_WORLD WATCH______________________________
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Evicted by force
Orthodox, police remove Catholic parishioners
Romanian Catholic worshippers have been forcibly ousted by a local Orthodox contingent from a parish church in the town of Ocna-Mures—in spite of a court ruling that gave the church to the Catholic parish.

In the latest clash over church property that had been confiscated from the Byzantine Catholic Church in 1948, under the country’s Communist regime, an Orthodox group led by two priests broke down the doors of the Ocna-Mures parish church on March 16, and carried out the Catholics who were praying there. When the Catholic pastor, Father Alexandru Biris, called for police help, the local police assisted the Orthodox group in removing the Catholic parishioners.

Romanian Catholic Archbishop Lucian Muresan of Alba Julia issued a statement bitterly protesting the “anti-constitutional and religiously intolerant actions” in Ocna-Mures. He charged that the violent eviction of Catholic worshipers from their own parish church “very much resembles the situation of the Byzantine Catholic Church in 1948.”

The archbishop added the police collaboration in the eviction, despite the court ruling that had given the church to the local Catholic parish, “proves the fact that the right to religious freedom in Romania—and any democratic principles of the state—are constantly and grossly violated.”

The situation in Ocna-Mures, like many other conflicts between Romanian Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic parishioners, has been fueled by years of public dispute, and multiple court battles. In February, after eight years of such disputes, the Catholics of Ocna-Mures won a court ruling restoring their right to use the parish church, which had been confiscated from them in 1948. But Orthodox officials appealed the ruling, and —while the appeal was still in process—demanded that the Catholics leave the building.

To defend their church, Catholic parishioners had taken turns praying there, so that there were Catholic worshippers in the building at all times. On March 8, a small number of Catholics successfully resisted the efforts of an Orthodox group to evict them. The Orthodox contingent, however, returned in force later, carrying clubs and crowbars, breaking down the doors during the early-morning hours of Saturday, March 16.

Disputes between Romanian Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic groups over the possession of parish property have been a source of constant friction between the two religious groups since the fall of the Communist regime and the revival of the Romanian Catholic hierarchy. In 1999, prior to the visit by Pope John Paul II to Romania, representatives of the Vatican and the Romanian Orthodox Church agreed that such disputes should be resolved by a joint committee of Catholic and Orthodox delegates.

Earlier this year, however, Romanian Catholic leaders have made it clear that the process of ecumenical dialogue has broken down, since only a handful of Catholic parish churches have been restored to their Byzantine-rite congregations since the joint committee began its work. Catholic bishops have begun to appeal to the secular courts of Romania.

In a statement complaining about the Orthodox failure to relinquish control of the Ocna-Mures parish, Archbishop Lucian remarked that the Romanian Catholic Church, which has been “denied the right of ownership of the churches and buildings confiscated from her by the former Communist regime, is hopeful that divine justice will remain the model for human justice” despite the latest setback.