The bishops’ concerns and appeals A few days ago the diocese of Satu Mare, in the Northern region of Romania, hosted the autumn session of the Romanian Bishops’ Conference. In a joint press release the bishops of both rites (Roman and Greek-Catholic) attending the assembly conveyed on behalf of the entire Romanian Catholic communities, namely “some 2 million faithful”, their concern over “the risks the Cathedral of Saint Joseph is being exposed to, a major place of worship of the Romanian-Catholic archdiocese of Bucharest that is also the centre of local Catholic unity”. The Bishops’ Conference equally vouched “the defense of the family, which is experiencing a crisis and on which depends the life of the Church and of society as a whole”. The bishops criticized “genetic engineering, artificial insemination” and condemned “the possibility of legalizing prostitution and narcotics”, an issue recently debated across Romanian society . Furthermore, in view of the forthcoming presidential elections, the bishops issued a press statement calling upon “all Christians and people of good will to go to the polls”. “The faithful ought to have an active and crucial role in preserving and promoting the Christian values of our people, in compliance with the teachings of the Holy Scripture and of the Church”, the bishops said.The centenary of the Greek-Catholic Church”The Lord’s teachings for unity were and continue being a priority in the pastoral ministry of Romania’s Catholic bishops, as it has been for Cardinal Iulian Hossu, bishop Marton Aron and all the Greek-Catholic bishops, priests, and martyrs, victims of atheist and totalitarian Communism.” The Apostolic nuncio to Romania and to the Moldavian Republic, Msgr. Francisco-Javier Lozano, thus declared on the occasion of the solemn Mass that a few days ago marked the beginning of the Jubilee for the centenary of the Church of Saint Basil the Great in Bucharest. Voicing his gratitude for the “faithfulness to the Vicar of Christ, also in difficult moments and times”, the prelate exhorted attendants to pray for the mission of Benedict XVI, “the shepherd of the universal Church”. Also Romania’s President Traian Basescu, on the occasion sent a message honoring “the memory of the members and representatives of the Greek-Catholic Church that suffered severe persecutions during the Communist regime and their precious contribution for national unity and for the development of Romanian society”. The Jubilee year will continue with a series of cultural and spiritual events and will close on Christmas 2010.Vladimir Ghika, prince, priest and martyr”The force of the spirit in the epoch of totalitarianism: Vladimir Ghika, prince, priest and martyr, a contemporary model”, is the theme of the conference promoted today in Rome by the Romanian Embassy to Italy. It is the “first event organized on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of Communist regimes in Europe”, starting from “a reflection on the values of freedom and of the spirit, reaffirmed by the Romanian population in the revolution of December 22nd 1989”, is written in a note. Hence the decision to propose the figure of Msgr. Ghika, “precursor of ecumenism and Europeanism, arrested in 1952 only for being a priest, worn out by tortures and died as martyr in 1954”. Servant of God Vladimir Ghika (1873- 1954) was the grandchild of the last Prince of Moldavia. “He received baptism in Orthodox Christianity. At the age of fifty he converted to the Catholic faith in order ‘to be a more righteous Orthodox’ and was ordained priest in 1923”, Father Francesco Ungureanu, postulator of the his beatification cause told SIR Europe. He is a “contemporary model”, points out Father Ungureanu, in reason of his “witness to Christianity, the love for the Church and for the poor”, in abidance with what he defined “theology at the service of others”, lived as a layman. Indeed in these capacities, “in 1906 he founded in Bucharest the first free medical dispensary in the Country along with the first Catholic charity work, The House of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincenzo de Paoli”. In 1913, “during an epidemics of cholera he asked to assist the sick in the lazaret of Zimnicea”. Under the bombings of the Second World War he visited the sick, the injured and the convicts, regardless of their religious creed, “requesting that spiritual counsel be granted by Orthodox priests to those in need. His objective was to enable everyone to reach salvation”, the postulator said. During his imprisonment “he continued his apostolate with his companions until the moment of death”. The Academy of Romania in Rome, the Community of Saint Egidio and the Romanian Cultural Institute of Bucharest, co-organized the event that included the presentation of the book “Letters to my brother in exile. The Stalinist epoch in Romania” and the preview of the documentary on the same theme produced by Signis Romania/KTO (2009).
