IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 191
Urging the Government of Romania to recognize its responsibilities to provide 
equitable, prompt, and fair restitution to all religious communities for 
property confiscated by the former Communist government in Romania. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2005
Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. TANCREDO) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 
RESOLUTION 
Urging the Government of Romania to recognize its respon-
sibilities to provide equitable, prompt, and fair restitution 
to all religious communities for property confiscated by 
the former Communist government in Romania.
Whereas the establishment of a Communist government in 
Romania after World War II proved disastrous for estab-
lished religious institutions; 
Whereas a central element of persecution by the Communist 
government in Romania was the uncompensated confisca-
tion of real and personal property from religious commu-
nities and from leaders of religious communities, and the 
arrest and persecution of religious leaders; 
Whereas 2,140 schools, hospitals, orphanages, and other 
charitable and civic institutions were illegally confiscated
•HRES 191 IH 
under communism from the four historic Hungarian 
churches (Roman Catholic, Hungarian Reformed, Evan-
gelical Lutheran, and Unitarian) and actual possession 
and use of such properties has been denied in all but 30 
cases; 
Whereas Romania’s wartime Fascist government began the 
process of confiscating Jewish property in September 
1940 and its postwar Communist government reaffirmed 
most of these confiscations; 
Whereas only a handful of Jewish communal properties have 
been restituted, often with government agencies still 
using the facilities and paying no rent, and over 1,000 
communal properties remain in the possession of the 
Government of Romania; 
Whereas some Jewish claims have been willfully ignored for 
years, such as in the case of agricultural land in Iasi, 
where municipal authorities continue to sells parcels of 
this land; 
Whereas on January 2, 1990, under terms of Decree-Law 
126/1990, the 1948 decree which dissolved the Romanian 
Greek Catholic Church was abrogated, permitting Greek 
Catholics again to worship openly, and legal provisions 
and procedures were established for the return of con-
fiscated properties that before 1948 belonged to the 
Greek Catholic Church; 
Whereas the commission established under Decree-Law 126/
1990 composed of representatives of the Romanian Gov-
ernment and Greek Catholic Church has proven ineffec-
tive in resolving disputed claims; 
Whereas Romanian Law No. 501/2002, providing for the res-
titution of religious properties, was adopted in June 2002
•HRES 191 IH 
without consultation with the affected religious commu-
nities, does not effectively meet the needs of those com-
munities, contains numerous legal deficiencies, and is de-
layed in its implementation; 
Whereas all of the religious communities have demanded the 
return of property seized by the Romanian Communist 
government; 
Whereas since 1990, post-Communist countries in Central 
and Eastern Europe have grappled with the question of 
how to redress these wrongful confiscations of religious 
property, but Romania has lagged significantly behind 
other post-Communist countries; 
Whereas since the early 1990s, the United States Commis-
sion on Security and Cooperation in Europe has mon-
itored the property restitution and compensation efforts 
being made by the governments of post-Communist coun-
tries in Central and Eastern Europe; 
Whereas with respect to the role of the Romanian courts in 
the restitution process, the Chairman of the United 
States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Eu-
rope observed: ‘‘In the mid-1990s . . . hundreds of court 
decisions in favor of property claimants were reversed by 
the Supreme Court after they had become final and irrev-
ocable judgments. The European Court of Human Rights 
has recently ruled that these actions violated the Euro-
pean Convention on Human Rights.’’; and 
Whereas Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights provides that ‘‘[e]veryone has the right to freedom 
of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes 
freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, ei-
ther alone or in community with others and in public or
•HRES 191 IH 
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, 
practice, worship and observance.’’: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) notes with concern the unwillingness of past 
governments of Romania to recognize the responsi-
bility to provide equitable, prompt, and fair restitu-
tion of religious property that was confiscated by the 
former Communist government of Romania; 
(2) calls on the Government of Romania—
(A) to respect the constitutional rights of 
existence and practice of all religious commu-
nities to celebrate and practice their own reli-
gion in respectable locations, the right to propa-
gate the given beliefs, and the right to openly 
communicate the beliefs and laws of the reli-
gion; 
(B) to provide fair, prompt, and equitable 
restitution to all religious communities under 
Romanian law and in accordance with the Con-
stitution of Romania and all applicable inter-
national agreements to which Romania is a 
party; and 
(C) to provide restitution for the property 
rights of all agricultural and forestry lands be-
longing to religious communities;
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(3) calls upon the Government of Romania to 
amend Decree-Law 126/1990 to require that claims 
involving Romanian Greek Catholic properties be 
heard by an independent, disinterested, nonreligious 
commission, and calls upon the Government of Ro-
mania to prevent the demolition of Greek Catholic 
churches and to provide immediately for the security 
of all Greek Catholic churches and other religious 
buildings dating from the 18th and 19th centuries; 
and 
(4) with respect to Romanian Law No. 501/
2002, calls upon the Government of Romania—
(A) to amend the law to reflect the prin-
ciple of ‘‘restitution in integrum’’ as urged by 
Resolution 1123/1997 of the Parliamentary As-
sembly of the Council of Europe and to restore 
full ownership of all property and all rights 
emanating from such ownership; 
(B) to amend the law to reduce the five-
year period to one year during which public in-
stitutions can continue to occupy confiscated re-
ligious properties; 
(C) to amend the law to include compensa-
tion, according to an equitable formula, for de-
molished religious properties;