{"id":7522,"date":"2025-11-03T10:01:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T10:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=7522"},"modified":"2025-11-03T10:01:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T10:01:31","slug":"childrens-choir-performs-controversial-song-in-romanias-new-national-cathedral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=7522","title":{"rendered":"Children\u2019s choir performs controversial song in Romania\u2019s new National Cathedral"},"content":{"rendered":"

A song with lyrics by Radu Gyr, an interwar poet connected to the far-right and antisemitic Legionary Movement, was performed<\/a> on October 30 by the \u201cTronos Junior\u201d Choir in Romania\u2019s new National Cathedral. The incident led to numerous reactions and condemnations, but was rejected by the Church.<\/p>\n

The controversial event took place on the Day of the Military Clergy, celebrated at the National Cathedral through a Te Deum [a Christian hymn] officiated by Patriarchal Vicar Bishop Varlaam of Ploie\u0219ti. The event was attended by the defense minister, members of the Romanian Royal Family, the chief of the General Staff, and all military priests, according to Digi24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The performance sparked multiple controversies because the lyrics allegedly belong to the legionary poet Radu Gyr, adapted from the poem Avem o \u021bar\u0103 (We Have a Country).<\/p>\n

Among those who reacted was Csoma Botond, a deputy from the Hungarian minority party UDMR.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the National Cathedral, between freshly sanctified walls, children sang a poem by Radu Gyr, the poet who was the propagandist of the Legionary Movement, the voice of a fascist ideology that sowed hatred and death,\u201d wrote Csoma Botond on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Vasile B\u0103nescu, a member of the National Audiovisual Council, also noted his disappointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sanitization and justification of a text written by someone who justified the \u2018moral purification of the nation\u2019 through an extremist, anti-Semitic, and violent ideology that quickly degenerated into crime, even if the text itself is not explicitly political, remains the last variant of an institutional apologetic strategy,\u201d B\u0103nescu wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Finally, Alexandru Florian, director of the \u201cElie Wiesel\u201d Institute, asked for measures to be taken regarding the incident.<\/p>\n

In reply, the Romanian Patriarchate stated<\/a> that the text performed was wrongly attributed to the poet Radu Gyr, without specifying who the actual author is. The institution argued that the incident represents an attempt to associate the Romanian Orthodox Church with extremist ideologies, although the Romanian Patriarchate has repeatedly expressed its firm separation from any kind of movements that promote hatred and violence, xenophobia, and racism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe performance of the piece based on the poem Avem o \u021bar\u0103<\/em> cannot be associated with any cult or homage to totalitarian ideologies, neither in content nor in intent. The Romanian Patriarchate is aware of and fully respects the legal provisions in force,\u201d the institution stated.<\/p>\n

Radu Gyr (Demetrescu \u0218tefan) was a public, central figure of the Legionary Movement of the interwar period. He led the organization in the Oltenia region in the mid-1930s and was the author of many propagandistic anthems for the organization. He was first imprisoned by the Antonescu regime after the legionary coup attempt was defeated, and then by the communist regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thousands of worshippers and high-ranking officials gathered in Bucharest on October 26<\/a> for the consecration of the mosaic paintings inside the National Cathedral – a landmark moment for Romania\u2019s Orthodox faith. The ceremony was led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Romanian Patriarch Daniel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

radu@romania-insider.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

(Photo source: Catedrala Nationala on Facebook)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A song with lyrics by Radu Gyr, an interwar poet connected to the far-right and antisemitic Legionary Movement, was performed on October 30 by the \u201cTronos Junior\u201d Choir in Romania\u2019s new National Cathedral. The incident led to numerous reactions and condemnations, but was rejected by the Church. The controversial event took place on the Day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}