Elderly Romanians fight for return of village's Catholic church

Published: 2004-08-03

PRUNIS, Romania (CNS) -- When 80-year-old Ioan Sabau inherited his tiny farmstead from his father four decades ago, communist rule was at its height and the Eastern Catholic church to which his family had always belonged was outlawed. Today, like other Catholics, Sabau still savors the freedom restored after Romania's revolution 14 years ago. But he feels bitter when he gazes up at the gray-walled church, now covered with scaffolding set up by the Orthodox. For the past year, the Orthodox have kept the church bolted shut. "I'm just hoping new times will come, and it'll be given back to us," Sabau told Catholic News Service. "This church is part of our life, the place where our ancestors lie buried. But now the Orthodox priest won't even allow us to pray there." Like other villages, Prunis was traditionally inhabited by Eastern-rite Catholics, who celebrate the Eastern liturgy but are in union with Rome. After World War II, when the Romanian Catholic Church, an Eastern rite, was suppressed, local Christians were placed under Orthodox supervision. When communist rule ended, over half the village's 150 households signed a list certifying they wished to go back to being Eastern Catholics.

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