Romania Still Has Restrictions On Minority Religious Groups - U.S. Religious Freedom Report

The report states that while there were no changes in the status of respect for religious freedom, minority religious groups continued to claim, credibly, that low-level government officials impeded their efforts at proselytizing and interfered with other religious activities.

 

Minority recognized religious groups continued to complain that public schools refused to offer classes in their religious beliefs. Minority religious groups, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Baptist Church, credibly asserted that authorities pressured children of their faith to attend Orthodox religion classes. Such cases were reported in Oravita, Caras-Severin county, and Giurgiu, Giurgiu county. Allegedly some schools purposely scheduled Orthodox religion classes in the middle of the day so that all students were required to attend, the report notes.

 

In addition, minority religious groups continued to report that at some festivities in public schools officials required all students to attend Orthodox religious services. Similar official conduct requiring attendance at Orthodox religious services also reportedly occurred within the army. Some minority religious groups also complained that the authorities generally allowed only the Orthodox Church to have an active role in opening ceremonies in schools and on other occasions, the report noted.

 

The report stated that the Romanian Government continues to differentiate between recognized and unrecognized religious groups, and registration and recognition requirements continued to pose obstacles to minority religious groups.

 

Some international organizations, domestic nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and minority religious groups criticized a December 2006 religious freedom law (which took effect in January 2007) for institutionalizing discrimination against minority religions and creating impediments for many such groups to obtain official recognition.

 

Restitution of Greek Catholic properties seized by the communist-era government in 1948 (and transferred to the Romanian Orthodox Church) also remained a problem, the U.S. Department of State said. The Greek Catholic Church was the only denomination outlawed under communist rule and whose churches were confiscated and given to another denomination, the Orthodox Church.

 

The Government continued to make progress in recognizing the history of the Holocaust in the country, but some minority religious groups continued to allege that local authorities created delays in granting construction permits based upon religion.

 

Acts of anti-Semitism, including desecration and vandalism of Jewish sites, continued during the reporting period with no appreciable change in frequency compared to previous reporting periods.

 

The extreme nationalist press of the Greater Romania Party (PRM) and individuals continued to publish anti-Semitic articles. Some groups held public events or made statements with anti-Semitic themes.

 

According to the NGO Center for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism in Romania, authorities tended to minimize the significance of such incidents of vandalism, usually explaining them as being the actions of children, drunkards, or persons with mental disorders.

 

The Legionnaires (also called the Iron Guard, an extreme nationalist, anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi group that existed in the country in the interwar period) continued to republish inflammatory books from the interwar period. Authorities occasionally investigated and prosecuted offenders, but all court cases resulted in acquittals.

 

The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights and the U.S. Embassy continued to raise concerns with officials about the failure of the government to ensure the full restitution of religious properties, including Greek Catholic churches.

 

The Embassy also strongly encouraged the Government's efforts to recognize the history of the Holocaust in the country, including the implementation of the recommendations in the 2004 Wiesel Commission Report, training of teachers to teach the history of the Holocaust in the country, erection of a Holocaust memorial, and commemoration of the country's Holocaust Remembrance Day.