the situation of violating the human rights and the civil rights in case of the Romanian Greek-Catholic community" on the discussions agenda that the US politicians will have with Romanian officials in the future.  

All documents referring to the situation in Sapanta can be downloaded from the following address: Romanian Orthodox Church is destroying the "Merry Cemetrey” in Sapanta."

In 1948 the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic was outlawed, and all its assets, including churches, were handed over to the Orthodox church. After the fall of the Communist regime, the Greek Catholics requested that their churches be returned, but so far only 16 of the 2600 claimed churches have been returned. There are reports that several old Greek Catholic churches were demolished while under the administration of the Orthodox Church.  The map of Romania here shows the areas in Romania were there is a significant number of Romanian Catholics.  Clicking on the image will allow you to enlarge the image so that you can read the legend in the upper right hand corner.

 In a CNEWA [Catholic Near East Welfare Association] article, author Ronald Roberson says:

"After 41 years underground, the fortunes of the Greek Catholic Church in Romania changed dramatically after the Ceausescu regime was overthrown in December 1989. On January 2, 1990, the 1948 decree which dissolved the church was abrogated. Greek Catholics began to worship openly again, and three secretly ordained bishops emerged from hiding. On March 14, 1990, Pope John Paul II reestablished the hierarchy of the church by appointing bishops for all five dioceses. 

Unfortunately the reemergence of the Greek Catholic Church was accompanied by a confrontation with the Romanian Orthodox Church over the restitution of church buildings. The Catholics insisted that all property be returned as a matter of justice, while the Orthodox held that any transfer of property must take into account the present pastoral needs of both communities. In 1998 a bilateral commission between the Orthodox and Greek Catholics was established to resolve property issues, but progress was slow and only 16 churches were returned as a result of its work. It has practically ceased activity since 2004. Altogether less than 200 former Greek Catholic churches had been returned by 2006, many of them in the Banat region where Orthodox Metropolitan Nicolae was more willing to allow the return of Greek Catholic property. More than 200 worshipping communities are still without a church and compelled to meet in public places. In the meantime the Greek Catholic Church has reduced its property claims from an initial list of 2,600 to less than 300."

The case of Romania is one of particular interest to me,  and the reasons for that interest will become more apparent during the lifetime of the blog.  I can say in brief that Father Dimitru Staniloae, out of all of the contemporary Orthodox fathers,  has had a significant impact over the decades, on my own personal openness to Orthodox spirituality and doctrinal teachings.  So in that way I have a sense of being personally invested in what happens between Romanian Orthodox and Romanian Catholics in Romania.

Senseless-Systematic Destruction of Greek Catholic Property in Romania