RESOLUTION
on the protection of the rights of the Csango Hungarians in Moldavia

The necessity for a movement to preserve the Csango identity and community initiated by the Hungarian National Council of Transylvania has been reinforced again by both the tone and content of the letter written by Petru Gherghel, Roman Catholic Bishop of Iaşi (Jászvásár) in reply to MEP Bishop László Tőkés.

It is impossible not only to find a solution but also to have a constructive dialogue when His Excellency, The Right Reverend Bishop questions the Hungarian nationality and mother tongue of the Csangos, who are living in Moldavia for several centuries, in advance with a false reference to the freedom to choose an identity. Citing census data, he refuses to talk about any other Roman Catholic congregation than one of sole and only Romanian nationality.

The national communist mentality with assimilation as its essence has remained undiminished in the bishop’s logic. It is happening despite an official resolution by the Romanian President and the Parliament which condemned the sins of Communism and thus confirmed what the Tismăneanu Report – mentioning the violent assimilation of the Hungarian speaking Csango community whose number is still about 60 000 – said about the Romanian communist regime violating basic human rights.

The letter by Petru Gherghel also ignores the report compiled by Rapporteur Tytti Isohookana Asunmaa (Doc. 9078, 2001) on whose basis the Council of Europe put forward a recommendation to protect the Csangos, referring – among other things – to the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages which the Romanian Parliament has since then accepted.

Ignoring the requests of the Csango Hungarians in Iaşi (Jászvásár) is even a greater problem. For instance, in 1991 the Csangos in Pustiana (Pusztina) sent the bishopric of Iaşi (Jászvásár) a petition with 200 signatures, asking for the possibility of having Hungarian language church service. This led to a 'careful investigation on the spot’, and deputy bishop Grigore Duma summoned all the 200 petitioners one by one – recalling the methods of the notorious Securitate – which resulted in some people withdrawing their signature. Others, however, could not be intimidated, and the bishopric has made no reply ever since. ‘It would be a sign of great respect to trust their statements and ability to preserve their traditions, uphold their faith and live in peace with everyone’, said the bishop of Iaşi (Jászvásár) in his letter.

In the varied and multilingual European community of the 21st century we consider denying the self-identity of any community unacceptable. Disputing the right of the Association of the Csango Hungarians in Moldavia – a registered and legally operating organization – to foster cultural self-identity means ignoring current Romanian legislation. The national communist doctrine of ‘foreign instigators’ is raising the spectre of xenophobia.

It is very sad that the prelate of a church whose task is to cure the souls of Moldavian Roman Catholics, that is the Csango Hungarian communities, does not understand it. Nevertheless, we are urging on further dialogue with the heads of the Roman Catholic Church in Iaşi (Jászvásár) with the participation of Csango Hungarian leaders in order to reach a satisfactory settlement over this issue.

Oradea (Nagyvárad), 5 March, 2009

Hungarian National Council of Transylvania

Ildikó Laskai translated the article from a Hungarian language 

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