-Caveat Lector-
>From Irish Times
Monday, May 10, 1999
Romanians told to
heal rift with Orthodoxy
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>From Kieran Cooke, in Bucharest
NICOLAE Ceausescu, the former Communist dictator of Romania
overthrown in a violent revolt 10 years ago, had a passion for
grandiose building projects.
In the centre of Bucharest, Ceaucsescu ordered the construction
of what is one of the world's biggest buildings, a lavishly
decorated palace with more than 1,000 rooms.
In the shadow of this gigantic Communist monument, the fiercely
anti-communist Pope John Paul II said Mass yesterday evening on
the final stage of a three-day visit to Romania.
More than 200,000 people, one of the biggest crowds seen in
Romania for several years, had gathered in hot spring sunshine
to attend. Many had journeyed for several hours from Romania's
Catholic heartlands of Transylvania, in central Romania, and
Moldova in the north-east of the country.
While the Pope's trip to Romania was a relatively subdued affair
in comparison with many papal tours, it was seen by Rome as a
vital bridge-building exercise with the Orthodox Church.
Romania's Orthodox Church is the world's second-biggest after
Russia. The Pope's trip marks the first time a pontiff has paid
an official visit to a country where the majority are Orthodox.
Pope John Paul, who impressed the crowds by speaking in Romanian
at all his public engagements, talked of the need for arguments
between Rome and the world of Orthodoxy to be resolved.
"These ancient wounds must be healed," he said. Patriarch
Teoctist, the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, accompanied
the pontiff on a drive through the capital.
The two were in attendance at each other's services, singing
their blessings to the crowds like a well practised duet.
The Romanians, though strongly influenced by their Slav
neighbours, are primarily Latin in their language and character.
Patriarch Teoctist is reported to have joked with the Pope about
the strange paradox of a trip in which a Slav pope came to meet
a Latin patriarch.
Romania, racked by economic problems with rising unemployment
and much of its infrastructure in serous decline, is desperate
for foreign investment. The Pope's visit was seen as a way of
showing that the country is opening up to the world. Romania's
economic problems have been exacerbated by the Yugoslav
conflict. One of the country's main trade routes, the Danube,
has been blocked as a result of NATO's bombing campaign.
However, Bucharest, which has made EU and NATO membership key
objectives of its foreign policy, is allowing NATO aircraft to
use its air space.
The Pope and the Orthodox patriarch issued a joint declaration
calling on all sides in the conflict to put down their arms and
stressing the dangers of war in the Balkans region. But for all
the bonhomie between the two church leaders, there are still
tensions between Rome and the Orthodox Church.
Only about 6 per cent of Romania's 23 million people are
Catholics. These include about 250,000 who are Greek Catholics,
a community that broke away from Orthodoxy in the 17th century.
The Greek Catholics recognise the jurisdiction of Rome but
follow many Orthodox practices, including allowing priests to
marry. The Greek Catholics were suppressed during the years of
Communist rule: priests and bishops were tortured and imprisoned
and church property was confiscated. Some Greek Catholics accuse
the Orthodox Church of having collaborated with the Communists
and arguments over the return of confiscated Greek Catholic
properties are only now being addressed.
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
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A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
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