Donors and Protesters: Differences of Horizon and Number

02-09-2011

The Press Office of the Romanian Patriarchate informs us:

In connection with some late fading protests concerning the construction of the Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation, the Romanian Patriarchate reminds those interested: the support of the state for sustaining the religious cults, as well as concerning the construction of places of worship, is ensured both by the Romanian Constitution (article 29, paragraph 5) and by the Bill of the religious cults (article 10, paragraph 6). These normative documents take into account the fact that the properties of the religious cults have not been restored entirely, and that the Romanian Orthodox Church received only a little part of the properties owned both before the secularisation of the 19th century, and after the installation of the communist regime. At the same time, the special bill for the construction of the Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation stipulates the support from the state and local budgets (Bill of the Cathedral no. 251/2005, article 1, paragraph 2).

The Cathedral of the Nation’s Salvation is built only partially with money from the state budget.

In February 2011, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church approved the procedure of the national fund raising for building the Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation in all the parishes and monasteries of the Romanian Patriarchate in the country and abroad, which began on 1 June 2011.

So, every person who wishes to contribute to the building of the future Cathedral of the Nation’s Salvation can make donations in money getting recipes issued directly by the Romanian Patriarchate. The results of this fund raising are promising.

36.321 persons (36.189 natural and 132 legal) donated money so far for building the future Patriarchal Cathedral, 23,788 of them donating money since the recent initiation of the national fund raising (1 June 2011).

All these data prove the fact that the Orthodox Romanians wish the construction of the Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation.

We think that those who still contest the construction of the Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation through protest manifestations contest, in fact, the freedom of the religious cults to receive financial support from the state, provided by the Bill of the religious cults.

The Cathedral for the Nation’s Salvation, of which construction began one year ago, will be built in spite of the desperate attempts of some protesting groups in minority. Why? Because the faithful people see beyond their biological horizon. They know and feel that a cathedral gathers the past, present and future generations in the love of God and in the fraternal community of prayer.

This is why the number of the donors for building the Cathedral increases every day, even if the amounts offered are smaller because of the economical crisis. However, God looks first of all at the kindness of the generous and diligent man for the good deeds generated by faith and prayer.

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