Friday, 12 February 2010

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,

It gives me great joy to meet you during your ad limina visit, to listen to you and to reflect together on the journey of the People of God entrusted to you. I greet each one of you with affection and thank in particular Archbishop Ioan Robu for his cordial words on behalf of you all.
I address a special thought to H.B. Lucian Muresan, Major Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church in Romania. You are Pastors of communities of various rites, who place the riches of your long tradition at the service of communion, for the good of all. In you I greet the Christian communities of Romania and of the Republic of Moldova, so harshly tried in the past, and I pay homage to those Bishops and innumerable priests, men and women religious and faithful who, in the time of persecution showed indomitable loyalty to Christ and to his Church and kept their faith intact.

I would like to express my thanks to you, dear Brothers in the Episcopate, for your generous commitment to serving the rebirth and development of the Catholic community in your countries, and I urge you to continue to be zealous Pastors of Christ’s flock, as members of the one Church and with respect for the different ritual traditions. Preserving and passing on the patrimony of the faith is a task for the whole Church, but particularly for Bishops (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 25). The field of your ministry is vast and challenging: indeed, it is a question of proposing a mature and responsible journey of faith to the faithful, especially through religious education, catechesis also of adults and preparation for the sacraments. In this context it is necessary to foster a greater knowledge of Sacred Scripture, of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and of the Magisterial Documents, especially those of the Second Vatican Council and the Papal Encyclicals. It is a demanding programme which requires you to draft joint pastoral plans, aimed at the bonum animarum of all Catholics of the different rites and ethnicities. This requires a witness of unity, sincere dialogue and effective collaboration, without forgetting that unity is primarily the fruit of the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 5: 22) who guides the Church.

In this Year for Priests I exhort you always to be fathers to your priests, your first, precious collaborators in the Lord’s vineyard (cf. Christus Dominus, n. 16, n. 28); with them exists a primarily sacramental bond which makes them share uniquely in the pastoral mission entrusted to Bishops. Strive to tend to the communion between you and your priests in an atmosphere of affection, attention and respectful fraternal dialogue; be concerned with their spiritual and material conditions and with their necessary theological and pastoral development. In your dioceses there is no shortage of religious institutes engaged in pastoral work. May it be your special task to give them due attention and provide them with all the help possible to ensure that their presence is increasingly more important and that consecrated people can carry out their apostolate in accordance with their charisms and in full communion with the local Church.

God does not fail to call men and women to his service. We must be grateful to the Lord for this, intensifying our prayers that he may continue to send workers to his harvest (cf. Mt 9: 37). A primary task of Bishops is the pastoral care of vocations and the human, spiritual and intellectual formation of candidates to the priesthood in seminaries and other formative institutes (cf. Optatam Totius, nn. 2, 4). This formation must guarantee them the possibility of acquiring deep spirituality and rigorous philosophical, theological and pastoral preparation, also through the careful choice of educators and lecturers. Similar attention should be paid to the formation of the members of the Institutes of Consecrated Life, especially for women.

The flourishing of priestly and religious vocations largely depends on the moral and religious health of Christian families. Unfortunately, today there are many pitfalls for the family institution in our secularized and disoriented society. Catholic families in your country which during the time of trial, gave witness of faithfulness to the Gospel sometimes paying dearly for it are not immune to the scourges of abortion, corruption, alcoholism, and drugs, as well as birth control using methods contrary to the dignity of the human person. To combat these challenges, it is necessary to promote parish counsellors who can assure an adequate preparation for conjugal and family life, and who can better organize the pastoral care of youth. More necessary than anything else is a decisive commitment to encouraging the presence of the Christian values in society, developing centres for formation where young people may learn the authentic values, enriched by the genius of your countries’ culture, so as to be able to witness to these values in the areas in which they live. The Church wants to make her crucial contribution to building a reconciled and supportive society, able to confront the process of secularization that is under way. The transformation of the industrial and agricultural system, the financial crisis and emigration abroad have not encouraged the preservation of traditional values; these must therefore be proposed anew and reinforced.

In this context it is particularly important to witness to brotherhood between Catholics and Orthodox. This witness must prevail over division and dissent and open hearts to reconciliation.
I am aware of the difficulties that the Catholic communities have to face in this sphere; I hope they will be able to find adequate solutions in that spirit of justice and charity which will animate relations between brothers and sisters in Christ. In May 2009, you commemorated the 10th anniversary of Venerable Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Romania. On that occasion Divine Providence gave the Successor of Peter the chance to make an Apostolic Visit to a nation with an Orthodox majority, where an important Catholic community has been present for centuries. May the desire for unity inspired by that Visit nourish prayer as well as the commitment to dialogue in charity and truth and to the promotion of common initiatives. An area of collaboration between Orthodox and Catholics that is particularly important today concerns the defence of the Christian roots of Europe and of the Christian values as well as the common testimony on issues such as the family, bioethics, human rights, honesty in public life and ecology. A joint commitment to these subjects will make an important contribution to society’s moral and civil development. A constructive dialogue between Orthodox and Catholics will not fail to be a leaven of unity and harmony not only for your countries but also for the whole of Europe.

At the end of our Meeting, my thoughts turn to your Communities. Please convey to your priests, men and women religious and to all the faithful of Romania and of the Republic of Moldova, my greetings and encouragement, assuring them of my affection and my prayers. As I invoke the intercession of the Mother of God and of the Saints of your lands, I cordially impart my blessing to you and to all the members of the People of God entrusted to your pastoral care.

Pastoral Letter
on the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord,

Christmas, A.D. 2009

Bethlehem, make ready, for Eden has been opened for all;
Ephrata, be alert, for the Tree of Life has blossomed forth from the Virgin in the cave.
Her womb has become a spiritual paradise wherein the divine Fruit was planted—
and if we eat of it, we shall live and not die like Adam.
Christ is coming forth to bring back to life the likeness that had been lost in the beginning.
(Troparion of the Preparation for Christmas)

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

The opening words of the troparion of preparation for Christmas seem to be directed to a town in Judah, Bethlehem, also referred to in the prophecy of Micah as Ephrata (fruitful), but they are in fact addressed to us, Christians who believe that some 2,000 years ago an event of cosmic significance took place with the birth of Jesus. The imperative, "make ready," has a meaning for the Christian community and the individual Christian that goes far beyond its implications for any city, nation, or political entity. Charming as it may be to frame our celebration of Jesus’ birth around a Christmas card manger scene or a commercial, media-managed "spirit of Christmas," we fall far short of the grace available to us in this holiday if we limit ourselves to these lovely but empty images.

Even our English (and Romanian) translations of what may be the most beloved and well known of all carols, "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (Veniţi, Credincioşi) lack the urgency and straightforward command implied in the original Latin, Adeste Fideles: "Be there, be present, believers!"

Perhaps more than other holidays in our liturgical year, it is Christmas that compels us to "be there," to be present at an event, to witness something extraordinary and, thereafter, to be the "joyful and triumphant" witnesses of that event in its significance for our lives and the life of the world. It is therefore vital that we put on the eyes of faith if we are to see beyond what a passing, transitory culture would have us see in order to receive from our celebration all that God would give us.

We are so broken as individuals and as a culture! Yet our brokenness is something frightening and dreadful to behold, so much so that we tend to avert our eyes, refusing to look at anything beyond what is most superficial, at either the emptiness within us or the hollowness around us. We know that, in the end, there is little we can do to "cope" with this reality, so we find solace in escape and entertainment. Especially at this time of year, our loneliness and alienation drive us to desperate and frantic attempts at "togetherness" with family and friends, only to have our efforts reward us with a sense of failure to achieve what we set out for. As a result, we sometimes feel even more isolated and alienated than before. Once we experience the limited impact that all our careful shopping and holiday planning have had on our loved ones, once the familiar arguments and/or silences break out at our Christmas table, we are likely to feel even worse at holiday time than during the rest of the year. Is it any wonder that the holidays tend to be filled more than the rest of the year with episodes of suicide, crime, and rampant depression?

"Ephrata, be alert!" Adeste fideles! "Be there, believers!"

For us to be able to enter the joy of Christmas, we must be present to it. In the first place, that means we must be present to ourselves. It means an honest look at ourselves, an "examination of consciousness," if you will, as well as an examination of conscience. We must think about what we are thinking about; we need to "pay attention to what has our attention," as author David Allen phrases it. We must also feel what it is we are feeling, be present to our emotions as well as to our thoughts, to our hearts as well as to our minds. These are the tools we have we have at our disposal in order to be present to ourselves and not live our lives in a state of semi-trance, lacking self-awareness. In our spiritual lives as well as in most everything else we do, just "showing up" is 90% of the job.

The Fathers and Mothers of the Church called this process of "minding our minds"nepsis, which means "vigilance" or "wakefulness," and it requires courage and an effort of the will. We need to choose to be present to ourselves and not be afraid of what we will encounter when we take a look. It is hard work. Keeping watch at the gate of mind and heart is not something one can do without a focused attention to what is going on inside as well as what is trying to gain access to us from the outside. It takes practice, and, like everything else worth doing, it takes commitment and sacrifice if one is to reap any of the rewards of our efforts.

Knowing our need for redemption is what makes us capable of receiving a redeemer. The world does not know or recognize its need for redemption, nor can it. It is only the human person who is the vessel of emptiness capable of this kind of awareness, of such presence to itself in its longing for wholeness, peace, beauty, and lost love, that is capable of receiving God.

And so the troparion speaks to us—you and me—in its summons to be present to the mystery of Bethlehem. "Eden has been opened for all," it says, and the fruit of Mary’s womb takes the place of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the tree from which Adam and Eve partook of that fatal first taste of emptiness. But now "Christ is coming forth to bring back to life the likeness that had been lost in the beginning." Taking on our human predicament along with our human nature, God restores in us this lost likeness to Him. As love is what constitutes our likeness to God (since God is Love: see 1 John 4:8) we can say God restores in us the love that was lost in the beginning.

Because our likeness—love—has been lost, it must be restored. Christ accomplishes this work of restoration in our nature by his birth in Bethlehem, but it remains for us to choose to appropriate this restoration for ourselves, to choose to put love where love is not, moment in and moment out. We who have been baptized into Christ have made a pledge to do this, to set aside the loveless and vain works of Satan—evil, violence, enmity, and revenge—and to unite ourselves to the One who has restored us to the nature intended for us by our creator. We have made a vow, renewed at every moment of Eucharistic communion, to replace the works of Satan with the loving and fruitful works of Christ: goodness, nonviolence, peace, and forgiveness.

To be present to our true selves, then, means to be present in person at Bethlehem, with all our weakness, hurt, and disappointment in life, and to let a little child lead us into a kingdom not of this world. It means to allow the values of this heavenly kingdom to replace the values of an earthly one, and not to allow our brokenness to dominate us, rule us, destroy the infinite beauty of us.

I said before that the world cannot know its need for redemption, and this is so because it mistakes our fallen nature for the truth of who we are: forgiven, redeemed, and restored heirs of God’s kingdom. Consequently, it vainly attempts to repair the wounds in our humanity by false and fallen means. It seeks to overcome evil with evil, to create peace by means of violence, to restore justice with the tools of revenge, and in the process, deludes itself and us into thinking that it is providing for the one thing it can never achieve: immortality in the face of our inevitable death.

Only the God who made us knows who we really are and what we are made of—and made for. Only God knows that we are made by divinity for divinity. So that we, too, might know who we are and what our destiny is, God has willed that His communication, His Word, become a human word in the flesh of Jesus born of Mary, a tiny baby (as we all once were) who grows up to preach the Sermon on the Mount, beginning in the Gospel according to St. Matthew with "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3) and including "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). (St. Luke’s Gospel expands on and defines this understanding of God’s perfection in its parallel version of this sermon: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). God’s perfection is mercy.)

It is the incarnation of God that is the divinization of our flesh, the restoration of our fallen human nature. To be present in Bethlehem is to choose to be divinized ourselves, for we do have a choice whether to accept the restoration of our nature for ourselves or to allow it to languish in its fallen-ness and sin and grief.

The miracle of Christmas is that when we show up at the manger in the cave in Bethlehem, we find that we are no longer alone. Following the star, we find ourselves in a constellation of millions of stars like us in God’s heaven, stars whose lights, like our own, have been kindled from the one light that shines forth from the cave of our homelessness today, but tomorrow will shine forth from the grave of our resurrection.

When we show up at the cave we also find that we have been given gifts beyond our imagination: in place of alienation and isolation, we have been given communion with one another and with our Source; in place of justice we have been given mercy; we receive resurrection as a gift in place of the mere survival we try to eke out for ourselves.

Moreover, our citizenship has been transferred to a new realm, one in which the laws and rules are different from the land with which we are familiar. A sign of Satan’s perennial wish to become our god is the tendency of Caesar to want to become the judge of what is good and what is evil, whether through laws that are understood to equate what is moral with what is legal, or through the mass hysteria of political, cultural, and social movements that insist that what everyone is doing must be right, because everyone is doing it (as if that were even logical). In our day, now that mass behavior can be engineered through deception and propaganda (in a word, "marketing"), it has become quite clear that it is not only Caesar that threatens to become the idol before which a pinch of incense must be burned (as was demanded of the early martyrs). The myths of "progress" and of the "invisible hand of the marketplace" are equally insidious and deadly in our modern pantheon of false deities.

The rules and laws of the Kingdom whose capital is Bethlehem demand of us lives consistent with our true nature, a nature which is in the process of divinization rather decay, the process governing the kingdom of this world. Among the laws of God’s Kingdom, the law of forgiveness holds a special place. In the Philokalia, a collection of texts second in importance only to the Bible in the Christian library, St. Mark the Ascetic writes, "The sign of sincere love is to forgive wrongs done to us. It was with such love that the Lord loved the world." Our capacity to forgive is the test of our love and therefore the test of our likeness to God and of our fellowship with Him.

St. Mark goes on: "We cannot with all our heart forgive someone who does us wrong unless we possess real knowledge. For this knowledge shows us that we deserve all we experience." Where do we get such knowledge? We begin by going to Bethlehem and bringing our brokenness with us. There, first of all, we can see "such love [with which] the Lord loved the world." We also learn that everyone else around the manger: shepherds and magi, indeed, but also doctors, lawyers, priests, parents, beggars, and thieves all share the same brokenness. Along with this comes the certainty "that we deserve all we experience." In other words, every human being stands in need of mercy, not only for what we have done, but also for what is done to us.

It is not without reason that in the Divine Liturgy we do not say, "Lord, have justice," for we all know what that would lead to if God granted our prayer! Instead, we cry over and over "Lord, have mercy!" It is mercy we need, not justice, and each one of us shares this in common with every other poor soul on the planet. Justice is what we require of civil society; mercy is what we need from God and one another.

The laws of this world enjoin us to do no harm to another person. The laws of Bethlehem’s Kingdom go much further and command us to love as Christ has loved. This law goes so far beyond the other that it requires love even for the one who has done us, or wants to do us, harm.

Many of you already know that we have a concrete case before us in which we can practice and carry out this commandment of loving forgiveness and prove ourselves citizens of Heaven. I could speak of the situation of our Church in Romania, where there are those who continue to persecute us, who deprive us of our civil, legal, and moral rights and who wish us to be erased from the map of Romanian culture and religion. However, I will not do that, since we in the United States do not suffer this kind of persecution, and I will not read moral lessons to those who do. I will likewise refrain from commenting on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere, not to mention victims of Christians who themselves rain terror, death, and destruction on a massive scale upon non-Christians. I lack the moral pulpit from which to preach the virtue of forgiveness to those who suffer harm in these situations, which, grave as they are, are not contexts in which you and I would be the ones morally entitled to forgive anyone.

The situation I wish to address in this letter is one in which we are the aggrieved party, and it is considerably more banal than the others. Sometime after 1:00 a.m. on the morning of December 15, someone set fire to the ?opru, the roofed, wooden dance floor or gazebo, that had been a part of the exhibit of Maramures art and architecture belonging to our diocese and installed on the grounds of our cathedral along with the wooden church of St. Panteleimon and other works of art. The gazebo was completely destroyed; thanks be to God, no one was hurt and the church itself was untouched. There is speculation that this fire was created as a diversion in order to carry out another act of arson at another church about three miles away, committed perhaps as an act of revenge against that church.

Now, how do you judge this situation and the person or persons responsible for it? From the perspective of the manger in Bethlehem, that is, how do you judge? From the vantage point of the "real knowledge" of which St. Mark the Ascetic speaks, how do you perceive? What are you thinking right now about the arsonist(s)? What are youfeeling about him/her/them? What preconceived notions and prejudices (for we all have them) did you conjure up in your mind when you first heard of this vandalism? What would you do to the vandals, if you had the chance? What would you like to see happen to them? What do you think should happen to them?

From the vantage point of the great world capitals, of Rome or Constantinople or Washington or Bucharest, what should happen to them is clear. The perpetrator(s) of such wanton destruction should be apprehended, tried, and punished. But from the vantage point of Bethlehem, what do you think should happen to them?

Regarding the arsonists from the vantage point of the manger, what do you see? Do you see criminals, thugs, or delinquents who merit only punishment and pain, or do you see children of God, persons of infinite value and tremendous beauty who have already had enough experience of pain and punishment to render them capable of carrying out such an act as this, minor as it is in the chronicle of human evil. Bring your own brokenness to Bethlehem and ask yourself, candidly, "Am I really a better person than the arsonists? By whose standards, other than my own? In the eyes of the Infant in the manger, am I really somehow more deserving of mercy and love and forgiveness than they are?"

As the kingdom of this world measures these things, we have lost about $60,000 worth of material and talented, loving labor, not to mention the product of an incalculable amount of generosity, dedication, and good will on the part of the benefactors who made installing the gazebo possible. It is a considerable loss, indeed, for a community as poor as ours. But how do wood and wealth measure up in comparison to a human being, a human soul? In committing this act, what have the arsonists done to themselves? What have they lost? In the economy of the Kingdom of Bethlehem, they have suffered the far greater loss as a result of this tragedy.

Adeste, fideles! Be there, believers, in the Kingdom of your God! Now is the time to "stand up" for your beliefs and get down on your knees to pray, as victims, for our victimizers. Today we sing, "Your nativity, Christ-God, shed upon the world the light of knowledge" (troparion of Christmas). Today we have an inestimable opportunity to stand up for the truth as we know it by committing one great, all-encompassing act of forgiveness. We can do this because of the grace of divinity in us, who are the mystical Body of the One in the manger. What a chance for grace! What an opportunity to give testimony in the truly supreme court of God’s justice!

These opportunities do not come every day, and so I am writing to you now, Christmas day, to urge you to join with me in prayer specifically for those who committed this crime against us, to adopt them as objects of our special spiritual concern and love, to forgive them from the heart for what they have done. I urge you equally to beware: as long as there is any bitterness, enmity, or the desire for revenge in your heart, these arsonists will have succeeded in burning down a great deal more than a wooden gazebo.

To further this spiritual enterprise, I ask our pastors to find some way at each celebration of the Eucharist, that is, each celebration of our communion with Jesus, to pray for those who have offended us in this arson as Jesus prayed for his crucifiers. Even if it be only a commemoration in the Great Entrance, we need to keep before us this reminder of our spiritual task. I ask also that this prayer be kept up until Easter, along with the prayer that we may be convinced of the spiritual truth and power of what this prayer is about.

When the time came to consecrate our wooden church, I asked one of the saints in heaven to give it his special protection and patronage so that it might become a true place of pilgrimage, healing, and peace. For this, it seemed to me appropriate to choose St. Panteleimon, the martyr and unmercenary healer, although, truth be told, I suspect that St. Panteleimon chose the church for himself. In his lifetime, this saint’s name was never Panteleimon, which means "all-merciful." His name was Pantaleonta. A voice from heaven gave him the name "Panteleimon" after he forgave the man who had been trying unsuccessfully to behead him. In the Kingdom of Bethlehem, you see, it was the case that the executioner’s sword could not sever the saint’s head until Panteleimon himself pronounced words of forgiveness in imitation of his redeemer and Lord.

In closing, I would like to share with you, for your reflection, a Christmas greeting God sent through some friends in California while I was writing this letter:

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
The Executive Board of the Society of St. John Chrysostom-Western Region
wishes you a blessed feast of the Nativity
of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ!
This, Now, is the day of peace! Today! This present Day!
"This Christmas night bestowed peace on the whole world;
So let no one threaten;
This is the night of the Most Gentle One – Let no one be cruel;
This is the night of the Humble One – Let no one be proud.
Now is the day of joy – Let us not revenge;
Now is the day of Good Will – Let us not be mean.
In this Day of Peace – Let us not be conquered by anger.
Today the Bountiful impoverished Himself for our sake;
So, rich one, invite the poor to your table.
Today we receive a Gift for which we did not ask;
So let us give alms to those who implore and beg us.
This present Day cast open the heavenly doors to our prayers;
Let us open our door to those who ask our forgiveness.
Today the DIVINE BEING took upon Himself the seal of our humanity,
In order for humanity to be decorated by the Seal of DIVINITY."
St. Isaac the Syrian (d. AD 700)

In the name of St. Panteleimon, the "all-merciful," and of his all-merciful Master, I beg all of you to join together in mercy. Let the oil of your prayer cover our arsonists, whoever they are, with its healing power. Only we can do this for them, and so we must. In this way, and only in this way, can we make visible in our own flesh the Merciful One who became flesh for our sake. This is why we are a church and not some other kind of institution that, like all others, will pass away. It is our vocation and destiny. It is our duty as citizens of an eternal kingdom

We have spent a whole Christmas lent preparing for mercy to come to our world. Now it is time for us to get up and follow the star to Bethlehem. May He who is born this day grant us all, together with those who do us harm, the peace that only He can give.

Your brother in Christ-God,

+ John Michael, a sinner
Bishop of St. George in Canton

Întâlnirea a debutat cu adunarea generală a clerului eparhial în ziua de vineri, 26 iunie, cu începere de la ora 10:00, în sala de oaspeţi a bisericii Sf. Maria, la care au participat, alături de episcopul eparhial, 9 din cei 16 preoţi activi în eparhie, 3 din cei 7 diaconi şi 2 din cele 4 călugăriţe. Între temele abordate s-au evidenţiat reflecţiile şi discuţiile despre rolul clericilor în relaţiile cu credincioşii, precum şi raportul financiar la nivel de eparhie pentru anul 2008-2009. În a doua parte a după-amiezii au avut loc întâlnirile ordinare ale Consiliului Consultorilor şi Consiliului Financiar ale eparhiei, urmate de celebrarea Vecerniei de rând. Ziua s-a încheiat cu o agapă fraternă la biserica Sf. Vasile.

A doua zi, după celebrarea Sfintei Liturghii la biserica Sf. Maria, a avut loc întâlnirea plenară a Adunării Eparhiale cu participarea a circa 55 reprezentanţi ai parohiilor şi misiunilor greco-catolice româneşti de pe întreg teritoriul Statelor Unite. Pe ordinea de zi a întâlnirii cu tema "Udând Via Domnului" s-au aflat necesitatea înfiinţării Consiliului Pastoral Eparhial şi a Consiliului Eparhial pentru Conducere Administrativă, promulgarea noilor decrete ale Preafericirii Sale Lucian cu privire la viaţa liturgică, necesitatea elaborării noilor directive de funcţionare a consiliilor eparhiale şi parohiale, prezentarea rapoartelor de activitate al economului eparhial, al directorului pentru comunicaţii şi al directorului Caritas, precum şi diferite proiecte legate de activităţile misionare şi caritative ale eparhiei.

La iniţiativa Preasfinţiei Sale John Michael, toţi cei prezenţi au semnat o scrisoare de comuniune cu Biserica Greco-Catolică din România, adresată Preafericirii Sale Lucian, Arhiepiscopul Major al Bisericii noastre, precum şi o scrisoare adresată Preasfinţiei Sale Louis cu ocazia aniversării a 26 de ani de la consacrarea sa întru episcop, ca prim ierarh al Eparhiei noastre de Canton.

În după-amiaza zilei de sâmbătă, 27 iunie, şi-au început activitatea cele două comisii nou înfiinţate, fiecare având cel puţin un reprezentant din fiecare comunitate românească şi s-au stabilit normele lor de funcţionare şi activitate pentru anul în curs. De la ora 18:00 comunitatea bisericii Sf. Vasile a organizat un banchet pentru sărbătorirea celor 100 de ani de la înfiinţarea parohiei, cu participarea a circa 250 de invitaţi. Pe un fond muzical românesc oaspeţii s-au putut bucura de o seară plăcută presărată atât de gustări româneşti şi americane, cât şi de momente de dans individual şi colectiv.

Duminică, 28 iunie, la biserica Sf. Vasile, Preasfinţia Sa John Michael a celebrat Sfânta Liturghie arhierească cu participarea întregului cler şi a circa 150 de credincioşi, un moment important fiind marcat de hirotonirea întru preoţie a părintelui diacon Ronald Hilt, din parohia Sf. George în Aurora (statul Illinois).

Un moment important în viaţa comunităţilor din New Jersey a fost marcat de asemenea prin recunoaşterea meritelor administrative ale părintelui paroh, protopop şi protosincel, George David, prin acordarea titlului de iconom stavrofor de către Preasfinţia Sa, împreună cu însemnele liturgice aferente: crucea pectorală şi epigonaţionul.

Adunarea Eparhială celebrată în concordanţă cu aniversarea celor 100 de ani de existenţă a parohiei din Trenton, s-a încheiat cu un delicios picnic pregătit de către enoriaşii celor două parohii gazdă, Sf. Vasile şi Sf. Maria, servind un meniu în exclusivitate românesc.

Mulţumim părintelui paroh, George David, şi tuturor credincioşilor care au contribuit la succesul acestei sărbători, pentru extraordinara organizare şi desfăşurare a întâlnirii, precum şi pentru delicioasele bucate tradiţionale oferite, şi le urăm un călduros "La Mulţi Ani!" şi plinătate de haruri pentru continuarea misiunii lor de apostolat şi evanghelizare între greco-catolicii români americani.

Din partea Biroului de Comunicări al Eparhiei "Sf. Gheorghe" în Canton
10 iulie 2009

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

It is when the world seems to be crashing in all around us that it is most important to recognize some of the fundamentals of our faith. It is one thing for us to appreciate some of the great things that belonging to one of our parishes has to offer, such as the sense of family, of tradition, and of belonging that we experience. The beauty of the Byzantine liturgy and the sense of God’s closeness that we experience in the sacraments are among the most precious gifts of our heritage.

Sometimes we take the things we always knew for granted. Like our heartbeat, which has been going on nonstop almost from the beginning of our days, those things that are most familiar and most intimate to us are the ones that most often escape our attention and reflection. Those of us who have been lifelong members of our Romanian Catholic parishes do not always have the sense that visitors and those who are newly joining our parishes from other traditions have of our faith and practice. It seems somehow strange to us that people who have entirely different ethnic and cultural backgrounds find value in our small and homely experience and want to be part of something that, in all honesty, we had become used to seeing rejected instead by the offspring of our communities’ founders.

What is going on? In the opinion of some of our members, our parishes exist only in order to remain precisely as they recall it from their childhood, and then die as the powerful process of cultural assimilation grinds all immigrants into the same homogenized American powder. What is the use of trying to hold on to our parishes when all around us there are larger, better organized, and vastly better financed Roman Catholic parishes that we could belong to? Is it somehow preordained that only the Latin rite should have a permanent home on these western shores (though even our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers are having a difficult go of it in an environment with fewer and fewer priests)?

Although I can scarcely speak from my own experience regarding what happens in Romania, it has occurred to me, too, that many whose families had been Greek-Catholic prior to past and present political attempts to eliminate the Greek-Catholic Church from national life in Romania may have likewise found it too hard to swim against the cultural tide. Perhaps they have simply chosen to remain where history and political repression have put them. It is just easier to be Orthodox where Orthodoxy is big and powerful, and Roman Catholic or Protestant (or Evangelical) where western Christianity commands the privileges of a majority.

(In both these situations, of course, I am referring to those who exercise religious “preferences” as a path of least resistance in their worlds, not to those who have chosen where they belong out of conviction and an experience of truth. Far be it from me to judge the mystery of another’s life. I am sure that some of our people who have found a spiritual home elsewhere have done so in response to a spiritual hunger they have not been able to satisfy in our parishes, for whatever reason. I have often said that there are two reasons that people leave our communities: either because they don’t love God or because they do.)

Yet, it is precisely into this situation that I believe the Holy Spirit has stepped in—not because we Greek-Catholics are better than anyone else or more deserving of divine grace than other Christians. Rather, it is precisely because we are small and poor and powerless and a little odd that we are more available for God’s purposes in the great march of human destiny. It is easier to divert a trickle than a flood, to water your tomato plants with a garden hose than with a swimming pool. God chooses the little ones of this world to accomplish his will; what we need to do is simply choose that will over our own grandiose pretentions.

This is where the fundamentals come in (note: one can focus on fundamentals without becoming a fundamentalist!): the very simple faith expressed in our Creed and sung in the Gospel reading of Easter, the Prologue of the Gospel of John. As elaborate as our liturgy is, as elaborate as our ceremonies may be, it all comes down to the simple celebration of our faith that God is Father, unconditional love and everlasting mercy; that in Jesus Christ God becomes one of us and shares our story, even unto his own death on a cross; that by enduring death, Jesus has conquered it, has freed humanity from enslavement to it, and has healed this congenital defect that has come down to each woman and man since Adam and Eve. Furthermore: it all comes down to an acknowledgment that, despite the foibles of every age, the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in the world, in an especially unique way in the Church, making of us the Mystical Body of Christ, the extension in time and space of the words and works of our Master through an unbroken communion with him who promised to be with us all days, even to the end of the world.

It is particularly easy to forget this simple story when everything comes crashing down on us, when we are too sick or too busy to keep on doing what we think we are supposed to be doing; when thoughts of our own eventual death or the actual death of one we love threatens to make a mockery of our hope; when all we have worked and sacrificed to build collapses in smoldering ruin because, yes, greedy people (perhaps ourselves among them?) have thought that a house built on plastic could be as sturdy as one built on the Rock. These are times when just being can seem a bitter prospect, and every tomorrow brings fresh disappointment.

But these are also the times that even the Divine Liturgy itself cries out to us, “Wisdom! Be attentive!” If we pay attention and stop to think about it, we can see all around us little signs of life. If you are fortunate, as I am, to belong to a parish that has seen new members you know what I am talking about. Something about us, something so intimate or familiar that we have taken it for granted and barely notice anymore, that something has drawn others into its light while we were busy worrying about our heating bills and parking lots.

That something is the risen Lord Jesus. Somehow, hen we gather to sing “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and bestowing life to those who are in the tombs,” there can be no doubt in the heart of any visitor that this is the truth, and in a cynical and weary world this Truth itself is risen from the grave. We sense his presence in the proclamation of his resurrection, and those who have been looking for him can find him among us: And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father (John 1:14).

It is not enough to say that Jesus is God-made-human. This is indeed true, but the point the Evangelist wishes to make is that Jesus, that is to say God, dwelt—indeed, dwells—alongside us. The Greek verb in this passage carries the notion of pitching one’s tent, becoming a fellow traveler and sojourner. Therefore when we are doing our job as a church, we enable other travelers to know and experience the One who is always with us on our way.

For it is Christ who is risen—not someone else, not Moses, nor Muhammad, nor Mother Theresa. Christ is not Napoleon, Caesar, or Alexander the Great. The one who has conquered death is the only one who could conquer it, and the rest of humanity awaits its call to rise from the tombs. Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Napoleon all conquered lands and enslaved kingdoms, and they did so by inflicting great misery and death. They, and others like them, were not conquerors, in truth, but the conquered, having become lackeys and instruments of the great Enemy of the human race, that is, death itself. The one who has overcome death and destroyed this Enemy, who has granted freedom to every child of God, used only the weapons of forgiveness (grace) and truth to accomplish his victory.

And from his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16-17). Christ’s resurrection means resurrection for everybody. The task for each of us is to live our immortality here and now, being witnesses to the truth of the grace that has been poured out upon the world. Following Christ in our present lives, and then for all eternity, is something available to us no matter what the circumstance. It is something every one of us can do, no matter how the world cracks and fizzles at our feet, no matter how threatened or frightened or vulnerable we may feel. It takes neither an army, nor money, nor an education, nor powerful connections to be a follower of Christ. It only takes a willing heart and a trusting spirit. And one another.

That is why I am glad to be where I am, part of a little flock that is truly God’s own. As I listen to you sing “Christ is Risen” on Easter Sunday, I know that I am safe at home with you, sheltered in the loving arms of our Savior and wrapped about with the protecting mantle of his Mother. Come what may, I know this simple truth shines from the heart of all our communities, because I have seen how people of all kinds have found light, life, and safety in our midst, as have we. It does not matter whether the Berlin Wall or Wall Street is crumbling to bits all around us. We are safe and we are free, for Christ is risen indeed.

May the Spirit of the risen Christ bring great joy to your hearts this Easter, and may you abide in that joy for all your days. With every good wish and blessing this bright season, I remain

Your brother in the Lord,

(Most Reverend) John Michael Botean
A sinner, and
Bishop
Eparchy of St. George in Canton

Reverend and dear Fathers, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

There is a cloud gathering over Romania that threatens to unleash a storm upon our Church. A bill, originally introduced in the Romanian Parliament in 2007 and rejected by the Romanian Senate, has been resurrected and placed on the agenda of the House of Deputies where, if it passes, it will become law despite its rejection, not only by the Senate, but by the former government of Prime Minister Tariceanu and every parliamentary commission that studied it.

This bill, PL 368/2007, is entitled, "An act regarding judicial measures concerning the assets belonging to the Orthodox and Greek-Catholic religious communities in Romania." The purpose of this legislation is to prevent our Church from ever recovering real and other property: churches, monasteries, cemeteries, lands, artworks, furnishings, etc., "legally" stolen by the communist government of Romania in 1948 as part of its program of extermination carried out against our Church. This property has been in the hands of the Romanian Orthodox Church since that time and, apart from the return—often through the courts—of perhaps 100-200 churches, remains in those hands. Since our Church’s liberation in 1989, our congregations have met for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in cemeteries, classrooms, cultural centers, and other places not conducive to our way of worship.

The issue of the return of our Church’s property confiscated by the communists is a complex and delicate one, particularly as it affects the relationship between our Church and the Romanian Orthodox Church. However, the legal and moral principles involved are not complex at all. They are as simple as the Seventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not steal." What has been unjustly taken by the state must be returned to its owner by the state in order to restore justice. However, our bishops in Romania have always wanted to temper justice with mercy—they have not been asking for the return of churches in villages where there are no longer Greek-Catholics. (Communist persecution reduced the number of our faithful from 2.5 million before 1948 to 200-250,000 today.)

Where problems have arisen locally in the relationship with the Orthodox Church in its clergy and faithful, this has been the result of an unwillingness, for instance, to return a church where there are two churches, one of which belonged to our Church prior to 1948. Court judgments returning properties are not enforced by local politicians and police. In some cases the buildings remain locked and unused. I have heard that in some cases, both buildings are used—by the same community—on alternate weekends. In some cases, our buildings have been demolished. Through it all, however, we do not have any quarrel with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, who are also victims of communist repression and who also have the right to freedom of worship and buildings in which to offer praise to the one God of all.

What is needed is the strong application of justice—not political expediency—on the part of the Romanian government, and an even stronger application of mutual respect and Christian love on the part of both churches in Romania. Unfortunately, the proposed legislation attempts to short-circuit this very difficult, but very worthwhile, process in favor of the quick "solution" of legislative fiat.

Our Church opposes the passage of this bill. I have written the President of Romania, Traian Basescu, and Romania’s Prime Minister, Emil Boc, to express my profound disappointment and opposition to the measure. I will continue to contact other people around the world who may be of influence in preventing this bill from passing, and I hope to be able to provide the means and the help for you to do the same.

Right now, however, what I am asking for from you is that you take up the two great weapons of our Christian armory, prayer and penance.

His Beatitude, Archbishop Lucian, has proclaimed a day of strict fasting and prayer in all parishes of the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia-Fagaras. It is vital that we show him and our brother and sister Greek-Catholics our solidarity by joining with them on that day. Therefore, I am proclaiming Wednesday, February 11, as a day of strict fast and special prayer throughout the diocese, in each and every parish. I ask all our faithful to make this sacrifice for our cause, and to go to the church you are blessed to have free and unhindered use of in order to pray on that day that God’s will be done in Romania—and injustice is not God’s will. But loving one’s enemies is God’s will, so it is important that we pray not only that an unjust law not be passed, but also that our suffering faithful in Romania endure their trials without becoming embittered or turning to hate or, God forbid, violence.

My suggestion is that each parish pray the Office of Consolation of the Mother of God, also known as the Paraklisis Service (Paraclis), however what precisely will done in each parish I leave up to each pastor and the circumstances of his parish.

If you cannot come to church that day, please set aside at least five minutes of your time to pray along with us. We are one body in Christ, especially in the solidarity of prayer. May the God of peace, Who in His Son has gathered the world to himself, send His Holy Spirit of love and reconciliation to redeem the trying times in which our beloved Church now finds itself. May the Most Holy Mother of God extend her merciful arms upon us all and give us her maternal protection.

Your brother in the Lord Jesus,
(Most Reverend) John Michael Botean
A sinner, bishop

This letter is to be read at all Divine Liturgies in all the churches of the Eparchy on the weekend of Sunday, February 8, 2009.

Preacucernici părinţi, iubiţi fraţi şi surori întru Cristos,

Norii grei ce se adună deasupra României ameninţă cu dezlănţuirea unei furtuni asupra Bisericii noastre. Un proiect de lege, care a fost introdus pentru prima dată în Parlamentul României în 2007 şi respins la acea dată de către Senat, vede din nou lumina zilei şi este inclus pe ordinea de zi a Camerei Deputaţilor, unde, dacă este promulgat, va deveni lege în ciuda faptului că a fost prima dată respins nu numai de către Senat ci şi de către fostul guvern condus de Premierul Tăriceanu împreuna cu toate comisiile parlamentare ce l-au studiat.

Proiectul de lege, PL 368/2007 se intitulează “Lege privind regimul juridic al bunurilor imobiliare aparţinând cultelor religioase Ortodox şi Greco-Catolic din România”. Scopul acestei legislaţii este de a împiedica pentru totdeauna Biserica noastră de a-şi mai recupera proprietăţile aparţinătoare de drept, cum ar fi: biserici, mănăstiri, cimitire, pământuri, opere de artă, mobiliere, etc., furate “în mod legal”, în anul 1948, de către guvernul comunist din România ca urmare a programului de eliminare a Bisericii noastre, aplicat de acel guvern. Din 1948 încoace, aceste proprietăţi se află în mâinile Bisericii Ortodoxe Române şi, în afară de retrocedarea – făcută, în general, prin intermediul curţilor judecătoreşti – a aproximativ 100-200 de Biserici, celelalte rămase spre a fi retrocedate sunt în continuare în posesia Bisericii Ortodoxe Române. În 1989 când Biserica noastră a fost repusă în libertate, clerul împreună cu credincioşii noştrii au fost nevoiţi să oficieze Sfintele Liturgii în cimitire, săli de clase, case de cultură şi multe alte locuri necorespunzătoare acestor tipuri de ceremonii religioase.

Problema retrocedarii proprietăţilor Bisericii noastre, confiscate de către regimul comunist, este una delicată, în special prin faptul că afectează relaţia dintre Biserica noastră şi Biserica Ortodoxă Română. În orice caz, principiile morale şi de drept pe care se bazează această retrocedare nu sunt deloc complexe. Sunt la fel de clare precum este porunca a-7-a: “Să nu furi”. Ceea ce a fost luat pe nedrept de către stat trebuie să-i fie retrocedat posesorului tot de către stat, pentru a restabili dreptatea. Episcopii noştrii din România au încercat mereu să tempereze dreptatea cu îndurarea – ei nu au cerut retrocedarea Bisericilor noastre în satele unde nu mai există Greco-Catolici. (Persecuţia comunistă a redus numărul credincioşilor noştrii de la 2.5 milioane în 1948 la 200-250,000 de credincioşi în ziua de astăzi).

În diferitele locuri unde au apărut probleme în relaţiile dintre reprezentanţii şi clerul Bisericii noastre şi cei ai Bisericii Ortodoxe, au fost create din cauza încăpăţânării, spre exemplu, de a retroceda o Biserică acolo unde există două; una din cele două aparţinând înainte de 1948 Bisericii noastre. Deciziile curţilor judecătoreşti date în favoarea retrocedării proprietăţilor nu sunt respectate de către politicieni şi poliţia locală. În unele cazuri clădirile au ramas închise şi nu se mai folosesc. Am auzit despre cazuri în care amândouă bisericile sunt folosite alternativ de către aceiaşi comunitate în duminici diferite. În alte cazuri, clădirile noastre au fost demolate. Cu toate acestea, noi nu avem nici o neîntelegere cu fraţii noştrii Ortodocsi, care au fost deasemenea victime ale persecuţiei comuniste şi care la rândul lor au dreptul la libertatea religioasă şi la clădirile ce le aparţin de drept, în care să poata să se roage şi ei la Dumnezeul nostru al tuturor.

Este nevoie de o aplicare severă a justiţiei – nu o expediere politică – din partea Guvernului României, şi una şi mai severă în ceea ce priveşte respectul reciproc şi dragostea creştină din partea celor două Biserici din România. Din păcate, propunerea legislativă încearcă să întrerupă acest proces dificil, dar foarte de folos, în favoarea unui “decret” legislativ.

Biserica noastră se opune promulgării acestui proiect de lege. I-am scris Preşedintelui României, Domnului Traian Băsescu, şi Premierului României, Domnului Emil Boc, pentru a-mi exprima dezamăgirea şi opoziţia mea faţă de acest proiect de lege. Voi continua să contactez şi alte persoane din întreaga lume, care ar avea putere de influenţă în a prevenii ca acest proiect de lege să fie promulgat şi sper să pot să vă ofer posibilitatea şi ajutorul ca fiecare dintre dumneavoastră să poată face la fel.

Ceea ce vă cer în momentul de faţă este să vă înarmaţi cu două dintre armele cele mai puternice din arsenalul nostru creştin, şi anume, postul şi rugăciunea.

Preafericirea Sa, Arhiepiscopul Lucian, a desemnat o zi de pocăinţă şi rugăciune profundă în toate parohiile din Arhidieceza de Alba-Iulia şi Făgăraş. Este foarte important ca şi noi, la rândul nostru, să-i arătăm Preafericirii Sale şi tuturor fraţilor şi surorilor Greco-Catolici solidaritatea noastră prin a-i însoţi în post şi rugăciune în acea zi. Drept aceea, declar ziua de Miercuri 11 Februarie, zi de strict post şi rugăciune adâncă în fiecare dintre parohiile şi misiunile din întreaga noastră Dieceză.Cer tuturor credincioşilor să facă acest sacrificiu pentru cauza noastră comună şi să meargem fiecare dintre noi la Bisericile cu care am fost binecuvântaţi să le avem şi să le folosim în libertate, pentru ca prin rugăciunile înalţate din data de 11 Februarie să se faca Voia Domnului în România – nedreptatea nu este Voia Domnului. Însă a-i iubi pe duşmanii noştrii este într-adevăr Voia Domnului, astfel încât este important să ne rugăm ca nu numai să nu fie promulgată o lege ce este nedreaptă, ci şi ca, credincioşii noştrii din România să-si poată purta suferinţele fără a fi plini de amărăciune sau de ură, sau, Doamne fereşte, să treacă la violenţă.

Sugestia mea este ca fiecare dintre parohiile şi misiunile noastre să se roage, Rugăciunea Îndurării Maicii Domnului, altfel cunoscută sub numele de Paraclisul Maicii Domnului, însă las la latitudinea fiecărui preot paroh sau admninistrator să decidă ce rugăciuni vor fi oferite de către comunitate în ziua de 11 Februarie.

Dacă nu puteţi veni la Biserică în acea zi, vă rog să vă acordaţi, cel putin, 5 minute din timpul dumneavoastră spre a vă ruga împreună cu noi. Suntem un trup în Cristos, mai ales în ceea ce priveşte solidaritatea în rugăciune. Fie ca Domnul păcii, Care prin Fiul Său Şi-a adus lumea aproape de Sine, să trimită Spiritul Său cel Sfânt, Spirit al dragostei şi reconcilierii, ca să răscumpere Biserica noastră iubită din această încercare în care se găseşte. Fie ca Preasfânta Maică a lui Dumnezeu să-şi extindă braţele Sale pline de îndurare peste noi toţi şi să ne ia sub protecţia ei maternă.

Al vostru frate în Domnul Isus,

+ John Michael Botean
Episcop, un păcătos

Această scrisoare trebuie să fie citită la toate Liturghiile din toate bisericile Eparhiei noastre în Duminica din 8 Februarie 2009.

Mr. Traian Basescu
President of Romania

Mr. Emil Boc
Prime Minister of Romania

Dear Mr. President,

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I am writing about a matter of which you are already quite aware, namely the legislation now pending before Parliament known as PL 368/2007. I am the bishop of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Eparchy of St. George, whose see is located in Canton, Ohio, USA. As bishop, I have the pastoral care of all Romanian Greek-Catholics in the United States.

I am quite astonished and dismayed that this legislation, which received no positive recommendation and was defeated in the Senate when first introduced, has again seen the light of day. It is beyond my comprehension that, twenty years after the defeat of the tyrannical Ceausescu regime, a country now a part of NATO and the European Union could even consider passing a law that so brutally tramples fundamental human rights and freedoms. In its conception and intent, it is more worthy of a totalitarian dictatorship than of a free people. While purporting to offer fair and just treatment as regards the properties of (only) two of Romania’s several recognized religions, it relies upon the illegitimate application of the principles of majority rule and proportionality to settle disputed property claims by legislative fiat.

The law is unjust in that denies the right of Romanian citizens and their free institutions to own and keep property. It attempts to settle conflict by the granting of privilege to one group of citizens at the expense of the just demands of another group. It imposes the dictatorship of the majority while failing to secure the rights of the minority. It overlooks the just distinction between rightful ownership and unlawful possession.

The law is impractical as well. Even if its legitimate aims were clear (and they are not), I fail to see how it could achieve them. It does nothing to establish justice or strengthen the rule of law in your country. It will not result in anything more than the consternation and ridicule of the international community, despite the veneer of democratic process being pursued in its adoption. It will do nothing to promote harmony among the various elements of Romanian society; on the contrary, religious and ethnic minorities throughout the land will see the hand of totalitarianism behind it and, fearing for themselves and their own interests, are likely to react accordingly.

This law will do nothing whatsoever to make Romanians better and more engaged citizens of their own republic. It will instead spread a sense of cynicism and despair that will only make them more ripe for new despotism. It will subvert the judicial process, which is the proper forum for the resolution of disputed claims, with the raw exercise of legislative hubris.

Finally, the law is itself immoral. It is unmistakably, indeed rather brazenly, an act of religious persecution masquerading as democracy. It renders patent the heretofore subtle prejudice in Romanian society that sees Greek-Catholics as, at best, second-class citizens, if not actually traitors to their nation, whereas the Greek-Catholic church was the very cradle of Romanian national identity and the engine of Romanian national unity from its inception through the Great Union of 1918.

This legislation enshrines religious persecution in Romanian law and establishes Stalinist social engineering, seen in the unsuccessful attempt by the communist regime to exterminate the Greek-Catholic Church for 41 years, on a permanent footing in Romanian society. It exploits religious tension and disagreement for partisan political purposes. The very fact that the law was brought back for reconsideration after its initial defeat has already caused considerable fear and much heartbreak to loyal Romanians who now see their compatriots rejecting them and their country trying to force their church back into the catacombs into which they were forced by communist oppression in 1948.

Finally, PL 368/2007 belies the Constitution of Romania and its own text insofar as it takes away the very freedom of the Greek-Catholic Church of which both documents speak. Without the ability to own and keep rightful property, such claims to “freedom” are meaningless.

It is the duty of the state to secure justice for all of its citizens and to pursue the common good. Not only must it do its duty, it must be seen to be doing its duty. Passage of this law by Romania’s parliament would do neither, and to believe that this would escape the world’s attention is to engage in delusion. Moreover, since it does not even possess the appearance of justice, it would expose Romania to the critical judgment of other nations, and that judgment would be well deserved. I am absolutely certain that it will not enhance Romania’s prestige in the world as a land of freedom, tolerance, and justice.

PL 368/2007 is evil in its intent, evil in its design, and evil in its effects. Not only should it not be passed, it should not even see debate on the floor of the House of Deputies. It should be withdrawn. To subject the nation to a debate along the lines of this legislation would be to ignite passions that may prove to be quite difficult to contain.

I am sure members of Parliament can do better than that. My purpose in writing is to express my support for the request of His Beatitude, Archbishop Lucian of Alba Iulia and Fagaras, expressed in his letter (Nr. 6/28.01.2009) to you, that this law be withdrawn from consideration.

If passed, I am afraid that this law will bring shame upon the country of my ancestors for many years to come. It is a decisive step backward and an effort to revive the oppressive and hateful spirit of dictatorship. Future generations of Romanians will look back in wonder at how a country, having escaped totalitarianism once, would deliberately choose it again.

Respectfully,

(Most Reverend)
John Michael BOTEAN
Bishop, Eparchy of St. George in Canton for the Romanians

5 Februarie 2009

Biroul Episcopului Eparhial

Domnului Traian Băsescu
Preşedintele României

Domnului Emil Boc
Prim Ministru al României

Domnule Preşedinte,

Domnule Prim Ministru,

Vă scriu aceste rânduri în legătură cu o problemă pe care cu siguranţă o cunoaşteţi foarte bine şi anume propunerea legislativă înaintată Parlamentului României, PL 368/2007. Sunt Episcopul Eparhiei Greco-Catolice Sf. Gheorghe cu sediul în Canton, Ohio, Statele Unite ale Americii. Ca Episcop, reprezint interesele tuturor credincioşilor Români Greco-Catolici din Statele Unite ale Americii.

Sunt complet bulversat şi dezamăgit că această legislaţie, care nu a primit nici o recomandare pozitivă şi pe deasupra a şi fost respinsă de către Senat când a fost introdusă pentru prima dată, vede din nou lumina zilei.

Nu pot să înteleg cum după 20 de ani după ce regimul tiranic Ceauşist a fost înlăturat, o ţară care acum face parte din NATO şi din Comunitatea Europeană ar considera să ratifice o lege care încalcă în mod brutal drepturile şi libertăţile fundametale ale omului. În modul în care a fost concepută şi prin intenţia pe care o are, această propunere legislativă pare a fi dată de către un totalitarism dictatorial decât de persoane care se bucură de libertate. În timp ce pare să susţină un mod de tratare cinstit şi egal în ceea ce priveşte proprietăţile a (numai) 2 din multele religii reconuscute în România, se bazează pe aplicarea ilegală a principiilor legii majorităţii şi a proporţionalităţii pentru a rezolva disputele cererilor de retrocedare a proprietăţii, cereri făcute pe bază legislativă.

Legea este nedreaptă prin faptul că refuză dreptul cetăţenilor Români şi a instituţiilor lor libere să posede şi să-şi păstreze proprietatea. Încearcă să rezolve conflictul prin acordarea de privilegii unui grup de cetăţeni, în timp ce celălalt grup este privat de dreptul ce i se cuvine de fapt. Impune principiul majorităţii dictatoriale, în timp ce drepturile minorităţii sunt complet ignorate. Trece cu vederea complet peste distincţia dintre proprietar de drept şi posesie ilegală.

Legea nu este deloc practică. Chiar dacă idealurile ei legale ar fi clare (dar nu sunt) nu-mi pot da seama cum acestea pot fi îndeplinite. Nu încearcă să restabilească dreptatea sau să întărească litera legii în ţara dumneavoastră. Această propunere legislativă va produce doar consternarea şi ridiculizarea comunităţii internaţionale, în ciuda faţadei democratice ce pare a fi urmărită prin adoptarea acestei legi. Nu va face absolut nimic spre a stabili armonia între diferitele elemente ale societăţii Române; dimpotrivă, minorităţile etnice şi religioase din întreaga ţară, care vor vedea totalitarismul ce se ascunde sub această propunere legislativă, din frică de sine şi a interesele lor proprii, vor reacţiona ca atare.

Această lege nu va face nimic pentru a-i face pe Români cetăţeni mai buni şi mai susţinători faţă de ţara lor. În schimb va creea un sens mizantrop şi de disperare care îi vor face să fie perfect pregătiţi pentru noul despotism. Va răsturna procesul juridic, care este forumul de drept în rezolvarea tuturor cazurilor disputate, făcând loc aroganţei puterii legislative.

Ca un ultim aspect legea aceasta, în sine, este imorală. Este fără nici o îndoială, mai degrabă cu neruşinare, un act de persecuţie religioasă sub masca democraţiei. Mai degrabă, scoate la iveală mentalitatea inculcată din societatea Română care îi vede pe Greco-Catolici ca, în cel mai bun caz, cetăţeni de clasă inferioară, dacă nu, de fapt, trădători ai naţiunii lor proprii, în timp ce Biserica Greco-Catolică a fost de fapt leagănul identităţii naţionale Române şi iniţiatoarea unităţii naţionale Române încă de la începuturi prin Marea Unire din 1918.

Această legislaţie pune pe piedestalul Societăţii Române persecuţia şi restabileşte manipularea socială Stalinistă, ce poate fi văzut prin nereuşita regimului comunist în încercarea lui de a extermina Biserica Greco-Catolică timp de 41 de ani. Exploatează tensiuni religioase şi creează neînţelegeri în favorul anumitor partide politice. Simplul fapt că proiectul de lege a fost readus spre a fi reanalizat după ce iniţial a fost respins, a cauzat deja o temere imensă şi dezamăgire tuturor Românilor loiali care realizează cum compatrioţii lor îi resping iar ţara lor încearcă să le retrimită Biserica înapoi în catacombe unde au fost forţaţi să ajungă prima dată de către opresia comunistă din 1948.

În final, PL 368/2007 calomniază textul Constituţiei Române prin faptul că smulge dreptul la libertate al Bisericii Greco-Catolice despre care ambele documentele vorbesc. Fără posibilitatea de a fi proprietar şi de a îţi mentine proprietatea de drept, pretenţiile la “libertate” nu îşi au nici un scop.

Este de datoria statului să asigure dreptatea pentru toţi cetăţenii ei şi să urmărească bunul comun. Nu numai că statul trebuie să-şi facă datoria, ci trebuie să fie văzut că îşi face datoria. Dacă legea aceasta va fi promulgată de către Parlamentul Român, nu va arăta nici că statul îşi face datoria nici că este văzut că îşi face datoria, iar dacă credeţi că acest lucru va fi trecut cu vederea de către întreaga lume ar însemna să trăiţi în deziluzie. Mai mult decât atât, având în vedere că nici măcar nu arată o aparenţă a dreptăţii, va expune România la judecata critică a altor naţiuni, şi acea judecată va fi una drept meritată. Sunt convins că nu va ridica prestigiul României în faţă întreagii lumi ca fiind o ţară a libertăţii, toleranţei şi a dreptăţii.

PL 368/2007 are o intenţie rea, diabolică în ceea ce urmăreşte, şi în efectele pe care aceasta le va avea. Nu numai că nu trebuie lăsată să fie promulgată ca lege, nici măcar nu ar trebui să fie discutată şi analizată de către Camera Deputaţilor. Trebuie să fie retrasă. Să puneţi întreaga naţiune la discuţie de idei pe linia acestei legislaţii ar însemna să aprindeţi mânii ce s-ar putea dovedi a fi greu de controlat.

Sunt sigur că membrii Parlamentului se pot dovedi a fi mai mult decât atât. Scopul meu în a vă scrie această scrisoare este acela de a îmi exprima suportul faţă de cererea exprimată de către Preafericirea Sa, Arhiepiscopul Lucian al Alba-Iuliei şi Făgăraşului prin scrisoarea pe care v-a adresat-o (Nr. 6/28.01.2009) ca acest proiect de lege să fie retras.

Dacă va fi promulgată această lege, am temerea că, în anii ce îi vor urma, va aduce ruşine ţării strămoşilor mei. Este cu siguranţă un pas înapoi şi un efort de a reînvia spiritul dictatorial şi de opresie. Generaţiile viitoare de Români se vor uita în trecut şi se vor întreba cum o ţară, care a ieşit o dată din totalitarism, îl alege în mod liber încă o dată.

Cu stimă,

Preasfinţitul
John Michael BOTEAN
Episcopul Eparhiei Sf. Gheorghe
din Canton a Românilor

To the Clergy, Faithful
And all our brothers and sisters in the Lord

Beloved brothers and sisters,

You all learned by now about the new bill introduced to the Parliament these past days, which, if ratified, would give to the Orthodox Church full and absolute legal ownership over all the religious assets (church, cemetery, rectory and all the real estate) in the rural communities where both Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Churches are active. Twenty years after religious freedom was granted to our Church, a proposed bill is still trying to strip the Romanian Church United with Rome of its right to property ownership, and to completely discredit its apostolate in the midst of our nation.

On behalf of the Synod of our Bishops we presented a formal protest to the highest political bodies of the State. Based on the experience of the nineteen years of attempted dialog with the authorities, we realize that the interest towards our cry for justice is extremely diminished. Clearly, we hope to preserve our bliss in continuing our mission as confirmed by the principled freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution. Nevertheless, we set our hearts onto the supremacy of Heaven in remembering the affliction which every generation of Christians had to endure for the Love of our God.

Beloved brothers and sisters,

Do not be afraid! Let us be ready to face whatever thing, for the hour of trial brings forth abundant divine Grace, and no one can separate us from its power. At this time we call you to prayer and not to rhetoric. The prayer is not the ultimate weapon, but the life of the human soul searching for peace. The certainty planted into the heart by a prayerful habit is way more precious than anything the human forecast can predict. We witness the assaults of the evil, which periodically shows its ignominy so as to spread discourage and despair. Our hope is in God, and we believe that the Church can blossom only by allowing Him to flow through our ruined lives.

Thus, by the hierarchical power invented us by God, we indict February 11th, 2009 as a day of repentance and prayer for all of us, members of the Romanian Catholic Church. We entrust to the Heaven our cry for justice which seems to be gone extinct here on Earth.

Beloved brothers and sisters,

Any renewal in the history of salvation found its sparkle in the heavenly Grace and the people’s need to repentance for their sins. On bending knees, together with the Blessed God-Bearing and ever Virgin Mary, we consign to you the hope of this day of abstinence, fast and prayer, while we strengthen you in faith. Christ is with us on the boat distressed by the waves, not sleeping but advising us: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Lord’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom" (Luke 12:32). May this day of February 11th be for each one of us a day of retreat within our conscience, and astrict fast like on the Good and Holy Friday, the day of our Lord’s Passion.

Christ didn’t die as a hero, but was handed over to death, since the truth of heaven has always brought anxiety and rebuke to our human history. The Son of God carried his Cross as a renegade of humankind, yet his weakness in facing evil was out of his own will, so that through the price of His love, His death may bring us eternal salvation.

Beloved brothers and sisters,

We are close by, entrusting you to the Lord, and we renew our reliance on the heaven’s supremacy, through the words of the prophet: "Fear not, O Zion; your hands will not be weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior… I will gather them that sorrow and they will again be yours, those upon whom the burden was reproach… and gather them which were driven away… and I will make them a praise and a name, those whose shame have been in all the earth" (Zephaniah 3:16-19)

With apostolic blessing,

+ LUCIAN
Major Archbishop

Nr. 143/09
Blaj, 31 ianuarie 2009

Clerului, credincioşilor şi tuturor fraţilor în Domnul

Iubiţi credincioşi,

Aţi aflat cu toţii de proiectul legislativ propus Parlamentului în aceste zile şi care dispune ca în localităţile rurale unde există ambele confesiuni, ortodoxă şi greco-catolică, biserica, cimitirul, casa parohială şi terenurile aferente să rămână definitiv în proprietatea cultului ortodox. Iată că după douăzeci de ani de la eliberare se pune încă în discuţie un astfel de proiect de lege, prin care se urmăreşte desfiinţarea dreptului la proprietate al Bisericii Române Unite cu Roma şi discreditarea completă a apostolatului ei în sânul neamului nostru.
În numele episcopatului nostru am protestat solemn în faţa înaltelor foruri ale ţării. Dată fiind experienţa celor nouăsprezece ani în încercările de dialog cu autorităţile, constatăm că interesul faţă de strigătul nostru pentru dreptate a scăzut foarte mult. Desigur, în speranţa noastră dorim să ne păstrăm bucuria de a ne desfăşura misiunea aşa cum ne-o confirmă principial libertatea de exprimare garantată prin Constituţie. Ne întoarcem însă inimile spre puterea Cerului şi ne aducem aminte de suferinţele pe care orice generaţie creştină a trebuit să le pătimească pentru Dumnezeu.

Iubiţi credincioşi,

Nu vă temeţi! Să fim pregătiţi de orice, fiindcă ceasul înfruntării aduce Harul dumnezeiesc, iar de puterea Sa nu ne poate despărţi nimeni. Facem apel la rugăciune şi nu la retorică. Rugăciunea nu este arma de la urmă, ci viaţa sufletului omului de credinţă, doritor de pace. Certitudinea sădită în inimă de obişnuinţa rugăciunii e incomparabil mai de preţ faţă de tot ceea ce calculele omeneşti ar putea să prevadă. Asistăm la asalturile răului care periodic îşi arată lipsa de scrupule ca să poată descuraja şi dispera. Nădejdea noastră este la Dumnezeu, convinşi fiind că Biserica poate reînflori numai dacă îi lăsăm Lui libertatea deplină de a sufla liber prin ruinele vieţilor noastre.
În acest sens, în virtutea slujirii arhiereşti prin care am fost investiţi de Dumnezeu,dispunem ca ziua de 11 februarie 2009 să fie zi de pocăinţă şi adâncă rugăciune pentru noi toţi, fii ai Bisericii Române Unite. Încredinţăm astfel Cerului strigătul nostru de dreptate care aici pe pământ pare să fie auzit tot mai puţin.

Iubiţi credincioşi,

Toate înnoirile în istoria mântuirii au pornit din darul Cerului şi dorinţa de a face pocăinţă pentru păcate din partea oamenilor. Gestul de speranţă al acestei zile de post, ajun şi rugăciune vi-l încredinţăm în genunchi împreună cu binecuvântata de Dumnezeu Născătoare şi pururea Fecioară Maria, întărindu-vă în credinţă. Cristos este cu noi în barca bătută de valuri, nu doarme şi ne spune: „Nu te teme turmă mică, căci i-a plăcut Domnului să-ţi dea ţie Împărăţia”(Luca 12, 32). Să fie această zi de 11 februarie pentru fiecare în parte, zi de reculegere în faţa conştiinţei şi post aspru precum facem de Vinerea Patimilor Domnului.
Cristos nu a murit ca erou, ci a fost dat morţii pentru că Adevărul cerului întotdeauna a adus deranj şi continuă să mustre istoria noastră omenească. Fiul lui Dumnezeu şi-a purtat Crucea ca un renegat al istoriei, dar slăbiciunea-i în faţa răului a fost voită pentru ca prin preţul dragostei Sale, din moartea Sa, să ne aducă mântuirea deplină.

Iubiţi credincioşi,

Vă suntem aproape şi Vă încredinţăm Domnului, iar prin cuvintele profetului reînnoim abandonarea noastră în puterea cerului: „Nu te teme Sioane, căci mâinile tale nu vor slăbi. Domnul Dumnezeul tău este în mijlocul tău ca un izbăvitor puternic… Voi strânge laolaltă pe cei ce sunt întristaţi şi fără sărbătoare şi vor fi iarăşi dintre ai tăi, deşi ocara apasă asupra lor… pe cei izgoniţi îi voi strânge de pe drumuri. Şi îi voi face de laudă şi cu nume, în ţinuturile în care fuseseră făcuţi de ocară” (Sofonie 3, 16-19).

Cu arhierească binecuvântare,

+ LUCIAN