ZALAU, Romania, JULY 7, 2010, with thanks to Zenit.org
Byzantine Romanian Catholics
celebrated on July 4 their first Mass in 62 years in the parish church of
Bocsa, with what was described as a “festive and moving” atmosphere.
The Bosca parish is unique because, thanks to an agreement between Orthodox and
Byzantine Catholics, it will be shared between the two Churches.
The parish has been hailed as an example of conflict resolution between the two
Churches, often at odds over patrimonial issues in former Soviet countries.
The Bocsa parish was confiscated by the Communist authorities in 1948 and given
to the Orthodox Church, after the forced abolition of the Romanian Catholic
Church. Catholics went underground until legalization was regained. Pope John
Paul II re-established their hierarch y in 1990.
Since then, the Romanian Byzantine Catholic community has worked legally for the devolution
of confiscated churches (some 2,600 properties), whereas the Orthodox requested
that the new balance of faithful be kept in mind, given that the
Byzantine Catholics have decreased significantly in numbers over the last decades.
In the specific case of Bocsa, the Romanian Catholic community asked the Orthodox
to return the parish, or to seek an alternative over the use of the church.
The case was taken to court, while the Romanian Catholics continued to propose an
agreement. At the beginning of 2010 the court decided in favor of the
Romanian Catholics, though they continued to offer an agreement to the Orthodox.
The court proceeded last July 1 with the execution of the sentence, returning
the church to the Catholics. A few hours later, the Orthodox accepted the
proposal of an agreement, which was subsequently signed before the judicial
authorities of Salaj.
Now both communities have committed themselves to share the use of the church
with different timetables.
The first Romanian Catholic Divine Liturgy was celebrated at 9 a.m. last Sunday. It was
presided over by Father Valer Parau, dean of the Romanian Catholic Church of
Zalau.
Father Valer insisted on forgiveness “to be able to heal wounds,” the
Romanian Catholic agency Catholica.ro reported.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,”
he recalled. “We believe that with this realistic, pragmatic relationship
in accord with the spirit of the Lord’s Gospel, other cases can be resolved in
which Greek Catholics are obliged by the circumstances to pray in inadequate
places. There is space for one another in the same church.”