On Judgement

On Judgement

Nothing is calculated to induce a hissing fit in me more than exposure to the religious establishment in Romania.  When visiting the graveyard to pay respects to a loved one, we were not allowed to bring our own flowers and candles, but had to buy them from the church-sponsored shop on site.  Graves are inspected regularly, and anyone who has the temerity to use their own flowers or candles will have them removed from the grave by the BMW-driving priest.  There has been an unprecedented spate of church building in the country, with hundreds of large, expensive churches being completed in small villages where the money would have been welcomed on infrastructure such as roads and schools - enormous expenditure, provided by the government.  For a country pulling itself as fast as possible into the fast stream, it is a shameful distortion of priorities and display of the vested interests between state and church.

And yet...

...cut to the news of the recent uprising in Ukraine, where priests from the same church have displayed awe-inspiring bravery, standing and praying for peace in the cobblestone littered devastation between the two warring factions.  It is impossible to view the pictures without respect for their courage in a very dangerous place.  It also reminds me that, when times have been hardest under oppressive regimes, churches have provided a rallying point, hope and leadership to so many people, and that perhaps I should not judge a whole institution, and all of the people in it on the basis of the actions of a venal few.

Posted by Ross