It happened in Romania
The decision of the Court ruled the removal of the “ecological eyesore” hovering upon the Catholic Cathedral of Bucharest. But law is being bypassed via private interests and political pressure. The protests of the Archbishop and of the Christian community, the support of European Churches and of the Parliament in Strasbourg. Will the rule of law prevail?
Justice must be done for Bucharest’s Roman-Catholic Cathedral, but nobody is providing for it. Over four years have passed since a final judgement of Romania’s Court of Justice ruled that the mayor of Bucharest must proceed with the demolition of the unauthorized structure build near Saint Joseph’s Cathedral. However, none of the authorities in charge appear to want to comply with the law, hence a few days ago the Archdiocese of Bucharest called for the Minister of Culture to resign.
The position of the Romanian Church. Erected less than 8 meters away from the Cathedral of Bucharest, the huge building, 75 meters high, with 19 floors above, and 4 below street level, named Cathedral Plaza, was officially declared illegal in 2010. Moreover, the monstrous structure is not only illegal: it also jeopardizes the security of the Catholic Cathedral, that risks collapsing in case of an earthquake.
But the mayor of the capital and the Minister of Culture, tasked with protecting the Catholic Cathedral by law, prefer to protect the illegal building.
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Bucharest, Msgr. Ioan Robu, had reported the owners of the structure to law-enforcement authorities stating that “they are very powerful in economic and financial terms” and that they have a “great influence on political and economic environments” of the capital. “Despite a Court ruling nobody is protecting us”, the Archbishop declared. A final judgement rules to dismantle the structure but nobody wants to take a step to enforce the law and respect its decision”, Msgr. Robu underlined during a press conference at the end of a plenary session of the Romanian Bishops’ Conference past May.
The role of the Minister of Culture. In fact, as declared by the spokesperson of the diocese, the illegal construction’s developer is the bridesmaid of the mayor of Bucharest Gabriela Firea, and the mayor is the vice-President of the governing Party (Social Democrats). For some time the Archdiocese has been denouncing that public authorities protect the party interests of private entities and not the rule of the law in Romania, nor the value of the Catholic Cathedral, which is a historical and architectonic Monument. Last week,
The archdiocese asked Romania’s Prime Minister to demand the resignation of the Minister of Culture
Lucian Romascanu in the light of his recent statements regarding the illegal building Cathedral Plaza, that “seriously violate constitutional principles, the mechanisms of real democracy, the Rule of Law, infringe the laws governing the State of Romania and undermine public interest sustaining the economic interests of private entities instead.” The Minister, declared the Archdiocese in a press release published in recent days, “has supported the maintenance of the illegal construction”, “it displayed unfair treatment, along with the intention to ignore a decision of the Court of Justice.”
The support of European Churches. Until now Romanian authorities have ignored the decisions of Romanian courts, the protests of Catholic faithful, the recommendations of the European Parliament, the requests of Romanian and European bishops. Also the General Secretaries of European Bishops’ Conferences, convened in Bucharest past July 2 for the annual CCEE Assembly meeting,
“sadly acknowledged” that the decision ruling that the mayor demolish the building has not been enforced.
“The fact that the Judgement was not implemented is evidence of a climate of suspicion on the rule of law in Romania”, declared the General Secretaries in their final statement.
A democratic and European Country? Romania’s Constitution states that “No one is above the law.” But the situation of Bucharest’s Roman-Catholic Cathedral raises doubts on the very import of the Constitution and of the Rule of Law in a Country that describes itself as Christian, democratic and European.
