Romania: doubts about planned canonisations
The Orthodox Church in Romania wants to canonise three deceased theologians and clergymen - Dumitru Stăniloae, Ilarion Felea and Ilie Lăcătușu - who suffered under communism. Holocaust researchers are protesting that in the 1930s and 40s the clergymen openly campaigned for the Romanian fascists who carried out pogroms against Jews. There is no written evidence that any of them ever regretted their support.
No relaxed view possible
Contributors calls for a more nuanced view:
“At its core, the debate is about how we relate to our past: The 20th century and its totalitarian ideologies, which gave rise to multiple tragedies (Holocaust and Gulag), is no simple chapter in history. It cannot be viewed in a 'relaxed' way, but demands ethical, moral and theological consideration. When it comes to those who are canonised, individuals who are meant to serve as models for Christian living, it is imperative to look closely at their biographies to find out how they achieved the spiritual greatness we attribute to them.”
Demons of the past threaten to return
Libertatea demands an explanation:
“Sadly there is no avoiding the fact that in the interwar period, some of the clergy supported the madness of C. Z. Codreanu [the leader of the fascist Legionary Movement], and inevitably succumbed to antisemitism. It remains to be seen, with more details and more evidence, to what extent these people, who went on to experience the hell of the gulag, were cured of the mistakes of their youth. ... What makes the discussion about this so urgent is that today we have at least one (anti-European and nationalist) party on the Romanian political scene that wants to revive the deplorable demons that haunted Romania in the interwar period by ideologically appropriating the Orthodox idea.”