Romania Scraps Funds For New Churches

Romania's budget for 2016, which parliament is due to approve this week, has cut to zero the government's contribution to the construction of new churches.

In particular, this will affect work on the Cathedral of the Redeemer, which is expected to be the tallest church in Southeast Europe.

"Taking into consideration the country's finances, we can't afford to allocate any money for building churches. The government will only step in with cash when it has the means to do so," Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said.

Romania spent 170 million lei (some 37 million euro) on new churches this year alone. By law, the state has to provide support for church construction and for the renovation of dilapidated buildings.

More than 85 per cent of Romania's 19.5 million population belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church, which remains one of the most trusted institutions in Romania. Politicians often court the clergy to attract sympathy from the electorate.

Although the government has scrapped the funding for new churches, next year it has set aside 315.1 million lei to cover the salaries of the clergy, up 13 per cent compared to 2015. Anther 14.3 million lei will be spent on maintaining Romanian Orthodox parishes abroad.

Parliament is expected to pass the 2016 budget on Wednesday.

Most experts welcomed the decision to cut the money for new churches. "It is for the first time in 25 years that a government has moved away from the traditional populism of previous administrations and not allotted funds for new churches," journalist Cristian Pantazi said.

"The time has come also for the Church to begin internal reforms, which people are waiting for," he added.

The Orthodox Church has come under harsh criticism in...