Church, the no.1 priority of the secular state

This week, the general Council of the Bucharest Municipality voted to allot EUR 2.5 million for the pharaohnic project of the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR) to build the Nations Salvation Cathedral and another EUR 4 M for 47 churches and parishes throughout the Capital.Despite the many urgent problems of the city, from pollution to hygiene, sewage, insufficient number of schools, kindergartens and foster homes for retirees and homeless, Mayor Sorin Oprescu found it appropriate to give EUR 6.5 M to BOR. With the local elections drawing in, Oprescu like all Romanian politicians tries to draw upon himself the sympathy of the Orthodox Church, which retains a strong influence upon the electorate, especially in rural zones.Some figures are worth considering, if we want to understand how BOR has become the priority of our secular state, for many years.In 2011, BOR had incomes exceeding EUR 16 M and a profit of EUR 1.74 M, according to data recently posted by the Patriarchy on the internet site of the Finance Ministry.Yet, in 2011 BOR paid neither profit tax, nor property tax, not even the tax due for the land it owns, although it is the main landowner in Romania, and also no tax on commercial activities. We should remind, in the context, that BOR has a fabulous wealth estimated at more than EUR 3 bln, plus the value of forested lands it received back from the state, evaluated at EUR 2 bln about 2-3 pc of the total forested area at country scale which is also exempted from tax.The Church has fabulous real estate assets, with more than 17,000 churches, 600 monasteries, convents and other religious sites. Besides, the Church also controls 279 social sites, 275 museums and collections, and 42 preservation and storage centers.There are twice more churches than schools and hospitals in Romania. A survey conducted at the end of 2010 shows that, over the last two decades, 200 new churches were built each year in Romania, while the number of schools dwindled by 1,000 a year, and hospitals lost 4,000 beds each year.Well, in the country where more money is spent on religion than on health and education, nobody should wonder why the last two of them are in a serious state of decline and backwardness.We can see BOR as one of the most profitable institutions in Romania, although we might also consider it a business, because it obtains a profit. Yet, the secular state, the underfinanced and flexible state as it was called by President Basescu the state where social assistance is about to become history, sponsors the church with fabulous sums taken from public money. This is not only an act of defiance against the cash-strapped population that barely survives after two years of austerity, but also an attack against common sense and Christian teachings. Above all, Romania needs a moral reform, rather than megalomaniacal buildings that remind about the ephemeral existence of certain politicians or patriarchs. Incapable of guiding their believers towards spiritual cleanliness, the leaders of the Church get into prosperous business with the state, because the key of any successful business in Romania is doing business on public money.Judging by the number of churches and the clerical personnel over 55,000 (the Army has 75,000) paid 80 pc from the state budget (around EUR 65 M a year), one might reach the conclusion that the Romanian Orthodox Church has become the top priority of our secular republic.The works for the Cathedral whose construction is estimated at EUR 200 M began at the end of 2010. The cathedral will be built in the Byzantine Romanian style, will be 100 meters high, with a capacity of 5,000 people, and will withstand earthquakes above 8 on the Richter scale. The building will have 14 elevators and over 700 parking lots. The architectural complex of the church will include four separate buildings, along with the cathedral.It is hard to accept that money so necessary for the treatment of chronic patients, for hiring medical personnel a sector where Romania has a deficit of approximately 40 pc and for the recently enforced preparatory classes in schools, are spent instead on the salaries of priests (who should see religion as a vocation, a spiritual mission, rather than a source of material benefits) and on building churches at every corner. Unfortunately, the Orthodox Church goes through a crisis of morality, after turning into an institution that has little to do with religion and everything to do with the real estate industry.Last autumn, the Patriarchy announced that the Nations Salvation Cathedral will be partly financed from the state budget, and will rather relay on donations. In September 2011, over 36,000 people had donated to this regard.The donation generously made from the money of Bucharest inhabitants adds to the EUR 2.5 M donated in February 2011 by the government and to the EUR 1.3 M offered by the Mayors Office of District 3. When should we expect similarly generous donations for schools and hospitals, for the vulnerable people whose welfare benefits were cut by the flexible state? Most likely on Saint Tibs Eve.

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Church, the no.1 priority of the secular state