A memorial service was held on Sunday in University Square in Bucharest in remembrance of the heroes who died in December 1989 for the dignity, freedom and faith of the Romanian people.
The service was officiated by Rev. Dean Nectarie Busuioc, who spoke about the sacrifice of those who lost their lives on those very streets 36 years ago.
He stressed that today’s society bears a responsibility to honour the sacrifices of the revolution’s heroes—namely, to cherish and safeguard the freedom they won at such a high cost.
“These people died for us. Many of them died for their faith. They died so that we might be free today,” the priest said. “Our responsibility is great: both to remember them and to value this freedom.”
“Let us make this country a beautiful one. Let us turn this city, where they died, and the other cities where they gave their lives, into symbols worthy of the gift they offered. We walk on the ground where they shed their blood. Let us tread carefully, with reverence, and be grateful people who love their nation, their homeland and their freedom,” Dean Busuioc added.
‘Whoever dies willingly never truly dies’
The priest also emphasised the importance of passing on to younger generations an understanding of what life under communism entailed.
“All of us who lived through those harsh times, all of us who saw relatives suffer in communist prisons—for no reason at all, some simply because they were Christians—have a duty to speak about that suffering,” he said. “We must call all the children and grandchildren of this nation to prayer.”
“Whoever dies willingly never truly dies,” the dean concluded.
Photo: Basilica.ro Files
