CNS STORY: After fall of communism, Moldovan Catholic charities thrive

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REVIVAL-MOLDOVA Oct-31-2007 (850 words) With photo. xxxi

After fall of communism, Moldovan Catholic charities thrive

By Victor Gaetan
Catholic News Service

CHISINAU, Moldova (CNS) -- As Sister Michelina ladled beans from a food cart onto china plates, she cheerfully recounted how she and Moldova's only diocese increased a sense of community among the poor elderly who were sharing lunch.

"We made everyone sit down to eat together," she said. "We forbid people from packing up the meal and leaving."

She said the rule was necessary especially in a country such as Moldova, where years of oppressive communist rule -- and the toll of post-communist poverty -- have created deep alienation among the increasingly elderly population.

At the church-run center, the 350 visitors, many chatting and helping each other, have overcome their original preference for fly-by dining.

"Now we see new friendships, laughter, more participation in after-lunch activities. We feel the Holy Spirit," said Sister Michelina, mother superior of the Providentia order who goes by her first name.

The nun noted that a community does not flower and thrive without care and discipline.

When the Soviets took over this territory from Romania after 1944, it became the Soviet Republic of Moldova. Churches were demolished or used for nonreligious purposes. The Christian communities were destroyed or deported. Priests were jailed, murdered or expelled.

In 1965, the cathedral was converted into a theater and recording studio storage.

Father Benone Farcas, vicar general of the Chisinau Diocese and doctoral candidate at the Catholic University of America, said the Communist Party gave the local Catholic community a small Armenian church in a Catholic cemetery to use instead of the cathedral.

The priest added, "Our community's rebirth can be traced to that cemetery."

He said that in 1990, then-Father Anton Cosa "was sent to Chisinau to help restore this community. The only place he could stay was in a little house in the cemetery."

A year later, Father Farcas was asked to help. The two men, who met at the Catholic theological institute in Iasi, Romania, became Moldovan citizens to avoid strict laws that limit the ability of foreign priests to stay there.

When communism ended in 1991, the Catholic Church was recognized, and three years later the Vatican and Moldova established diplomatic relations. Pope John Paul II appointed Father Cosa bishop of Chisinau in 1999.

Today, the Catholic Church is extremely small -- less than 1 percent of the Moldovan population -- but it has grown.

According to Father Farcas, church leaders have established or re-established 13 parishes and 5 missions since 1991. In the independent territory of Transdniestria, a zone known for smugglers and corruption, there are now five parishes and eight priests. Between 1999 and 2004, the number of men and women living in Catholic religious communities in Moldova doubled.

Father Farcas reeled off a list of programs and social welfare activities initiated by the diocese: schools, centers for children and the elderly, summer camps, free medicine for poor elderly and scholarships.

Caritas Moldova, the local affiliate of the Caritas Internationalis confederation of Catholic relief agencies, is very active. Originally founded in 1899, it was forced to close under communism and reopened in 1995 with help from Bishop Petru Gherghel of Iasi, Romania. From distributing clothes, food, coal and wood to the poor to opening centers for children with special needs, to furnishing hospitals with medical equipment, the organization directly reaches around 25,000 beneficiaries.

"We help all people, not just Roman Catholics," Father Farcas said. "All religions are welcome to our hot lunch program, for example."

The World Bank recognized Moldova as Europe's poorest country in 2005. Things have not improved much: In August, monthly wages decreased to $182 per month from higher levels in recent years. As many as 1 million people out of a population of 4.5 million have left have left the country seeking jobs abroad.

Moldova also is considered a primary source of women and girls for human trafficking to the Balkans, Western Europe and the Middle East, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Under a U.S. State Department grant, the U.S. bishops' Catholic Relief Services launched the Moldova Employment & Training Alliance to help women victims and those at risk of becoming victims gain increased access to jobs and independent living.

Another CRS project is helping the Moldovan government establish an interagency, anti-human trafficking center, including a witness protection program and an intelligence sharing unit.

Father Farcas said organized crime controls trafficking.

"An Italian priest was one of the greatest activists against sex slavery in Moldova. Finally, the threats to his life became so serious, he had to leave Moldova. He is still under police protection in Italy," said Father Farcas.

"We will continue to work in this miserable arena, though," said Father Farcas. "We have the will and God's guidance."

END

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