“The Romanian authorities continue to give ambiguous replies, declining any responsibility. We wish to stop the destruction of the cathedral of St. Joseph, symbol of Romanian catholicity, and demand the immediate interruption of the building work on the site and the withdrawal of the authorizations given to the construction firm Millennium that are in violation of European laws for the protection of the historical and cultural heritage”, says the Catholic Archbishop of Bucharest Ioan Robu, commenting on the enormous 19-storey building now being built less than ten metres away from St. Joseph’s cathedral in the Romanian capital. Millennium’s construction of Cathedral Plaza, a commercial colossus, continues despite the warnings of the cathedral’s imminent collapse given by various experts and by the architect who designed the original project for the complex. The denunciation of the project by the archbishop of Bucharest was prompted by a note sent by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Ungureanu to Prime Minister Mihai Popescu Tariceanu, following the summoning of the Romanian ambassador to the Holy See by the under-secretary for relations with States, Monsignor Piero Parolin, who expressed to him the Vatican’s deep concern about the construction of the skyscraper so close to the cathedral. The archdiocese of Bucharest fears that the government’s statements on the matter conceal “not only a lack of attention, but even connivance with those who are jeopardizing the very existence of the complex of St. Joseph’s cathedral”.
