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 ()

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.