Romania Bishop was "Securitate Informant"

BIRN

09 10 2007 Bucharest _ The Commission for Declassifying Securitate Files, CNSAS, announced on Tuesday that Bishop Pimen had been an informant for the former communist-era secret police.

Pimen, who is the Orthodox Bishop of Suceava, in eastern Romania, has refused to make any comment so far.

Two other bishops, Andrei Andreicut and Nicolae Corneanu, have been revealed to have collaborated with the once much-feared security police, the Securitate.

They have both denied harming anyone by acting as informants.

Securitate involvement within the Romanian Orthodox Church is a highly sensitive issue in a country where an estimated 87 per cent of the 21.5 million inhabitants are Orthodox.

The Church has enjoyed a revival since communism fell in 1989.