With them on the streets

“The Roma people must not be viewed in terms of a problem but as our brothers. Siding with the poor in our meetings brings friendships, and friendship leads to a new form of civilization”. Msgr. Janos Szekely, auxiliary bishop of Esztergom-Budapest and responsible of the pastoral care of the Roma for the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference, delivered the final speech of the international conference held a few days ago in Budapest titled “Roma People: Europeans without a homeland”. The meeting, held at the Academy of Science, was promoted by the Sant’Egidio Community in response to the series of attacks that targeted Gypsies in Hungary over the past two years, and also to “show compassion towards the Roma population and convey a word of hope in a world marked by prejudice and violence”. Indeed, a large number of gypsies died in Nazi extermination camps. It must be remembered. Giving a voice to hope. “The sorrowful intensification of unacceptable acts of violence against gypsies damages the very fabric of coexistence – said archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People -. But with synergy and communion the network of solidarity with the Roma people, that John Paul II placed ‘in the heart of the Church’, will develop and expand. “It is the responsibility and the task of us all to thwart the mechanisms leading to hatred and segregation”. Peter Szoke, representative of the Sant’Egidio Community in Budapest said it is necessary “to give a voice to hope and reaffirm that coexistence is possible, that it must be sought together, with the people of good will from different religious, political and cultural backgrounds”. An “encounter” of voices. Speaking on behalf of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, Lutheran pastor Dieter Brandes underlined the need for “a conscience examination of anti – Roma prejudice also on the part of Christian faithful”. Marco Gnavi, representing Sant’Egidio, gave a snapshot of the life and history of persecution of the Roma people across Europe and underlined that everyone has the responsibility to promote a culture of coexistence: “We owe it to our offspring, who are not nomads, and who have greater chances of guiding their own future than Roma children do”. “History is made of meetings and words to the service of encounter. Also here in Hungary – he noted – the voices of Christians, Jews, non-believers, Roma and Gage gypsies, can jointly combat anti-gipsy prejudice, confiding that the world is capable of composing diversity without overlooking individual identities”.Prejudice and discrimination are still widespread. According to Katalin Katz, Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and internationally renowned “Parajjimos” scholar (the Holocaust of the Roma people – 500 thousand killed in Nazi concentration camps), “However painful it may be, memory must be preserved and all the tragedies must be remembered”. With reference to the current situation, Prof. Katz guarded against “the dangers of discrimination, segregation and silence”. “The past has not ended”, pointed out Roma holocaust survivor and writer Ceija Stojka, Austrian citizen. “Indeed, in contemporary Europe the Roma people are the victims of prejudice, humiliation and assault”. Stojika shared her moving personal experience: “When I was a child I saved myself by hiding among the corpses, chewing shoe-laces and pieces of leather”. Janos Ladanyi, Sociology professor at the Corvinus University in Budapest, remarked that after the political transformations of 1989 “one-and-a-half million jobs were lost and little was done to mend the situation. Today 700thousand people live in a state of extreme poverty, 40% of whom are Roma people”. According to the speaker the latter are the object of discrimination especially in the school environment and when it comes to lodging. There is a need “for high-quality education also for Roma children” said Viktoria Mohacsi, ex MEP of Roma origin and chairperson of the Foundation “De-segregation Movement”. “The Roma and non-Roma population must live side by side. Coexistence is not only necessary; it’s also beautiful” she remarked.The Church and the gypsies. At the end of the meeting, illustrating the latest initiatives taken by the Hungarian Church in support of Roma population, Msgr. Szekely recalled that the bishops recently released a circular letter addressed to the priests with Holy See documents guidelines for the pastoral care of the Roma. For the first time, two years ago the Bible was translated in lovari (the most widely-spoken idiom -out of 17 – by Hungary’s Roma community). The auxiliary bishop of Esztergom-Budapest wrote a book on the history and culture of Roma population for Catholic school pupils. Even though data is hard to collect, according to estimates, some 600,000-800,000 gipsies live in Budapest, divided into four language groups speaking 17 different dialects.