The harassment of Csángó Hungarians continues

According to zarandoklat.hu, the harassment of Csángó Hungarians in Romania continues unabashed. Roman Catholic priests won't absolve the deeply religious Csángó Hungarian children if taking Hungarian language courses.

One Sunday, in the village of Klézse,the Roman Catholic priests, Pascaru Augustin attacked János Antal Vajda, the Hungarian teacher, for teaching Hungarian. After the incident, János Antal Vajda noticed that children dropping out of his classes. He investigated and found out that the priest told to the children that their sins wouldn't be absolved if taking Hungarian classes.

Both the Romanian authorities and the Roman Catholic Church intimidating families whose children attend Hungarian classes. Because of the threats, language courses are being taught at private houses by teachers from Erdély and Hungary. The teachers work under harsh conditions for very little money.

A few months ago, a priest, in a sermon warned children that Hungarian teachers are possessed by the devil.

Please support the Csángó Hungarian cause by whatever means you can. For more info, visit the csango.ro portal. The site can be accessed in Hungarian, Romanian, English, German, Spanish and French.

"The Council of Europe has expressed its concerns about the situation of the Csángó minority culture, and discussed that the Csángós speak an early form of Hungarian and are associated with ancient traditions, and a great diversity of folk art and culture, which is of exceptional value for Europe. It was also mentioned that although not everybody agrees on this number it is thought that between 60 000 and 70 000 people speak the Csángó language. The Council has also expressed concerns that despite the provisions of the Romanian law on education and the repeated requests from parents there is no teaching of Csángó language in the Csángó villages, as a consequence, very few Csángós are able to write in their mother tongue. The document also discussed that the Csángós make no political demands, but merely want to be recognized as a distinct culture and demand education and church services in the Csángó language".

The Csángó anthem

English Translation

Csángó Hungarian, csángó Hungarian,
what are you, Csángó Hungarian
Bird fallen down from the tree
Abandoned, forgotten

Oh My God, what will happen with us?
Our children, and then of us nothing!
They are killing our language,
The treasure from our fathers!

You settled down on the steppe,
that you called homeland.
But no country, no house,
Today only God takes care of you!

We hear Hungary is still standing,
Lord of us, you too bless it
to be compassionate to us,
not to let us vanish.

You're oppressed by foreign language
latin priests stand on your neck
you're unable to sing or confess,
use your mother tongue to say prayers

We are also Hungarians,
Already split from Asia.
Our God, help our destiny,
Don’t let the Csángó Hungarian be lost.

(mno, hungarianambiance.com)