Moscow, February 3, 2017

Over the past three days, Romania has seen its biggest protest in twenty-five years, with 300,000 crowding the streets all over the nation in Bucharest, Cluj, Timisoara, Sibiu, Iasi, Constanta, and other cities. The protests, sometimes violent, began when the Romanian government adopted new legislation that makes some corruption offenses more difficult to prosecute.

Amidst this tense situation, the Romanian Patriarchate has posted a message on its official site calling upon the people to take up a spirit of prayer, dialogue, and social responsibility.

The message notes that the Church is politically neutral, but not socially indifferent, recognizing the people’s desires for social justice, reducing poverty, and increasing the standard of living. “In this sense, the fight against corruption must continue and those who are guilty must be sanctioned, because theft degrades society morally and materially,” the statement reads, continuing, “At the same time, the fight against corruption shouldn’t be used for partisan political purposes.”

“Prayer is necessary because it enlightens the mind, pacifies the passions and selfishness and cultivates a communion of love of the people for God and one another. Dialogue is necessary to resolve conflicts between people and institutions where social principles differ. Social responsibility is necessary because the full transfer of responsibility onto the opponent does not resolve common societal problems, which need jointly-developed concrete solutions,” the patriarchate admonishes.

In this spirit, the Church calls upon all its clergy and faithful to join in prayer for peace and unity and for the building up of the spiritual life of the nation.

Romania Insider reports that a message was also posted to the patriarchate’s Facebook page, again calling for prayer and peace:

In the context of today’s world, tormented by misunderstandings and wars, we need makers of peace more than ever, meaning all those who can prevent or settle conflicts between people, in society, or between nations. There is often violence and torment because people no longer gather in their souls the peace coming from God, which pacifies selfish addictions such as the abuse of power and of limitless material profit. Let us pray to God, to the Mother of God, and to all the saints who were makers of peace to bring peace, protection, and harmony in family, in society, and especially among nations in today’s world.