Indicator history

Article 5 of the Law No.489/2006 regarding freedom of religion and the status of religious denominations (Legea nr. 489/2006 privind libertatea religioasa si regimul general al cultelor) provides for the right of every person to manifest its religion or belief, collectively. However, Article 40 of the law imposes for the recognition of an association as a religious association that the application comes from a number of 300 persons having Romanian citizenship or residence in Romania. For a religious denomination to be recognised, besides being registered as a religious association, the group has to show a history of minimum 12 years of working in Romania, a number of members who are Romanian citizens equal to 0,1% of the total population of Romania.

Practical obstacles for an ethnic minority exercising it religion have been reported with regards to the Csango community.

In 2001, the Council of Europe Assembly was adopting a recommendation regarding the Romanian Csangos. The recommendation described the community in the following terms:

"The Csangos (Ceangai in Romanian) are a non-homogeneous group of Roman Catholic people. This ethnic group is a relic from the Middle Ages that has survived in Moldavia, in the eastern part of the Romanian Carpathians. Csangos speak an early form of Hungarian and are associated with ancient traditions, and a great diversity of folk art and culture, which is of exceptional value for Europe.

For centuries, the self-identity of the Csangos was based on the Roman Catholic religion and their own language spoken in the family and the village community. This, as well as their archaic lifestyle and world view, may explain their very strong ties to the Roman Catholic religion and the survival of their dialect.

Those who still speak Csango or consider it their mother tongue have been declining as a proportion of the population. Although not everybody agrees on this number it is thought that between 60 000 and 70 000 people speak the Csango language.

The Csangos make no political demands, but merely want to be recognised as a distinct culture. They ask for assistance in safeguarding it and, first and foremost they demand that their children be taught the Csango language and that their church services be held in their mother tongue." [1]

According to the US Department of State 2009 Human Rights Report for Romania, "a Roman Catholic Csango community, an ethnic group that speaks a Hungarian dialect, continued to complain that its members were unable to hold regular religious services in their mother tongue because of the opposition of the Roman Catholic Bishopric of Iasi. On October 17, however, there was progress in addressing these complaints when a mass in the village of Vladnic, Bacau County, was held in three languages (Romanian, Hungarian, and Latin)". [2]

A 2011 report regarding the Romanian Csango states that: “Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican have not fundamentally revised their attitude towards the status of the Hungarian language in Moldavia, it is readily apparent that the numerous petitions from local communities, and international interventions, as well as a relaxation of the state policy towards Hungarian Csangos have contributed to establishing a more relaxed climate and a respect for diversity that is markedly different from the years 1990-2000. Through the co-celebration of Mass in Romanian, Latin and Hungarian - together with Catholic high-priests from Romania and Hungary - by none other than the Roman Catholic bishop of Iasi (Jászvásár), IPS Petru Gherghel, previously known for his harsh rejection of Hungarian worship in Moldavia's churches, a positive signal has been sent out, the results of which will be felt over time.” [4]

Sources:

[1] Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1501 (2001) - Csango minority culture in Romania, available at:  http://www.coe.ro/as_rec1521-2001_en.html (Date of access: 20.02.2012.)

[2] US Department of State, 2009 Human Rights Report: Romania

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/eur/136053.htm  published on 11.13.2010 (Date of access: 20.02.2012.)

[3] Divers Association, Reprezentantul Vaticanului sprijina slujbele in limba maghiara pentru ceangai (Vatican’s representative supports religious services in Hungarian for the Csango) http://www.divers.ro/eveniment_ro?func=viewSubmission&sid=4890&wid=37453 (Date of access: 20.02.2012.)

[4] Gabriel Andreescu, Smaranda Enache, Report on the exercising of linguistic rights by the Hungarian Csangos in Moldavia, , in We like to live here, Stúdium Ltd, Cluj-Napoca, 2011, p. 418, available at http://www.sogorcsaba.eu/ebook/we_like_to_live_here/  (Date of access: 20.02.2012