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Romanian archbishop: Building near cathedral threatens to destroy

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  • Romanian archbishop: Building near cathedral threatens to destroy

    Catholic Online, CA
    June 30 2006


    Romanian archbishop: Building near cathedral threatens to destroy
    what communists couldn't
    By Victor Gaetan
    6/30/2006
    Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

    BUCHAREST, Romania - The largest Roman Catholic edifice in Romania,
    St. Joseph Cathedral, is being threatened by an 18-story office
    building with four underground levels, said Archbishop Ioan Robu of
    Bucharest and several technical experts.


    CONSTRUCTION SITE NEXT TO ROMANIAN CATHEDRAL - The construction site
    of an 18-story office building, with four underground levels, is seen
    in late May next to St. Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest, Romania. The
    archbishop of Bucharest and several technical experts believe that
    the cathedral is threatened by the proximity of the new building.
    (CNS/Angelus Communications)
    The building is being constructed to stand about 26 feet from the
    122-year-old cathedral.

    Despite intense opposition from Romania's estimated 2-million-member
    Roman Catholic community, daily prayer vigils and support from the
    Orthodox Church, construction by Millennium SRL - a local firm
    representing American investors - has continued at a frantic pace
    since April. The building is designed by New York-based Westfourth
    Architecture.

    "They drilled on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, shaking the church so
    violently that many parishioners left in fear. They work day and
    night, endangering our beloved church," Archbishop Robu said in late
    June.

    Archbishop Robu said Bucharest is an earthquake-prone city. In 1977,
    a magnitude-7.4 earthquake killed more than 1,500 people, mostly
    Bucharest residents who died when large buildings collapsed.

    "If there is an earthquake, this monster will crush us," said
    Archbishop Robu. "As well, the cathedral is built on land that is
    sandy. A subterranean river runs near the plot. This is a fragile
    environment."

    A former minister of public works and legislator, Nicolae Noica,
    publicly criticized local authorities for allowing the project to
    move ahead.

    "The nature of this terrain and the water table are important
    obstacles to building a 75-meter (247.5-foot) tower like this one. An
    early geotechnical study reflected these issues, but it was
    suppressed," Noica said.

    Numerous irregularities were confirmed in a May 10 Romanian State
    Office for the Inspection of Construction report signed by 12
    inspectors and the state inspector general, Dorina Isopescu.

    An American structural engineer, Emanuel Necula, who worked for the
    development project, resigned in protest, saying that at least 49
    laws and regulations were being violated by Millennium SRL. In a May
    29 report to Romanian authorities, Necula said, "All the ingredients
    for a disaster are in place."

    Daiana Voicu, a representative for Millennium SRL, said June 28 the
    company has obtained permits required to construct the tower,
    expected to cost between $40 million and $45 million. She said
    approval from the cathedral is legally unnecessary because the new
    construction is not built to the edge of the property.

    "We are currently in litigation with the church over the permits,"
    she said. A hearing is expected in July.

    Regarding the negative, 18-page Romanian construction inspector's
    report, Voicu dismissed it as biased because "Madame Isopescu is
    Catholic."

    Besides physical risk, Archbishop Robu said he worries that the
    integrity of the Catholic community is undermined when people are too
    afraid to enter the cathedral. Parishioners from the 15 parishes
    across Bucharest attend Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral together with
    non-Catholics. Approximately 8,000 people visit every weekend.

    Archbishop Robu said, "Money matters too much to the people building
    this tower, and there is an anti-religious tendency of obscure
    origin."

    He said he considered it especially ironic that the church and its
    values were being marginalized now that Romania is free of communist
    control.

    "The spirit of communism is still active in Romania. Under (communist
    dictator) Nicolae Ceausescu, we feared that the cathedral would be
    torn down or covered up, which was the policy toward churches at the
    time," said Archbishop Robu. "Instead, we are under siege today. What
    the communists could not destroy because of international pressure
    might now be destroyed, 16 years after Ceausescu's overthrow."

    Under communist rule, thousands were jailed and hundreds died in
    prison, he said, "but our faith has been strong."

    "We will rely on this faith to contest the unjust construction," said
    the archbishop.

    Meanwhile, other churches in Bucharest have faced similar battles,
    the archbishop said, noting that a large centrally located Armenian
    church has experienced cracks and structural damage - the direct
    result of a neighboring office complex built without the church's
    agreement.

    Archbishop Robu has appealed to Romanian President Traian Basescu and
    leaders of the European Union to help defend the cathedral. He said
    he also is writing to members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and to
    U.S. congressional leaders who have stood up for religious freedom.

    Romanian politicians have been unresponsive so far, he said.
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