July 22, 2009 The EU will release a report on the scathing conditions of the justice system in Romania which appears to be an international bridge to change for Romania. Father Chris Terhes, mandated by the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, located in Southern California is available for interviews on the situation there. Please see releases:
http://www.nineoclock.ro/index.php?page=detalii&categorie=homenews&id=20090719-11557http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1R2GGIT_en&num=100&q=european+commission+report+romania+22+july&aq=f&oq=&aqi=For Immediate ReleaseOn The Remote Eastern Edge Of The EU Persecuted Romanian Catholics Still Wait In Desperate Isolation For Religious Freedoms As They Have For 61 Years
July 20, 2009 - Laguna Hills, CA - Father Chris Terhes, leading liaison appointed by the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, appeals to the U.S. and all democratic countries in the world to help hundreds of thousands of Greek-Catholics in Romania.
Fr. Terhes oversees the Romanian Greek Catholic Association and has established an international awareness campaign to put an end to the religious discrimination of the Greek-Catholic minority in Romania and preserving their cultural heritage that is on the verge of destruction.
There are hundreds of thousands of Romanian Greek-Catholics who have been waiting 61 years to join the world democracy whole heartily. They wait in desperate isolation for their freedom of religion, speech, acknowledgement, safety and wait to be heard. In 1948 the communist regime abolished the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, confiscated all of its properties and forced the Greek-Catholic believers to join the Romanian Orthodox Church. After the fall of communism in 1989, the Romanian Government refuses to return the confiscated properties and continues to persecute, discriminate and violate the rights of the Greek-Catholic minority.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights agreements are not being honored by the Romanian government. Therefore, a number of agencies including the U.S. Department of State, and the European Commission, are red-flagging Romania as a hot spot for ongoing religious discrimination, persecution, and sex trafficking.
Father Terhes says, “Now is the time for a real change in Romania. We want to have our lives back. We came out of hiding in 1989 with joy and hope that following the fall of communism we’ll be able to express our faith freely after 40 years of religious persecution. Twenty years after the fall of communism our rights continue to be violated by the Romanian Government, our believers harassed for their faith, court orders in our favor that are not enforced, Greek-Catholic properties being demolished instead of being returned. This kind of behavior is not proper for a country that is part of the European Union and NATO.”
Father Mihai Grigor (Sapanta, Maramures), whose church is currently being destroyed, says: “I don’t want my believers to have to endure more decades of oppression and we are asking for the international communities to express their concern to the Romanian government and give us back our lands and our churches.”
The Greek-Catholics are a religious minority in Romania, and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church is one of the Eastern Rite Churches in communion with the Pope and was the only Church abolished by the communist regime in Romania.
For more details please visit: http://www.rogca.org