Romanians in the West

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, many Romanians were living “in a state of poverty towards Western Europe and this convinced many to view the West as the only chance for survival”. Father Iosif Dorcu, director of the Migrants Office of the diocese of Iasi (Romania) spoke of the motivations which led many Romanians to migrate and the need for specific pastoral care for immigrants, during the recent National Congress of ACLI (Italy’s Association of Catholic workers). Advantages and disadvantages. Along with financial motivations, Father Dorcu identified other two causes for emigration: “to study and for professional accomplishment”. Undoubtedly, the priest said, there have been economic and cultural “advantages” connected with emigration, but there have also been disadvantages related to the “social, family, cultural and spiritual environment”. For father Dorcu, “migration mostly affected family relations”. Often separations for employment reasons become “definitive” and children live as if they were “orphans”. Also from the spiritual viewpoint, those who move to Muslim Countries remain without sacraments for years. Whereas in West-European Countries they might be subjected to religious indifference and secularization. How can these problems be overcome? For Father Dorcu, “the media play a major role in preserving the ties of those living abroad with the local Church. The press material of the diocese of Iasi are sent to all those Countries where Romanians are living. Another effective means to preserve a strong bond with the Mother-Church is the internet. Through the news and other information present on the diocese’ website www.ercis.ro, many Romanians keep close contacts with Romania’s religious life”. Language difficulties. “Very often – father Dorcu recalled – emigrated Romanians experienced a series of difficulties due to their poor knowledge of the local language. In some European countries where latin languages are spoken (Italy and Spain) the impact wasn’t as strong since a few months are necessary to understand the mass and take part in the sacraments”. On the contrary, “the spiritual nourishment of Romanians who moved to those Countries where the spoken languages are totally different from theirs (Israel, Ireland, Turkey) was strongly needed”. In short, “the risk is that a new migrant who doesn’t find a service officiated in his mother tongue may simply renounce attending Mass”. Spiritual support. From the spiritual viewpoint, “there are some West-European Countries where Christian life is expressed in different ways from how it is expressed in Romania. Many Romanians were confused by situations they experienced abroad: scarce Mass attendance of the faithful, an impoverishment of the role played by the sacrament of penance, superficial attitudes of a number of priests and faithful, the lack of vocations and many other episodes”. Therefore, “in order to enable immigrants to recover the customs pertaining to their Christian lives, which contributed to their spiritual development, it’s very important that they recover the elements which they became familiar with in their Countries of origin”. Lastly, cultural motivations: “religious life is further enriched by a series of cultural traditions. When the immigrant leaves his Country, his community and his family he is also relinquishing a part of his life experience and is exposed to suffering”. Indeed, “many immigrants would benefit from the presence of a Romanian priest who could also help them overcome psychologically difficult moments”. Praying for those who are far away. The Church, on her part, “must equally consider the problems affecting the families which remain in their homes”. The spouse who stays with the children “experiences the tragedy of separation and solitude”, while “the children will be missing their parents”. Children need “to be catechised and helped by a priest or a catechist” to understand “the sacrifice their parents are making” for them. To prevent the disintegration of the marriage of spouses separated by so much distance “the Church has the duty to devote greater space to catechesis on family sacredness, unity and unicity”. “In order to preserve the spiritual unity between those who stayed home and those who left – Father Dorcu concluded – prayers with special intentions for the absentees ought to be recited. Special weekly or monthly celebrations are held in many parishes during which the community in the country of departure prays for those who are working in some distant Country”.