�Save our church� has been the battle cry of the minority Romanian - Catholics who find themselves in a David and Goliath fight against City Hall and developers The Millennium Group.
�The spirit of communism is still active in Romania,� says Archbishop of Bucharest Ioan Robu . �Under Nicolae Ceausescu, we feared that the cathedral would be torn down or covered up, which was the policy towards churches at that time. Instead we are under siege today. What the communist could not destroy because of international pressure might now be destroyed, 16 years after Ceausescu�s overthrow.�
During the communist era Bucharest went through a massive period of urbanization and as a result large areas of the historical center, once known as �little Paris�, was razed to make way for bloc apartment housing and most famously the immense Parliament House which today stands like a huge wedding cake over what was once populated by much of the city�s medieval architecture. It was a strategy that is today highly criticized by the Romanian people and government.
�You know, this is a very sensitive subject,� writes structural engineer Emanuel Necula in an e-mail correspondence. Mr. Necula, who�s has over 20 years experience in the field, was hired as the project designer, but resigned in disgust because of the cut and save attitude of the developers that in his opinion was threatening the stability of the project. Mr. Necula�s main concern lies in the owners� refusal to carrying out necessary geological test, particularly soil tests to insure the stability in case of an earthquake and a wind tunnel study to analyze the redistribution of snow on the existing lower roofs.
The majority of the buildings around the rising office building were built before modern building codes and according to Mr. Necula not designed to withstand earthquakes. The Cathedral, he adds, was built of an un-reinforced masonry foundation and has already suffered numerous damages over the years from past earthquakes. In the case of an earthquake the effects of the new tower on the soil could lead too a �sudden building collapse�
�Without a major and perhaps a very costly seismic retrofit (modifications of existing structures), the existing buildings will become death traps because they have a high rate of occupancy and because they can fail in even moderate ground shaking.�
The Neo-Romanesque style Cathedral was built between 1873-1884, by the well known Austrian Architect Friedrich Schmidth. It had suffered significant damages from earthquakes in 1940 (magnitude 7.7), 1977 (magnitude 7.5), 1986 (magnitude 7.2) and 1990 (magnitude 6.9). The devastating earthquake of �77 had caused over 1,500 deaths in the city mostly due to collapsing building.
�If there is an earthquake the monster will crush us� cries Archbishop Robu� But it may not even need an earthquake. According to Mr. Necula there were no studies done on the soils around the existing buildings to determine its capacity of withstanding the pressures caused by the weight of the new tower and its additional 9000 tons on the footings and which could adversely impact the already weakened structures located within a 60 meter radius. St. Joseph�s stands less than 10 meters distance.
The Cathedral is today the main place of worship for the Bucharest Roman Catholic minority. The population of Romania is primarily Orthodox with about 6% Catholic. Pope John Paul II performed mass in the Cathedral during his historical visit to Romania in 1999, the first Pontifical visit to a predominantly Orthodox country. A plaque commemorating that momentous day stands by the entrance.
For 125 years the cathedral has stood up against the earthquakes, World War II bombings over the city and Ceausescu�s bulldozers. In 2001 it was finally acknowledged as a historical and architectural monument granting it protection by Romanian laws, and it is here where the scandals between the church, state and developer begins.