Romania mourns the death of the Patriarch

Romania is in deep mourning after the death of Teoctist, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Around 90 percent of Romanians are members of the Orthodox Church, among them Sorin Alexadrescu, who nonetheless voices criticism of the deceased patriarch. "In December 1989 the Patriarch expressed solidarity with [ex-dictator] Nicolae Ceausescu and thus with the suppression of the revolution in Timisoara. Days later the revolution spread to Bucharest, the dictator died and Christmas 1989 was Romania's first Christmas as a free country. The Patriarch never retracted his statement; it remained an official declaration of the Orthodox Church... Although today people are calling for those responsible for the bloodshed to be punished, no mention has been made of investigating the role of the Patriarch in these events. There is an uneasy silence among believers and even non-believers. The Patriarch represents the Church and criticism of him is interpreted as an attack against the Church."

» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » Romania
All available articles from » Sorin Alexandrescu

» To the complete press review of Thursday, August 2, 2007