Ambassador Geoana thanked the Adventist Church for "helping heal the scars of communism in Romania"
Romania is at a “critical juncture” and the Seventh-day Adventist Church has a role to play in shaping the country’s future, Romania’s ambassador to the United States, Mircea Dan Geoana, told Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders today.
Addressing members of Annual Council, Geoana thanked the Adventist Church for “helping heal the scars of communism in Romania” through humanitarian, educational, and spiritual aid.
“Your church has done tremendously positive things for my country,” said Geoana. “In our country, after so many years of communism, so many years of dictatorship, so many years of hardships, this is a country that needs spiritual help, humanitarian assistance, love and friendship—more so than many other nations around the world. You can build a highway, or a campus, but healing the heart and soul of country is far more complicated and this is perhaps the main message I have to convey to you.”
Although the foundations of “democracy, capitalism and freedom are already established in Romania,” said Geoana, “the dividends of freedom have not yet reached the average citizens. There is too much poverty, too much sacrifice.” Until this economic hardship is overcome, he added, Romania remains vulnerable to populist messages and to the rise of political demagogues.
Responding to Geoana’s comments, Adrian Bocaneanu, president of the Adventist Church in Romania, said that the church plays an important role in “helping people appreciate the value of freedom” which in turn makes citizens less susceptible to the dangers of totalitarianism from either the left or the right.
Geoana paid tribute to the work of Bocaneanu in Romania, noting that the number of Adventist Churches in Romania has doubled in the past decade. “This is not only proof of the regained openness and tolerance of our society after the fall of communism,” said Geoana, “but also proof of the hard work, dedication and talent” of the Adventist church leaders in the country.
Religious liberty is enshrined in Romania’s constitution, which was adopted in 1991, and Geoana says he is proud that the government has resisted the temptation to use religious freedom as a political tool. The effects of communism, though, still tinges the thinking of some of Romania’s citizens, says Geoana.“We are not perfect,” he adds. “The journey is long, but we’ve come a long way.”
Geoana urged continued activity of the Adventist Church in Romania, saying that there is a common duty among people of faith to “help the human spirit reach the level the good Lord intended for us.”
Romania, which until 1989 was a communist state, is located on the edge of the Black Sea between Bulgaria and Ukraine. The Adventist Church began operating in Romania in 1919 and currently has more than 72,000 members in the country worshiping in some 1,200 congregations.