Mission Report: Romania: July 2011

Missionary Trip to Romania—Reported by Joannes Bucher, March 2011

MR-319-Romania

Romania has been fighting for years against the sinful abortion agenda. A unique thing about Romanians is that they will tell you that they are very religious, and about 90% believe in Jesus Christ. But when considering this label, one wants to ask the question: Why do they have so many abortions? Romanian politicians frequently find themselves frustrated by the amount of time, effort, and money they pour into their work, only to see zero results. But while God asks for our patience and long suffering, sometimes our frustration is due to having a narrow focus. This occurs when we become fixated exclusively on the political arena. Such efforts are admirable and necessary; however, the social and spiritual spheres must not be neglected. Furthermore, it is the latter which truly yields fruit in all other aspects of life.

In order to create a more well rounded pro-life movement, the Human Life International Helpers of God’s Precious Infants Model was established. The crux of any pro-life movement must be the Cross, which is exactly what crux means. The second most important focus of the pro-life movement is the social arena. The Helpers Model strives to ensure the gift of life for all. For this purpose, its members founded Life Centers to provide for all the needs of mothers and children. From crisis pregnancy counseling to financial advice for child-raising to encouraging the mothers to choose life, these Life Centers work tirelessly to support all expecting mothers and protect the unborn child’s right to life whenever, wherever, and however necessary. Furthermore, educational programs for seminary students, university students, and others help to breathe new life into a culture of life.

Bishops and other religious leaders need to be protectors of the values behind the pro-life movement and bearers of the message that “hope is not dying.” And this is why the Catholic and Greek Catholic Bishops in Romania focus very heavily on forming engaged leaders, as well as sound and holy priests. And of course, HLI supports this focus of the bishops.

GIFT OF LIFE ASSOCIATION

The “Gift of Life” Association, our HLI affiliate in Romania, is fulfilling the principles of our pro-life message as they create short-term and long-term solutions for their dioceses by, for example, offering counseling to pregnant women. HLI has had success on various levels because the pro-lifers have been trained to have better arguments to share with society. The Helpers Model also encourages the establishment of Perpetual Adoration chapels, as well as more public demonstrations of faith, such as prayer marches. These are deliberate acts of selflessness to combat the blatant selfishness that has brought such evils as abortion and contraception. The average number of abortions that Romanian women have had an average of 2-3 abortions in their lifetime.

THE SPEAKING TOUR THROUGH ROMANIA

One might think that a week traveling around Romania is not very long, but the results speak for themselves. Together with Gerda Chiserau, we visited the cities Baia Mare and Cluj Napoca to encourage the Greek Catholic seminary students before their upcoming ordination when they will begin dealing more directly with pro-life issues. In Baia Mare, we met undergraduate students who are studying theology, social work, and other lay ministry professions. In Cluj Napoca, we visited seminary students and other faithful from various parishes.

Romania’s Pro-life-March, the first to be held in 4 cities simultaneously.

The seminary students we spoke to had questions about the Church and its documents concerning life. The question in many of their minds centered on whether it is possible to split the sexual act from love. Therefore, my lectures focused on Humanae vitae. I pointed out to them how the statements of Pope Paul VI can be seen as prophetic for our culture today. In general, the Church has made 3 important pro-life and family statements. In Humanae vitae, the Church shows us how life should be received in light of the fact that it is a gift from God; in Donum vitae, how we should treat life from conception to birth; and in Evangelium vitae, how life is seen from birth to the natural death. In light of these statements, particularly Humanae vitae, our discussion should focus on understanding the reasons behind these Church documents and how we can integrate their message into our life.

Gerda Chisarau (HLI Romania leader and “Gift of Life Timisoara” founder) and I earch gave testimonies from our lives on the contrast of a sinful life to the joy of chastity. She spoke these words on chastity: “It is necessary and possible to teach teenagers to choose sexual abstinence before marriage – other countries already use interactive programes, with good results, where the youth can answer questions and use their own logic on the advantages of sexual abstinence before and outside of marriage.” A lot of questions followed our presentations, and we distributed pro-life materials, including chastity leaflets in the Romanian language made by HLI Romania.

The next day in Timisoara, I organized a workshop with the Gift of Life Association on how to conduct sidewalk counseling for women in front of abortion clinics, as Msgr. Phillip Reilly has taught around the world. They had started this type of project a year ago, but were not able to continue it. On Sunday, March 28, I was able to motivate the Church community to evangelize and help women in front of the abortion clinics. Sharing the Gospel at such places is important because it is where lives and souls are at risk. I encouraged the people to pray for others who are doing this work.

PRO-LIFE MARCH IN ROMANIA – A FEAST OF JOY

Children at Romania’s March for Life wear shirts that read, “Mommy, Daddy, thank you for my existing.”

Another joyful experience during this week was the Pro-life March in 2011. For the first time, a Pro-life March was organized simultanously in 4 cities in Romania: Bucharest, Timisoara, Satu Mare and Falticeni. About 1,000 people attended the Pro-life March in Timisoara on March 26, 2011. Political officials were present along with members from all Christian denominations.

Immediately after the March, a press conference was held, where the spiritual leaders again proclaimed their common goals and the decision to remain active, united and in prayer for similar events in the future. In Unirii Square, the participants held a moment of silence for the aborted children in Romania and placed flowers under the monument of the Holy Trinity. A couple of children had white t-shirts with the words “Mommy, Daddy, thank you for my existing.” The most important thing was that all Christian denominations were united, and this was written on a 4-meter-wide banner: “UNITED FOR LIFE AND CHRISTIAN FAMILY.” Teenagers made up about 75 % of all participants and spread their enthusiasm with songs.

The fanfare from one of the churches awakened the city to the joy of life. There were also people who traveled from other cities (Cluj, Bucharest, Dudestii Vechi, Turnu Severin, Teius, and Arad) just for this event, and 29 young people came from Voiteni.

With God’s help, more citizens in these Romanian cities will awaken to the reality that there is shedding of innocent blood. Once awake, if it is not too late, they may find grace and blessing before God. That is why your prayers and support are needed, so that HLI may continue fulfilling this important mission.