Pope Francis has asked forgiveness for injustices perpetrated by the Catholic Church against the Roma people on the final day of a three day visit to Romania.
Addressing members of the Roma community in the town of Blaj on Sunday, the Pope said his heart was “weighed down by the many experiences of discrimination, segregation and mistreatment experienced by your communities”.
“History tells us that Christians too, including Catholics, are not strangers to such evil,” he said. “I would like to ask your forgiveness for this. I ask forgiveness – in the name of the church and of the Lord – and I ask forgiveness of you. For all those times in history when we have discriminated, mistreated or looked askance at you, with the look of Cain rather than that of Abel, and were unable to acknowledge you, to value you and to defend you in your uniqueness.”
The Pope said indifference “breeds prejudices and fosters anger and resentment”.
“How many times do we judge rashly, with words that sting, with attitudes that sow hatred and division! Whenever anyone is left behind, the human family cannot move forward. Deep down, we are not Christians, and not even good human beings, unless we are able to see the person before his or her actions, before our own judgments and prejudices.”
Roma, who make up about 10 per cent of Romania’s population, have faced – and continue to face – discrimination and persecution in Europe.
Damian Draghici, a Roma MEP for Romania, told the BBC that the apology was an historic moment for his people.
“I hope this message will change people’s attitude and stereotypes against our people.”
The meeting in Blaj came after the Pope had earlier beatified seven bishops who were jailed, tortured and eventually died in prison during Communist rule in Romania. They were among thousands of people killed by the regime before its collapse in late 1989.
Speaking at an open air Mass on Sunday, the Pope told the thousands who had gathered that the seven Eastern Catholic bishops, who were arrested in 1948, “accepted harsh imprisonment and every kind of mistreatment, in order not to deny their fidelity to their beloved church”.
