Gift and responsibility

The annual meeting of the Consultative Council of the Religious Cults of Romania (CCRCR) took place in Bucharest on 26 April, under the chairmanship of patriarch Daniel of the Romenian Orthodox Church, with participation of representatives of ten religious cults. Members representing the Romanian Orthodox Church; the Serb Orthodox Diocese of Timisoara; the Romania Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic; Archdiocese of the Armenian Church; the Russian Orthodox Church of Old Style of Romania; A.C. Evangelical Church of Romania; Lutheran Evangelical Church of Romania; Christian Church according to the Gospel – Union of the Christian Churches according to the gospel of Romania; Jewish Communities Federation of Romania; and Muslim Cult of Romania approved and signed the Statute of the CCRCR.Health system and protection of life and family. The central theme of the meeting was "Good Health – gift of God and human responsibility". In this sense, the participants underlined responsibility of every person both for his or her own health and for that of the community. Also mentioned was the State’s responsibility for its citizens who pay health insurance. The religious cults of Romania are interested in promoting more efficient public sanitary system, taking into account the fact that a large part of country’s population is poor and stressing that "the health system must be permanently guided, besides efficiency, by the principles of social ethics". As for the new bill on the reform of the Romanian sanitary system, the representatives of the recognised religious cults emphasised that it must provide elements of control to ensure that the most disadvantaged persons are not neglected and receive treatment regardless of their financial situation. In this regard, the religious cults can promote "a trend of community and social solidarity, a culture for good health", which implies medical education for preventing diseases and for sustaining the patients with low income or no income at all. Partnerships between the religious cults and public and private medical units are recommended. The CCRCR "supports legislative initiatives protecting life of a person as a gift of God and the right to life from the moment of conception, promotes traditional values of the family institution, and encourages growing the children in the bosom of the family, through adoptions too". The Consultative Council of the Religious Cults of Romania manifests its "concern for protection and usage of the entire creation of God in order to convey it to the next generations in all its purity and beauty". In this context, the participants expressed their concern for many chemical additives and genetically modified organisms used in the alimentary production. Case at the European Court for Human Rights. The Consultative Council of the Religious Cults of Romania is concerned in relation to continual construction of huge buildings close to the places of worship which affects their physical stability and integrity, as well as the lives of the faithful inside them. The Council has also manifested its support for the attitude of the Romanian Patriarchate and for the appeal of the State in the case of "The Good Shepherd against Romania" trade union of the priests of the Metropolitanate of Oltenia concerning the clergy’s right to free associations in trade union type organisations. The CCRCR expresses concern for the way in which the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) "ignores the autonomy of the religious cults and the specificity of the pastoral vocation of the clergy, accepting such a trade union". Possible final adoption of this decision by the ECHR would be a direct attack to the constitutional legal organization of the religious cults of Romania and of the states members of the Council of Europe, reads the statement. According to the Holy Universal Canons and to the Statutes for the Organization and Functioning of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the priests – just like the magistrates and militaries – have no right to engage in partisan politics, to unfold economical activity, direct or through intermediates, and participate in other forms of association, as well as those of trade union type in order to be impartial and completely involved in the service of the common welfare of people. Compensation for the confiscated property. Another topic affronted by the representatives of the religious cults was the bill concerning the compensations for the real estate property confiscated by the communist regime. Religious representatives ask for the observation of the constitutional provisions according to which the private property is guaranteed. Therefore, the Romanian State is asked that the legislative initiatives in the field of the properties retrocession stipulate, in cases where the retrocession is no longer possible, compensation equal to the real value of the building, irrespective of the gradual granting of the respective amounts in the course of time. Activities within society. The CCRCR asks the State authorities to adopt legislative measures resulting in distinctive definition of the VAT paid by the recognised religious cult in the state budget for the next year and its return to the religious cults for social-philanthropic, cultural-educational and municipal-administrative activities. Finally, the Consultative Council of the Religious Cults of Romania decided to set up four working commissions: Medical and Social Commission, Educational Commission, Commission for the Religious Cults and National Patrimony, and Economical Juridical Commission, with intention to gather experts of all religious cults in every relevant field, who would formulate common points of view to topical problems and propose amendments to the projects of normative interest.