International Religious Freedom Report 2008 - U.S. Department of State

CE TRANSMITE RADIO ROMÂNIA ACTUALITĂŢI ?

(20 septembrie 2008)

- România respectă libertatea religioasă, care este garantată de lege şi aplicată de guvern - afirmă Departamentul de Stat în Raportul pe 2008. Totuşi se menţin unele restricţii, care împiedică grupurile religioase minoritare să beneficieze de dreptul la libertate religioasă.

Reporter: Ştefan Stoica - Departamentul de Stat constată că anumite grupuri religioase minoritare continuă să acuze, în mod credibil, autorităţile, că le împiedică eforturile de convertire şi interferare cu alte activităţi religioase. Aceleaşi grupuri denunţă totodată ceea ce ele consideră a fi presiunile autorităţilor exercitate asupra copiilor lor de a urma orele de religie ortodoxă. Potrivit raportului, guvernul de la Bucureşti face diferenţe între grupurile religioase cunoscute şi cele necunoscute. Documentul evocă, în acelaşi timp, cazuri de abuzuri şi discriminare, pe baza afilierii, credinţei sau practicii religioase, dar şi incidente în care biserica ortodoxă s-ar fi arătat ostilă faţă de persoanele care nu aparţin cultului majoritar sau a criticat convertirea la protestantism. Pe de altă parte, Departamentul de Stat menţionează că restituirea proprietăţilor greco-catolice confiscate de regimul comunist în 1948 şi transferate Bisericii Ortodoxe rămâne o problemă.

Raportul mai afirmă că în ultimul an presa naţionalistă şi extremistă a continuat să publice articole conţinând atacuri antisemite.

CE TRANSMITE  RADIO ROMÂNIA ACTUALITĂŢI ?

(22 septembrie, 2008)

- Legislaţia în vigoare privind libertatea religioasă este respectată întru totul în România. Acesta este răspunsul Ministerului Culturii şi Cultelor la raportul critic al Departamentului american de Stat. În plus, conducerea Departamentului culte afirmă că unele dintre neregulile semnalate ar fi fost rezolvate de la finalizarea raportului şi până acum. Ioana Haşu relatează:

Reporter: Raportul de anul acesta semnalează că în România se menţin anumite restricţii care împiedică activitatea grupurilor religioase minoritare.

De asemenea, articole cu un caracter puternic antisemit au fost publicate fără ca autorii lor să fie sancţionaţi în vreun fel.

O altă problemă nerezolvată este retrocedarea proprietăţilor care au aparţinut Bisericii Greco-Catolice sau Comunităţii mozaice. Directorul departamentului pentru culte, Ştefan Ioniţă, spune că situaţiile semnalate nu intră în responsabilitatea Ministerul Culturii şi Cultelor. Domnul Ioniţă precizează, pe de altă parte, că unele critici referitoare la autorizarea greoaie a asociaţiilor religioase din România ar fi nefondate: Ştefan Ioniţă: Au fost anul acesta, până în prezent, 18 astfel de solicitări şi la 12 organizaţii s-a acordat acest aviz, au fost şi înregistrate la judecătorii... La şase aşteptăm încă anumite acte. Este o procedură în mare măsură asemănătoare celei pentru asociaţiile neguvernamentale, pentru ONG-uri. Reporter: Critici similare celor cuprinse în raportul Departamentului de Stat american au fost formulate şi de de Asociaţia pentru apărarea drepturilor omului APADOR CH. Într-un raport de anul acesta, organizaţia a semnalat că statul tratează în mod discriminatoriu cultele minoritare din România, favorizând Biserica Ortodoxă.

SUA denunţă restricţiile impuse în România minorităţilor religioase - despre raport, Mediafax

CE TRANSMITE MEDIAFAX?

WASHINGTON 

- Libertatea religioasă este respectată în general în România, ea fiind garantată de lege şi aplicată de Guvern, dar există unele restricţii care împiedică grupurile religioase minoritare să beneficieze de acest drept, se arată în raportul pe 2008 al Departamentului american de Stat.

Subliniind că nu există schimbări majore în România pe durata realizării acestui raport, Departamentul american de Stat menţionează că grupurile religioase minoritare continuă să acuze, în mod credibil, oficialii guvernamentali că le împiedică eforturile de convertire şi interferare cu alte activităţi religioase.

Acestea susţin că şcolile publice refuză să le ofere ore de religie. Martorii lui Iehova şi Biserica Baptistă susţin că autorităţile fac presiuni asupra copiilor lor să urmeze orele de religie ortodoxă. Astfel de cazuri au fost înregistrate în Oraviţa, Caraş-Severin sau Giurgiu. În plus, unele şcoli introduc orele de religie ortodoxă intenţionat în mijlocul zilei, pentru ca toţi elevii să participe la ele, potrivit raportului.

De asemenea, unele grupuri religioase susţin că la unele festivităţi publice, oficialii le cer tuturor elevilor să participe la slujbele religioase ortodoxe, situaţie întâlnită şi în armată. Acestea denunţă, de asemenea, faptul că autorităţile permit în general numai Bisericii Ortodoxe să aibă un rol activ în deschiderea ceremoniilor din şcoli sau în alte ocazii. Grupurile religioase se plâng, de asemenea, de lipsa prevederilor care să le ofere acces liber la instituţiile media de stat.

Potrivit raportului, Guvernul român continuă să facă diferenţe între grupurile religioase cunoscute şi cele necunoscute, iar înregistrarea şi recunoaşterea continuă să ridice obstacole în calea grupurilor religioase minoritare.

Unele organizaţii neguvernamentale internaţionale sau naţionale, precum şi unele grupuri religioase minoritare au criticat în decembrie 2006 legea privind libertatea religioasă, care a intrat în vigoare în ianuarie 2007, pentru instituţionalizarea discriminării împotriva minorităţilor religioase şi crearea unor impedimente pentru multe dintre aceste grupuri în obţinerea recunoaşterii oficiale.

Restituirea proprietăţilor greco-catolice confiscate de regimul comunist în 1948 şi transferate Bisericii Ortodoxe Române rămâne, de asemenea, o problemă. Comunitatea musulmană se confruntă cu problema îngropării morţilor care aparţin acestui cult. În pofida promisiunilor primarului general al Bucureştiului, în perioada raportului comunitatea nu a primit un teren pentru amplasarea unui cimitir musulman.

Guvernul a continuat să facă progrese în recunoaşterea istorică a Holocaustului în ţară, însă unele minorităţi religioase au continuat să acuze autorităţile locale că tergiversează acordarea de autorizaţii de construcţie pe baza apartenenţei religioase.

Unele minorităţi continuă să susţină că autorităţile locale nu le oferă autorizaţii de construcţie din motive nejustificate. De exemplu, în perioada anterioară raportului, Martorii lui Iehova s-au plâns că în Sighişoara autorităţile condiţionează acordarea autorizaţiei de construcţie de acceptul tuturor vecinilor din zonă. Biserica Greco-Catolică denunţă un caz similar la Săpânţa.

Raportul menţionează, de asemenea, cazuri de abuzuri societale şi discriminare pe baza afilierii, credinţei sau practicii religioase. Au fost incidente în care Biserica Ortodoxă Română s-a arătat ostilă faţă de persoanele care nu aparţin cultului ortodox şi a criticat convertirea la protestantism sau alte grupuri religioase.

În general, Biserica Ortodoxă continuă să refuze restituirea proprietăţilor bisericilor greco-catolice, confiscate în 1948.

Potrivit raportului, s-au înregistrat, de asemenea, acte de antisemitism, cum ar fi desacralizarea şi vandalizarea locaşurilor evreieşti, în această privinţă neînregistrându-se nici o îmbunătăţire faţă de raportul precedent. Acesta subliniază că presa extremistă naţionalistă continuă să publice articole antisemite, iar unele grupuri organizează evenimente publice sau susţin declaraţii publice cu teme antisemite. Potrivit Centrului pentru monitorizare şi combatere a antisemitismului în România, autorităţile încearcă să minimizeze seminificaţia acestor incidente, explicate în general ca fiind acţiuni ale copiilor, ale oamenilor beţi sau persoane cu deficienţe psihice.

Legionarii (aşa-numita Gardă de Fier, o grupare extremistă naţionalistă, antisemită şi pronazistă care a existat în România în perioada interbelică) publică în continuare cărţi instigatoare din perioada interbelică, denunţă raportul, adăugând că autorităţile ocazional desfăşoară investigaţii şi deschid procese, care se încheie însă cu achitarea inculpaţilor.

În perioada redactării raportului, publicaţiile Partidului România Mare al lui Corneliu Vadim Tudor au continuat să conţină articole cu puternice atacuri antisemite. În aprilie 2008, autorităţile nu au reacţionat la publicarea unei svastici inverse pe prima pagină a săptămânalului PRM, România Mare, denunţă raportul Departamentului de Stat.

În general, subliniază documentul, oficialii locali încearcă să fie toleranţi cu grupările religioase minoritare, dar există unele incidente în care acestea sunt intimidate de clerul ortodox. În unele cazuri, poliţia locală şi autorităţile administrative au suportat tacit campanii societale (unele dintre ele incluzând intimidări psihice) împotriva prozelitismului grupurilor religioase care nu aparţin religiei ortodoxe sau au dat dovadă de o atitudine pasivă faţă de hărţuirea unor astfel de grupuri.

Potrivit raportului, administraţia americană a discutat despre libertate religioasă cu Guvernul României în cadrul politicii sale de promovare a drepturilor omului.

Ambasada continuă să discute cu oficiali despre eşecul Guvernului de a garanta restituirea deplină a proprietăţilor religioase, inclusiv bisericile greco-catolice. Ambasada încurajează, de asemenea, eforturile Guvernului de a recunoaşte istoria Holocaustului în această ţară, inclusiv implementarea recomandărilor din 2004, incluse în Raportul Comisiei Wiesel, instruirea profesorilor pentru a preda istoria Holocaustului, ridicarea unui memorial şi comemorarea victimelor Holocaustului.

International Religious Freedom Report Home Page

Section III. Societal Abuses and Discrimination  (Sept. 19)

(Romania)

There were reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Acts of anti-Semitism, including desecration and vandalism of Jewish sites, continued during the reporting period with no appreciable change in frequency compared to previous reporting periods. The extreme nationalist press and individuals continued to publish anti-Semitic articles. Some groups held public events or made statements with anti-Semitic themes. According to the NGO Center for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism in Romania, authorities tended to minimize the significance of such incidents of vandalism, usually explaining them as being the actions of children, drunkards, or persons with mental disorders. On June 29, 2008, unknown perpetrators painted swastikas on railway electric poles in the rail station of Ploiesti. On the night of March 25, 2008, an individual drew swastikas and wrote anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls of the headquarters of the Jewish Community in Cluj. The Federation of Jewish Communities issued a protest, and the police identified the perpetrator, who said that he was drunk when he committed the act; however, the police did not issue an arrest warrant for him. On October 22, 2007, unidentified persons stole two menorahs from the chapel of a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest. On October 15, 2007, the grave of a writer was vandalized in a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest. The Federation of Jewish Communities took legal action in February 2008, requesting damage compensation, against an individual who desecrated several tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in Resita, and the court decided in July 2007 to fine and not prosecute him. The Federation also sued the mothers of two minors who desecrated tombstones in the Jewish cemeteries in Tulcea twice in January 2007 but were not prosecuted, requesting compensation for damages. There have been approximately a dozen reported anti-Semitic incidents involving property destruction and vandalism during each of the recent reporting periods, ranging from painting swastikas on buildings, to desecrating graves and cemeteries, to vandalizing synagogues, Jewish-owned buildings, and, in one case, a Torah scroll. Police sometimes identified perpetrators, but most of them were not prosecuted. On February 26, 2008, a 20-year-old drew swastikas, wrote "Heil Hitler" on the windows, and destroyed three mirrors of a trolleybus in Bucharest. However, the prosecutor's office charged him only with destruction of public property. In February 2008 the prosecutor's office of Bucharest Sector 3 decided not to prosecute a professor who consistently denied the occurrence of the Holocaust in the country in the media and his books. The Federation of Jewish Communities and a Jewish NGO filed a criminal complaint against him in January 2007. The Legionnaires (also called the Iron Guard, an extreme nationalist, anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi group that existed in the country in the interwar period) continued to republish inflammatory books from the interwar period. Authorities occasionally investigated and prosecuted offenders, but all court cases resulted in acquittals. During the reporting period, anti-Semitic views and attitudes were expressed during talk shows broadcast by private television stations, which failed to respond to complaints made by Jewish organizations. Extremist organizations occasionally held high-profile public events with anti-Semitic themes. The New Right Organization continued to sponsor marches, followed by religious services, to commemorate Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the founder of the Legionnaire Movement. During the reporting period, commemorations of Codreanu and the Legionnaire movement took place on November 24, 2007 in the vicinity of Bucharest, on September 22, 2007 in Predeal, and on September 13, 2007 in Galati. However, there was not a broad participation in such events. The New Right continued to foster the ideals of the Iron Guard in the media and on the Internet. During the reporting period, the publications of the extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM), headed by Corneliu Vadim Tudor, continued to carry statements and articles containing strong anti-Semitic attacks. In April 2008 the authorities did not react to the publication of a reversed swastika on the front page of the PRM's weekly, Romania Mare (Greater Romania). Although in May 2007 the President signed a decree withdrawing the Star of Romania medal from PRM leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor, known for making numerous xenophobic and anti-Semitic comments, Tudor challenged the decision in court and the court suspended the enforcement of the decree until it rules on this case. The lawsuit was ongoing at the end of the reporting period. The Romanian Orthodox Church exercises substantial influence in its dominant role among a majority of the population and policymakers, and Orthodox religious leaders almost exclusively preside over state occasions. In particular, many Orthodox leaders make public appearances with prominent political figures, and religious messages often contain political promises or goals, as well as support for particular political positions. Romanian Orthodox Church authorities were often intolerant of other religious groups and repeatedly criticized the "aggressive proselytizing" of Protestant, neo-Protestant (Baptist, Pentecostal, Adventist, Romanian Evangelical, and Christian Evangelical churches), and other religious groups, which the Church repeatedly described as "sects." This led to physical and verbal conflicts in some cases. Some high-ranking Orthodox clergy criticized the "heresies" committed by Orthodox Metropolitan Nicolae Corneanu of Timis, who received the Eucharist together with Greek Catholics in May 2008, and Bishop Sofronie Drincec of Oradea, who blessed the water at Epiphany along with a Greek Catholic Bishop in January 2008. In January 2008 Orthodox Metropolitan Bartolomeu Anania of Cluj, Alba, Crisana, and Maramures told journalists that the major threat for the Orthodox Church is represented by "neo-Protestant sects" that buy believers. The Metropolitan also described their proselytizing as "spiritual corruption." Minority religious groups alleged that some members of the Orthodox clergy provoked isolated incidents of organized group intimidation, impeded their efforts to proselytize, and interfered in religious activities. The press also continued to report several cases in which adherents of minority religious groups were prevented by others from practicing their religious beliefs and local law enforcement authorities did not protect them. The CNCD, established to curb discrimination of any kind (including on religious grounds), received 12 complaints of discrimination on religious grounds during 2007 and 6 such complaints through June 30, 2008. The Jehovah's Witnesses continued to allege verbal and physical abuse, in particular by some Orthodox priests, and indifference from some police; in some instances, the priests reportedly had the support of local authorities and the police. Many complaints regarding assault remained unresolved, and aggressors often were not punished. The Jehovah's Witnesses did not receive any answer to a letter sent to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, in which they complained that in April 2007 in Barlad, Vaslui County, an Orthodox priest and his deputy verbally and physically abused two female Jehovah's Witnesses in the presence of a minor. Complaints filed by the Jehovah's Witnesses with the local and county police remained unanswered for several months. In answer to a letter sent by Jehovah's Witnesses on October 10, 2007, to ask about the progress of the investigations, the Vaslui County Police Inspectorate stated that the case had been solved on June 16, 2007. At the end of the reporting period the Jehovah's Witnesses had not discovered the manner in which this case was solved. In contrast with previous reports, during the reporting period the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated that the number of cases of harassment and discrimination against its members, or of incidents with Orthodox priests, decreased. In Galati a group of teenagers occasionally harassed the missionaries, and unidentified individuals broke into the apartment of two female missionaries in Bucharest. There were several instances of priests confiscating religious publications of Jehovah's Witnesses. On September 15, 2007, several Jehovah's Witnesses from Ramnicu Valcea went on a ministry activity to the commune of Pausesti-Otasau, Valcea County, and reported to the police precinct to notify them of their presence in the locality. The police conditioned their activity on obtaining licenses both from the mayor's office and the Orthodox Bishopric. Later, three Orthodox priests disrupted the Jehovah's Witnesses activity, and, in the presence of the police, assaulted them, confiscated and tore up their Bibles and religious leaflets, and threatened to beat them unless they left the locality. On September 27, 2007, the Jehovah's Witnesses complained to Horezu police, which has jurisdiction over Pausesti-Otasau. On October 29, 2007, the Valcea County Police Inspectorate answered that the case was under investigation but that the police in Pausesti-Otasau did not commit any acts of indiscipline. The Greek Catholic Church, Baptist Church, and Baha'i Faith continued to complain that Orthodox priests allowed the burial of non-Orthodox believers in confessional or even public cemeteries (often treated as confessional by Orthodox priests in rural areas) only when certain conditions were met; they allowed burials only in isolated sections of the cemetery if non-Orthodox religious services were not used. Such incidents, though in smaller numbers, continued during the reporting period, although the 2006 religion law allows religious groups access to cemeteries belonging to other churches. Most of the Adventist Church's requests from previous years for land for cemeteries in the localities where it had congregations remained unanswered. Media reported a case in Sibot, Alba County, where in February 2008 the local Orthodox priest opposed the burial of a Greek Catholic believer in the village cemetery. The dispute was eventually settled by the Orthodox Archbishop of Alba Iulia, and the believer was buried according to her own rites. The Baptist Church also complained that in January 2008 in Potcoava, Olt County, it faced the opposition of the Orthodox priest, who did not allow the burial of a Baptist believer with Baptist religious service, although the cemetery was a public one. The Orthodox priest allowed the Baptist burial only after the Baptist Church complained to the mayor's office and the police. After this incident, in line with the 2006 religion law, the Baptist Church requested a plot in the cemetery in Potcoava but had not received an answer by the end of the reporting period. The Baptist Church also reported that its attempts to receive land from city halls for cemeteries in some localities were unsuccessful. It cited a situation in Piatra Neamt, Neamt County, where Baptist believers are buried in the same part of the cemetery as individuals who commit suicide. Orthodox priests also denied access for Greek Catholics to many cemeteries, including in Pesteana, Valcea County; Damuc, Neamt County; Ungheni, Mures County; Vintu de Jos, Alba County; Magina, Alba County; Radesti, Alba County; Telec-Bicaz, Neamt County; and Bicaz-Chei, Neamt County. The Baptist Church also complained that the building of Credinta (the faith) Baptist Church in Piatra Neamt was repeatedly subject to acts of vandalism, the most recent being the demolition of its fence by an unidentified truck driver and a window broken by an unidentified perpetrator. Relations between the Greek Catholic Church and the Orthodox Archbishopric of Timisoara continued to be amicable and cooperative. The Orthodox Bishoprics of Caransebes and Oradea also continued to have similar positive dialogues with the Greek Catholic Church regarding the restitution of some churches. For the most part, however, Orthodox leaders opposed and delayed returning churches to the Greek Catholics. The Greek Catholic Church of the eparchy of Lugoj complained that the Orthodox Bishopric of Arad, Ienopole, and Halmagiu, which was using more than 90 Greek Catholic churches, continued to refuse to restitute them and to hold alternate religious services. The Greek Catholic Church did not receive a major cathedral in Gherla, Cluj County, which the late Orthodox Patriarch promised to restitute in 2005. Despite the stated desire for dialogue, the Orthodox Church continued to demolish Greek Catholic churches--some of which had been declared historical monuments--in at least ten localities, half of which were in Cluj County. Authorities did not react to Greek Catholic complaints about the illegal demolition of Greek Catholic churches in Taga, Cluj County, in 2006 and an 18th-century Greek Catholic Church in Badon, Salaj County, in April 2007. On May 8, 2008, the Orthodox Church began the demolition of another 18th-century Greek Catholic church in Ungheni, Mures County, where the Orthodox Church began by constructing a new church around the Greek Catholic church, entirely surrounding the historic Greek Catholic church building. In Salonta, Bihor County, the Orthodox Church was also building a new church around the old Greek Catholic church, which it refused to restitute. A lawsuit, which the Greek Catholic Church won in the first-level court, was in progress following the appeal and requests by the Orthodox Church to transfer the case to other localities. The Orthodox Church in Salonta also opposed the allocation by the local authorities of a piece of land to the Greek Catholic Church for the construction of a new church. In Nicula, Cluj County, the Orthodox Church continued construction which encroached upon the old Greek Catholic church of the historic Monastery of Nicula despite a court order to halt any construction. A decision in a slow-moving lawsuit over the ownership of the monastery remained pending. Similar cases were reportedly developing in Orastie, Hunedoara County, and Iara, Cluj County, where the Orthodox Church continued construction of buildings close to the former Greek Catholic churches, presumably with the intention of subsequently demolishing them. Over the years the Orthodox Church has repeatedly rejected Greek Catholic requests for alternating services in more than 230 localities. Longstanding tensions persisted between the Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches in many localities where large numbers of the Orthodox congregation switched to the Greek Catholic Church. An example is in Stei, Hunedoara County, where the Orthodox Church continued to deny the Greek Catholics access to their former church and lawsuits are in progress both for the church and the rectory, restituted in 2004 by a decision of the Special Restitution Commission, which was appealed by the Orthodox Church. Similar disputesoccurred in Valea de Jos, Bihor County, and in Chet, Bihor County. Representatives of minority religious groups credibly complained that Orthodox priests give out most of the religious assistance in the country, partly because the Orthodox Church prevents minority religious groups from granting humanitarian or religious assistance to hospitals, children's homes, and shelters for the elderly. Charitable activities carried out by other churches in children's homes and shelters were often negatively interpreted as proselytizing. After the dialogue between the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Churches came to a halt in 2004, disputes between the two religious groups over church property increased in intensity. Greek Catholic communities decided, in many cases, to build new churches because of the lack of progress in restituting their properties either through dialogue with the Orthodox Church or in court; however, their efforts were hampered by the Orthodox Church, sometimes with the support of local authorities. Tensions continued in many localities where the Orthodox Church refused to comply with court rulings that ordered restitution of churches to the Greek Catholic Church, such as in Simand, Arad County; Bogdan Voda, Maramures County; Valanii de Beius, Bihor County; Lupsa, Alba County; and in localities where the Greek Catholic Church began lawsuits for restitution, such as Prunis, Cluj County; Stei, Hunedoara County; Camarzana, Satu Mare County; Viile Satu Mare, Satu Mare County; and Negru, Vintere, Holod, Sanlazar and Bocsa (all in Bihor County). In Valanii de Beius, Bihor County, after refusing for more than a year to comply with a final court ruling restituting a Greek Catholic church, the Orthodox Church eventually handed the church over to the Greek Catholics on April 2, 2008. Before reaching this agreement, tensions had increased dramatically and violent incidents were prevented only by the presence of gendarmes. The two Churches signed a protocol to hold alternate religious services until the Orthodox Church builds a new church. A similar protocol was signed in Prisaca, Bihor County, in April 2008. In Simand, Arad County, the local Orthodox priest refused, for a lengthy period, to hand over the church restituted by court ruling to the Greek Catholics in 2007. At the end of June 2008, the Orthodox parish in Simand agreed, after many rounds of negotiations, to restitute the church to the Greek Catholics. Tensions continued in Taga, where the Orthodox Church demolished the old Greek Catholic church in 2006, as well as in Salva, Bistrita-Nasaud County, and Sinca Veche, Brasov County, where the Orthodox priests refused to hand over the rectories, despite decisions restituting them to the Greek Catholic Church. During the reporting period, the Orthodox Church increased pressure on Parliamentarians to support a draft law stipulating that the restitution of land and other properties should be in direct proportion to the number of believers--a law which would, in effect,legitimize to a great extent the Communists' decision to give the Greek Catholic properties to the Orthodox Church. The draft law remained under debate in Parliament. In most localities with two churches (one of which had belonged to the Greek Catholic Church) and only one Orthodox priest, the Orthodox Church frequently does one of three things: alternates religious services between the two locations; keeps the Orthodox church locked and holds their services in the former Greek Catholic church; or establishes a second Orthodox parish in the locality, either a new parish or by splitting an Orthodox parish into two parishes. During the reporting period, more than 20 former Greek Catholic churches remained closed, while Greek Catholics held religious services in more than 150 unofficial places (e.g. believers' homes, houses of culture, etc.). In Dumbraveni, Sibiu County, the Orthodox Church continued to refuse to enforce a previous court ruling to share a local church with the Greek Catholic Church. Although the Orthodox Church had signed a protocol promising to return the Greek Catholic church after it completed the construction of a new Orthodox church, it continued to refuse to do so after the construction was complete. A Roman Catholic Csango community, an ethnic group that speaks a Hungarian dialect, continued to complain that they were unable to hold religious services in their mother tongue because of opposition by the Roman Catholic Bishopric of Iasi. Section IV. U.S. Government Policy The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. The U.S. Government maintained active public outreach on religious freedom. The Embassy maintained close contact with a broad range of religious groups and NGOs in the country, including Muslim groups and other minority religious groups, to monitor and discuss religious freedom. The Ambassador and other embassy representatives regularly met and raised religious freedom concerns with religious leaders and government officials who work on religious affairs. Throughout the reporting period, embassy representatives and other U.S. government officials discussed with government officials at multiple levels the importance of full official recognition of the Holocaust in the country, improvements in Holocaust education in school curricula, and implementation of the 2004 recommendations of the Wiesel Commission. The Embassy supported visiting delegations focusing on matters related to the Holocaust, including the Wiesel Commission members. Embassy personnel and visiting U.S. officials repeatedly discussed the Holocaust in the country with local and international members of the Wiesel Commission and supported its work. Among many other events, embassy officials participated in the commemoration of National Holocaust Day in October 2007. The Embassy also supported the activities of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and urged Bucharest authorities to approve construction of a Holocaust memorial in the city. The Embassy sponsored the project on Combating Discrimination and Promoting Mutual Respect and Understanding Through Knowing the 20th Century Tragedies, Holocaust and Communism; New Education of the 21st Century to develop a train-the-trainer course for history teachers to increase the number of high schools in the country in which students will have a better understanding of the Holocaust and the history of Jews. The project extends from September 1, 2007 to September 15, 2008. The Ambassador and other embassy officials repeatedly raised concerns about the slow restitution of religious properties, particularly of Greek Catholic churches, with government officials, including the President, Prime Minister, and the Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs. U.S. officials continued to advocate in government circles for fair treatment on property restitution matters, including religious and communal properties, and for nondiscriminatory treatment of all religious groups. The Embassy also specifically raised its concerns with government authorities and with the Orthodox Church over the continuing destruction of the historic Greek Catholic church structure in Ungheni. Released on September 19, 2008 International Religious Freedom Report Home Page