The 2012 International Religious Freedom Report about Romania
was released on May 20, 2013 in Washington, DC. Most of the violations of religious
freedom in Romania are against the Greek-Catholic community in the
country. For an easier read, all the sections from the report related
to the Greek-Catholic community were highlighted in yellow.
The original version of the report can be accessed here: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208358#wrapper
International Religious Freedom Report for 2012
Romania
Executive Summary
The constitution and other laws
and policies protect religious freedom and, in practice, the government
generally respected religious freedom. The trend in the government’s
respect for religious freedom did not change significantly during the
year. Local authorities at times failed to respond to complaints by
minority religious groups. The lack of progress on restitution of Greek
Catholic churches transferred by the former communist government to the
Orthodox Church in 1948 remained a significant problem.
There
were reports of societal discrimination based on religious affiliation,
belief, or practice. There were cases in which some Orthodox clergy
showed hostility toward non-Orthodox church religious groups, criticized
their proselytizing activities, and denied them access to cemeteries.
The
U.S. ambassador and embassy representatives met with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs to raise
concerns about the government’s failure to ensure the full restitution
of religious properties seized by former fascist and communist regimes.
Embassy representatives met with Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, and Greek
Catholic leaders and communities. Embassy officials also encouraged the
Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches to resume dialogue leading to
reconciliation and continued to support the government’s efforts to
fully acknowledge the country’s role in the Holocaust.
Section I. Religious Demography
According
to the 2011 census, the population is 19 million. Orthodox adherents
constitute 86 percent of the population, Roman Catholics 4 to 6 percent,
and Greek Catholics less than 1 percent. According to the Greek
Catholic Church and media reports, irregularities by census takers
artificially increased the number of Orthodox believers to the detriment
of other religious groups. Other religious groups include Protestants,
Jews, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Bahais, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Zen Buddhists, and members of the Family
(God’s Children), the Unification Church, and the Society for Krishna
Consciousness.
Some religious groups are concentrated in
particular regions. Old Rite Russian Christians are mainly located in
Moldavia and Dobrogea. Most Muslims live in the southeast around
Constanta. Most Greek Catholics reside in Transylvania. Protestants and
Roman Catholics reside primarily in Transylvania. Orthodox and Greek
Catholic ethnic Ukrainians live mostly in the north. Orthodox ethnic
Serbs are primarily in Banat. Members of the Armenian Church are
concentrated in Moldavia and the south. Virtually all members of the
Protestant Reformed, Roman Catholic, Unitarian, and Lutheran churches
from Transylvania are ethnic Hungarians. Approximately half of the
Jewish population is in Bucharest.
According to an April
survey conducted by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy,
14 percent of respondents attend church services several times a week,
48 percent several times a month, 16 percent several times a year, and
17 percent only on important religious feasts.
Section II. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The
constitution and other laws and policies protect religious freedom.
However, the government’s registration and recognition requirements
impose restrictions on minority religious groups.
The law
establishes a three-tier system of recognition: grupari religioase
(religious groups that are not legal entities), religious associations,
and religions.
Grupari religioase, as defined by the law, are
groups of persons who share the same beliefs but do not receive tax
exemptions or support from the state.
Religious associations
are legal entities that do not receive government funding, must be
registered as such in a religious association registry, and receive only
limited tax exemptions. The section of the religion law on tax
exemptions engenders some confusion, because it confers tax exemptions
“according to the fiscal code.” However, the fiscal code does not
address the issue of tax exemptions for religious associations. Since
the implementation of the 2006 religion law, 18 religious groups have
received approval from the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs to
register as religious associations.
To register, religious
associations must have 300 citizen members and must submit members’
personal data. In contrast, the membership requirement for registration
of any other type of association is only three members. Religious
associations are able to receive “religion” status only after 12 years
of continuous activity and a minimum membership of 0.1 percent of the
population (approximately 19,000 persons).
The law recognizes
18 religious groups as religions: the Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox
Serb Bishopric of Timisoara, Roman Catholic Church, Greek Catholic
Church, Old Rite Russian Christian (Orthodox) Church, Reformed
(Protestant) Church, Christian Evangelical Church, Romanian Evangelical
Church, Evangelical Augustinian Church, Lutheran Evangelical Church,
Unitarian Church, Baptist Church, Pentecostal Church, Seventh-day
Adventist Church, Armenian Church, Judaism, Islam, and Jehovah’s
Witnesses. Groups recognized as religions under the law are eligible for
state support based on their proportional representation in the census.
They have the right to establish schools, teach religion classes in
public schools, receive government funds to build places of worship,
partially pay clergy salaries with state funds, broadcast religious
programming on radio and television, apply for broadcasting licenses for
denominational frequencies, own cemeteries, and receive tax-exempt
status.
Under the religion law, state-provided funding is
determined by the number of adherents of each recognized religious
community reported in the most recent census and “the religion’s actual
needs,” a vague provision leaving room for interpretation. The Romanian
Orthodox Church receives the majority of these funds.
The law
entitles the 18 recognized religions to bury, without restriction, their
deceased members in cemeteries belonging to other religious groups in
localities where they do not have cemeteries of their own and there is
no public cemetery.
Ministry of Justice regulations provide
for unrestricted access by recognized religions and religious
associations to any type of detention facilities, even if their
assistance is not requested specifically. The regulations also prohibit
interference by the management of penitentiaries with religious programs
and forbid the presence of officials at meetings between
representatives of religious groups and prisoners. By statute, prison
representatives in charge of religious assistance may not be priests or
representatives of any religious community.
The government permits recognized religions and religious associations to distribute religious publications.
The law allows clergy from recognized religious groups to minister to military personnel.
Legislation combating anti-Semitism bans fascist, racist, and xenophobic organizations.
Public
schools conduct religious instruction. To be excused from religion
classes, students must submit requests in writing. The 18 recognized
religions are entitled to hold religion classes in public schools. The
law entitles students to attend religion classes in their faith
irrespective of their number. The instruction is based on the religious
affiliation of the students’ parents. The constitution and the law allow
the establishment of state subsidized educational institutions
administered by recognized religions.
The law provides for
long-stay visas for persons conducting religious activities. Visa
requirements include approval by the State Secretariat for Religious
Affairs and submission of evidence that applicants represent legally
established religious organizations. Visas can be extended up to five
years.
The government does not permit unrecognized groups to engage in profit-making activities.
The
law provides for the restitution of religious properties (and
properties belonging to ethnic communities, including the Jewish
community, which is defined as such) confiscated between 1940 and 1989.
However, the law does not address the return of Greek Catholic churches
confiscated by the former communist government and transferred to the
Orthodox Church in 1948. A separate law permits the Greek Catholic
Church to pursue court action when attempts to obtain restitution of its
churches through dialogue with the Orthodox Church are unsuccessful,
but it does not automatically restitute them.
The government is a member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research.
The
government observes the following religious holidays as national
holidays: Christmas, Orthodox Easter, Pentecost Monday, the Assumption
of Mary, and the feast of Saint Andrew. Members of other recognized
Christian religious groups celebrating Easter on a different date are
entitled to an additional holiday.
Government Practices
There were no reports of abuses of religious freedom.
Some
minority religious groups reported that local authorities did not grant
construction permits for places of worship, although they had no legal
grounds for refusing. The Greek Catholic Church stated that local
authorities continued to refuse a construction permit, first requested
in 2003, for a new church in Sapinta in Maramures County. The Greek
Catholics attributed the delay to pressure from the Orthodox Church.
In
September the Secular Humanist Association (ASUR) urged the Education
Ministry to immediately withdraw from schools all religion textbooks
that promote intolerance and to take all necessary steps to prevent
religious indoctrination. The association expressed concern about the
persistent inclusion of such themes as sin, hell, and the devil in
religious textbooks for primary schools. ASUR also criticized automatic
enrollment in religion classes, and began a campaign to inform parents
and schools that parents had the right to withdraw children from
religion classes.
In reaction, the Ministry of Education
stated it would work with the Orthodox Church to replace religion
textbooks promoting intolerance for the school year 2013-2014. In
October, 26 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) sent a separate letter
to the education minister expressing concern about the content of
religion textbooks. The NGOs criticized the ministry’s declared
intention of cooperating only with the Orthodox Church in changing
religion curricula and textbooks, and asked for a public debate on these
issues.
Representatives of the Bahai Faith stated that an
11th grade Orthodox religion textbook containing defamatory content
continued to be used nationwide. The book described the emergence of the
Greek Catholic Church in the 18th century as the result of “Catholic
proselytizing” and calls Jehovah’s Witnesses, Bahais, and Mormons
“sects” that “represent a genuine threat to society.”
Unrecognized
groups such as the Bahai Faith criticized the minimum membership
requirement for registration as discriminatory. Bahai representatives
stated that the number of adherents of some recognized religions is much
lower than the 0.1 percent of the population the law requires.
In
many cases, minority religious groups were unable to gain restitution
of confiscated properties in accordance with the law. Courts delayed
hearings on many restitution lawsuits filed by the Greek Catholic
Church, and the lawsuits were often impeded by appeals or change of
venue requests from the Orthodox Church. Courts also ruled in some cases
in favor of the Orthodox Church on the grounds that it had more members
than the Greek Catholic Church. For example, on March 28 the Cluj Court
of Appeal overturned the ruling of a Baia Mare court to restitute the
former Greek Catholic Cathedral in Baia Mare.
Representatives
of the Greek Catholic Church asserted that the government did not
respond adequately to complaints regarding restitution of properties or
discrimination by local officials. In April the Greek Catholic Bishop of
Oradea wrote letters to the prime minister and the Orthodox Patriarch
complaining about local authorities’ failure to enforce a final and
irrevocable court ruling restituting a former Greek Catholic church in
Vasad. Because of interference by local Orthodox clergy, Greek Catholic
worshippers were unable to enter the church.
On September 25,
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the government to pay
compensatory damages and trial expenses totaling 25,000 euros ($33,008)
to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Alba Iulia for refusing for 14
years to enforce a government emergency order restituting a building
including the Batthyaneum library and an astronomical institute.
A
fund established by the government in 2005 to compensate claimants with
shares of stock for properties that could not be returned in kind
subsequently disbursed all of its shares, and was no longer a viable
source of restitution.
Claimants complained that some local
authorities opposed restitution or consistently delayed providing
information about claimed properties to the Special Restitution
Commission (SRC), thereby obstructing the restitution process despite
laws stipulating fines for such delays. Since 2003 the SRC received
14,814 applications for property restitution from recognized religious
groups and restituted 1,554 properties. However, the SRC returned only
135 of the 6,723 properties claimed by the Greek Catholic church, and in
some cases local authorities delayed enforcement or did not take any
steps to enforce decisions. Local authorities failed to enforce a 2010
final court ruling providing restitution of a Greek Catholic church in
Casva despite the church’s appeal to the president, prime minister,
interior minister, and the Mures County prefect.
In Pesceana, a
Greek Catholic community established in 2005 reported ongoing
discrimination and harassment. Community members stated that authorities
and local Orthodox priests continued to deny them access to the local
public cemetery despite a 2009 appellate court ruling that a Greek
Catholic priest could conduct religious services in the cemetery for
deceased Greek Catholics.
Falun Dafa Romania alleged that the
Chinese embassy pressured the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to instruct
the Ministry of Culture to reject any Falun Dafa applications.
Members
of the Seventh-day Adventist Church stated that some public educational
institutions, for example Ovidius University in Constanta, refused to
make accommodations for examinations of students who observed the
Sabbath on Friday evenings.
According to several religious
groups, military chaplains were exclusively Orthodox priests with the
exception of one Roman Catholic priest and one clergy member from the
Evangelical Alliance.
Some religious groups stated that
authorities generally allowed only the Orthodox Church an active role in
annual opening ceremonies at schools and other community events. Greek
Catholic priests from Transylvania stated they were never invited to
official local events.
Non-Orthodox religious groups faced
difficulty in accessing cemeteries and in obtaining land to establish
cemeteries. In Bucharest the local Islamic community did not receive
land promised by the government for the establishment of an Islamic
cemetery and construction of a mosque.
Mormons reported
discrimination through arbitrary and uneven application of laws,
ordinances, and regulations. Mormons also reported that police
protection was inadequate, citing a case in which attackers reportedly
held two missionaries at gun point in Bucharest but police refused to
charge the attackers with any crime. In another case in Deva, a Romanian
Mormon missionary called the police to report a violent disturbance in
the residence next door. When police arrived, instead of investigating
the reported violence, they demanded residence registration papers for
the Romanian citizen missionary.
Most mainstream politicians
continued to publicly denounce anti-Semitism and attempts to deny the
Holocaust. However, there were cases of anti-Semitic or
Holocaust-denying statements.
In January a director in the
prefect’s office of Mures County posted the message from the entrance to
the Auschwitz concentration camp, “Arbeit macht frei” (work makes you
free), on his Facebook page. The National Council to Combat
Discrimination (CNCD) investigated and on February 22 determined that
the action violated anti-discrimination laws and fined the director
1,000 lei ($300).
On April 17, the Elie Wiesel Institute for
the Study of the Holocaust in Romania expressed indignation over the
Suceava County Council sponsorship of a book written by a former member
of the pre-World War II fascist Legionnaire Movement. The book carried
on its cover the picture of former Legionnaire leader Corneliu Zelea
Codreanu.
In May the Wiesel Institute asked the prosecutor
general’s office to consider banning the “All for the Country” party.
The institute accused the party of having a neo-fascist doctrine and
using fascist, xenophobic, and racist symbols from the Legionnaire
Movement. In September the Bucharest prosecutor’s office sought to ban
the party and initiated legal action. A court decision was pending at
year’s end.
On March 5, Social Democratic Party (PSD)
spokesperson Senator Dan Sova stated on a television program that “no
Jew suffered on Romanian territory thanks to Marshal Antonescu” (the
pro-Nazi leader during World War II). He further said that “historical
data indicates that a total of 24 Jews were killed during the Iasi
pogrom by the German army.” The Romanian and international Jewish
community, the NGO Center for Monitoring Anti-Semitism in Romania (MCA
Romania), the Wiesel Institute, and the Roma Center for Social
Intervention and Studies (Romani CRISS) condemned Sova’s statements. MCA
Romania and Romani CRISS filed a criminal complaint against Sova,
arguing that his statements violated the law forbidding Holocaust
denial. Sova was temporarily dismissed from the position of PSD
spokesperson and went to Washington to visit the Holocaust Memorial
Museum. Upon his return, Sova declared publicly that his statements had
come from ignorance, withdrew them, and apologized. He stated that after
studying hundreds of pages of documents in Washington he now understood
that “Jews had a dramatic fate” in Romania. Sova was later appointed to
the position of Minister Delegate for Liaison with Parliament on August
6, triggering a new wave of domestic and international criticism. Sova
again apologized publicly for his original statements, and said that he
was aware of historical information confirming the Holocaust in Romania.
He subsequently promoted stronger legislation against racism and
anti-Semitism and supported projects to broaden Holocaust education in
schools and universities.
On October 18, member of the
European Parliament (MEP) and leader of the Greater Romania Party
Corneliu Vadim Tudor stated during a television program he “would deny
the Holocaust (in Romania) until death, because I love my people.” MCA
Romania and the Elie Wiesel Institute urged authorities to enforce
existing legislation against anti-Semitism and xenophobia. Publications
of the Greater Romania Party continued to carry anti-Semitic statements
and articles.
In April the Elie Wiesel Institute for the Study
of the Holocaust in Romania raised objections with the prosecutor
general’s office concerning a memorial to former Legionnaire leader
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu on National Highway 1 outside of Bucharest. On
July 11, the prosecutor’s office in Buftea decided the memorial was not a
statement of propaganda and did not violate the emergency ordinance
that bans celebrating or commemorating individuals who committed
criminal acts against society and humanity.
The government
continued to implement the recommendations of the International
Commission on the Holocaust in Romania (Wiesel Commission) Report and to
promote Holocaust education in school curricula.
The
government made progress in efforts to teach the history of the
Holocaust, which was included in history courses in the seventh, ninth,
11th, and 12th grades. During the 2012-2013 school year, 106 high
schools offered the optional course “History of the Jews--The
Holocaust.” The government continued to provide Holocaust education
training to history teachers in specialized training centers in Bacau,
Arad, Brasov, Craiova, and Galati. In August, 15 history teachers
participated in a training course at Yad Vashem. The Ministry of
Education provided written materials and maintained a web site with a
guide for teaching about the Holocaust designed to assist teachers
nationwide. The ministry also sponsored national and international
seminars on teaching Holocaust history and provided additional
educational resources to help combat anti-Semitism. The Eli Wiesel
Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania was also very active
in educating the general public regarding the Holocaust.
In
November the Baptist Church reported to authorities that MEP Gigi Becali
stated on a talk show that Baptists and “Neo-Protestants” (defined as
including Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventist, Mormons,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others) in general are “Satanic cults” and not
Christians. The Baptist Church also criticized the television station
and urged it to take the necessary steps to avoid such
misrepresentations and slanderous statements in the future.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses reported no problems for the first time in their history in Romania.
The
Seventh-day Adventist Church noted increased official openness and
tolerance towards minority religious groups. Church representatives
stated authorities were more responsive to religious freedom and
discrimination issues.
Section III. Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom
There were reports of societal discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice.
Participants
in talk shows broadcast by private and public television stations and
in Internet discussions expressed anti-Semitic views and attitudes. MCA
Romania repeatedly stated that anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic, and
nationalistic views continued to be distributed online.
Media and independent observers reported several cases of graffiti with swastikas on the walls of buildings in Bucharest.
Extremist
organizations held high profile public events with anti-Semitic themes,
sponsored religious services, symposia, and marches commemorating
leaders of the Legionnaire Movement, and republished anti-Semitic
material, primarily online. Venues for such events included Targu Ocna,
Padurea Verde in Timis county, and Tancabesti forest in Ilfov county.
The
Greek Catholic Church reported that in many localities Orthodox priests
harassed and intimidated its members. In rural areas, Greek Catholics
reported Orthodox priests used threats and other forms of intimidation
to prevent people from joining the Greek Catholic Church. In November
local Orthodox clergy in Vintere refused to obey a ruling allowing
members of the Greek Catholic Church to pray in their former church and
pressured villagers against declaring affiliation with the Greek
Catholic Church. Authorities eventually enforced the ruling.
Although
the law allows religious groups access to cemeteries belonging to other
churches, Orthodox priests denied minority religious groups access to
cemeteries in some places. Members of some minority religious groups,
including the Greek Catholic Church and the Bahai Faith, reported
Orthodox priests would not allow the burial of non-Orthodox deceased in
denominational cemeteries or in public cemeteries (often treated as
denominational by Orthodox priests) unless certain conditions were met;
the burials had to take place in isolated sections of the cemetery or
Orthodox religious services had to be used in the burials.
In
November an Orthodox priest incited Orthodox believers to verbally abuse
a group of Greek Catholics in Pesceana on their way to pray at a Greek
Catholic tomb.
Mormons criticized the existence of a
“predominant state-sponsored church,” stating it created problems for
minority religious groups. They also stated that members of minority
religious groups found it difficult to opt out of Orthodox religion
classes at public schools because of social pressure, and asserted that
the influence of the Orthodox Church prevented its members from
declaring their conversion for fear of adverse societal reactions.
Mormons said their members were unfairly burdened financially because a
portion of their taxes supported other religious groups, primarily the
Orthodox Church, with no opt-out provision for smaller religious groups.
Orthodox
clergy generally opposed and delayed returning churches to Greek
Catholics, arguing that formerly Greek Catholic places of worship
belonged to the congregations currently using them. Orthodox clergy also
argued that the low number of Greek Catholics did not justify the
return of their properties.
Tensions continued in localities
where the Orthodox Church refused to comply with court-ordered
restitutions, or where the Greek Catholic Church initiated lawsuits for
restitution.
In cases where courts ordered the Orthodox Church
to return churches to their former owners, Orthodox priests frequently
instigated the local population to oppose enforcement of the orders.
Local authorities often hesitated to enforce such rulings, but in some
cases the Greek Catholic Church achieved success after lengthy efforts.
Greek Catholics finally reclaimed a church in Vasad on May 3 following
repeated refusals by local authorities to enforce a final court ruling.
On August 9, Greek Catholics in Sisesti reclaimed ownership of a church
after a 13-year court battle. Orthodox clergy, however, had removed all
Greek Catholic icons and other religious objects. In Budesti the Greek
Catholic community reclaimed a church on October 29 after 20 years of
using private homes for worship. Although the Greek Catholic Church
offered to hold alternating religious services with the Orthodox Church
in the churches it regained, in most cases, the latter rebuffed the
offers.
The Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches failed to
begin a dialogue to resolve outstanding property disputes, despite an
exchange of messages during the year aimed at reaching an agreement over
terms under which a dialogue could commence.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The
ambassador and other embassy representatives regularly met with
government officials and religious leaders to discuss issues of
religious freedom. Embassy representatives, along with visiting U.S.
Department of State officials, met with the State Secretariat for
Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss
religious freedom, the role of the State Secretariat in the country’s
religious life, and Orthodox-Greek Catholic property issues.
Embassy
officials raised concerns with government officials about the slow pace
of religious property restitution, particularly of Greek Catholic
churches. U.S. officials also discussed with government officials the
importance of full official recognition of the Holocaust in the country,
improvements in Holocaust education, and complete implementation of the
2004 recommendations of the Wiesel Commission.
The ambassador
hosted an iftar with representatives from more than a dozen religious
groups. Embassy officials attended events celebrating the country’s
varied religious traditions, including with the Muslim community in
Constanta county and the Jewish and Greek Catholic communities in Timis
county and Bucharest. Embassy representatives met on several occasions
with the Federation of Jewish Communities concerning funding for the
rehabilitation of a cemetery in Bucharest.
The ambassador,
embassy representatives, and Department of State officials met regularly
with leaders of the Greek Catholic Church to discuss Orthodox-Greek
Catholic relations, local discrimination incidents, and relations with
the national government. Embassy officials also met regularly with
representatives of the Orthodox Church to discuss Orthodox-Greek
Catholic relations.
Embassy staff continually encouraged the
Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches to resume dialogue aimed at
reconciliation and resolving outstanding property disputes. The U.S.
ambassador and six other ambassadors met in February with the Orthodox
Patriarch and several bishops to encourage resuming Orthodox-Greek
Catholic dialogue.
The embassy organized a visit of a U.S.
imam to Constanta to help develop relationships between Muslim
communities in the two countries.
The ambassador used the ambassadorial fund for cultural preservation to renovate a synagogue in Oradea.
The
embassy supported the activities of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
in its efforts to further Holocaust education, including embassy
co-sponsorship of a Holocaust teacher training course in Iasi in
November.