Father Pal�s replacement, a �more common man�, as one local Gypsy describes him, was less available for the Gypsies on the hill and the duties of catechizing were taken over by Elek Kurkuly, one of their own, a scavenger by day, who on Saturdays evangelizes the children through song and animated bible stories. On Sunday come the adults. He is a wiry, middle aged man with a distinguished graying mustache who�s calling to ministering the Gypsies came in May 1997 when he found himself in St. Peter�s square amongst 4000 fellow Gypsies coming together to celebrate the beautification of the martyred Ceferino Jimenez Malla, shot by a firing squad during the Spanish Civil War for refusing to hand over his rosaries. He died still clinging to the beads. The beautification made him the first ethnic Roma on his way to sainthood.

     �I studied El Pele,� Elek says referring to him by Ceferino�s nickname, �he was a very poor man, like us, but he help the poor people very much. He worked with horses. I too have a horse. I was raised with the horse.�

     And though Ceferino was barely literate, his natural intelligence and renowned piousness that was said to stop people in the street and announce, �stop swearing � here comes El Pele, made him an adviser to the bishop. Elek himself never went past the forth grade.

     The people of Cold Valley describe their deacon Elek as trustworthy, honest and immensely patience man; when the children disrupt the lesson Elek silences them by putting the tips of his praying hands to his lips. They repeat the gesture and there is silence � till another instigates and they start up again. �This was perhaps my biggest problem,� say Fr. Pal, �getting them to sit still for twenty minutes, the adults too. They are very agitated, for different causes.� The complaint is echoed by his replacement, Fr. Gyorgy Tibor, who as a result ceased holding Sunday mass and instead visits the church for discussions only an hour each Saturday, and Sunday when he can.
    Before the collapse of Ceausescu�s communist dictatorship, Cold Valley was a single road comprised of about half the number that it is today. The new market system following the communist collapse led to a shutting down of factories, taking away the Gypsies employment; without work, city Gypsies began loosing their homes and moving into the empty spaces around Cold Valley, putting up rickety shacks, creating shantytown community climbing the side of the muddy hill behind the rows of settled homes.

      A large number of them, like Elek Kurkuly, resorted to scavenging to survive. They scour the city dumpsites and trash bins for recyclable goods and which earns them enough to carry on yet another day. The poverty has contributed heavily to the children�s early abandonment of school paving the way for yet another generation of scavengers, like father - like son, bearing a striking similarity to the low level Untouchables of the Hindu Indian caste system out of which many � if not all - the Gypsies originated.

     Another portion earn a living as city street cleaners, an occupation of the Cold Valley Gypsies that goes back generations. Just as the sun begins setting, the army of sweepers in florescent orange uniforms and a broom slung over their shoulder begin parading down the hill towards the city. Others found work with their dancing skills that they learned in the streets of Cold Valley and now perform at special events.
    �How I usually explain Cold Valley to people is as a city within a city,� says Katie Sammons, an out of place English woman living at the top of the hill. Her organization, Arc Charity, offers study groups for the children. �It�s a very politicized society. They are very united yet split at the same time.�

     The politics surfaced after 1990 as the Hungarian minority began looking towards reuniting with Hungary. Violent clashes erupted between ethnic Hungarians and the Romanian majority.

     �We stand closer to the Hungarians,� says Elek Kurkuly of the Hungarian-speaking Gypsy community that consider themselves closer in character to the Hungarian people than to the Romanian Gypsies. The Pentecostal Church is perceived as a Romanian institution; services are held in the Romanian language. They are also identified by the wealth coming from European and American support.

     �Some go to the Pentecostal because of the money, but it�s normal that the poor go towards the wealth, �says Elek Kurkuly. �We are a poor people. Our church is an old house � like the early Christians. The Pentecostal pastor takes a salary. I work for free. You see my horse and wagon? I work from my faith.�
    Cultural differences amongst the Roma people have hindered unification in places like Cold Valley where the differences outweigh the similarities. �The Roma Party has no authority over us,� says Elek Kurkuly who claims leadership of the Cold Valley Gypsies while at the bottom of the hill, Pastor Horvat, Roma Party President at Cold Valley and leader of the Pentecostal church, claims authority.
    And then there are the others caught between the tug of war that claim no specific religion, bringing some truth to the old stereotype that Gypsies are a people without a church. For Densus, a baptized Reformed Christian � who often plays his guitar during the Catholic meetings and just as likely attend a Pentecostal service, �so what if I am not Catholic. It doesn�t matter the shape of the building. There is only one God.�

      �We need a solid church to keep us together� says Lotzi Langhel, a member of the Catholic congregation, a point of view often repeated in the streets. �The house is too small and fills quickly. We are 4,000 Gypsies here. When the weather is nice people stand around the courtyard.�
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