The Rev. David Dudas celebrates the Divine Posted on 02/14/2003 11:01:47 AM PST by Destro
Orthodox Church ordains Romany priest
The Rev. David Dudas celebrates the Divine
Liturgy at St. Anna's Church in Plzen (Pilsen). Plzen man is first Rom in the country to be named to priesthood
By Mindy Kay Bricker
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
(February 12, 2003)
The Rev. Jan Polansky was impressed by the 13-year-old who walked into the Orthodox church of St. Anna in Plzen (Pilsen) one Sunday morning in 1993.
Living in a society in which the Romany, or Gypsy, community usually does not mix with the ethnic Czech one, Polansky naturally noticed the boy's dark complexion.
But skin color was not David Dudas's most outstanding feature. "He stayed for the entire service," Polansky recalled, referring to the two-and-a-half-hour Divine Liturgy that consists of almost continuous Czech and Old Slavonic chants. "That doesn't happen. Children his age don't stay the entire time."
Then the boy returned the following two Sundays.
"It became obvious that he came to look and not to steal," Polansky said, referring to a stereotypical view many Czechs have of Roma.
Dudas had a calling.
A pioneer
On Jan. 19, Dudas, 22, became the first Rom in the nation to be ordained in the Orthodox Church. He conducted his first service Feb. 9 inside his new church, the Trinity Church in Rokycany, west Bohemia, a town with a population of 14,619, including 800 Roma.
The Roman Catholic Church loaned out the church building in 2001. The church is slated to become the full property of the Orthodox Church Saturday, Feb. 15, along with a 5 million Kc ($172,000) price tag for reconstruction. Floors, walls and electricity need to be replaced in this church, which had not held a Mass in 20 years -- the primary reason behind the Catholic gift of the church.
Though Dudas said he knew the day would come when he would stand in his own pulpit, wearing his own black robe and waist-length cross necklace, he also realized that his religious devotion would not change his skin color.
Polansky said he has received about three threatening phone calls per a week since the ordination. Anonymous callers told him skinheads would come after him. Others accused him of defaming the Orthodox Church by ordaining a Rom.
These calls, he said, "raise the question of whether we are ready to live in a developed world, if we behave in such a way. On the other hand, people support him. He will encourage Romany people to go to church."
Although Rokycany has a low crime rate, racially motivated crimes have caught the attention of national media. In 2000, for example, two teenagers hurled a Molotov cocktail through the window of a Romany family's house. The youths paid a fine but received no other punishment.
Dudas said the racial issues, though anticipated, do not make his life easy.
"Jesus said nobody is an apostle at home," he said, adding that such adversity makes him more devout.
"These aspects strengthen my belief and convictions that people should change. They, like me, could contribute to it."
Dudas said that the racism he experienced as a youth did not deter him from pursuing a religious vocation. He said he found solace by reading the Bible. And as an adult, he said, he does not allow prejudice against his skin color to compromise his profession.
"Priesthood is a fight during your entire life. A strong belief in God kept me going," he said, before glancing at his mobile phone, which rings to the tune of an Orthodox hymn.
Making strides
"I hope God will give us a lot of strength so we overcome everything -- that we reconstruct the church -- but that we reconstruct it for someone," Dudas said.
"The main objective is not to create a religious community but a spiritual Romany community."
In addition, Dudas said, he wants to create an environment in which Roma can celebrate their heritage and culture. He plans to build a cultural center in which festivals and concerts will be staged for the public.
Dudas, who was raised in a Roman Catholic household, said he was attracted to the rituals and history of the Orthodox religion. As a 13-year-old, he knew the Orthodox Church was his calling when he first came within a few meters of St. Anna.
And once inside the Baroque church, he felt reassured that the church was a perfect fit for him.
"I was lucky because there were people who accepted me and enabled me to come," he said.
Hoping to transform a deep religious conviction into a lifetime mission, he discovered that the country had no secondary schools that focused on theology.
"I wanted to become a priest as soon as possible," he said. So he took an alternative path. At age 15, he went to Romania and attended seminary school for five years.
The church and the community financed his travel, and he received scholarships for school. His studies were simple, but it was the language that was difficult.
When he moved there, he did not speak a word of Romanian. He was required to have a working knowledge of the language within four months -- and he did it in three.
Polansky said Dudas can do what the Czech priest could never accomplish -- adequately address the Romany community.
"He is one of them," Polansky said. "They are a culture, and he knows their language. He knows their mentality."
Dudas said he has been eager to preach and "to be a shepherd of my nation. When you want to build something when you are Roma, you have to build it."
-- Martina Sedlakova contributed to this report.
Mindy Kay Bricker can be reached at mbricker@praguepost.com
ABOUT CHRAM NEJSVETEJSI TROJICE (Trinity Church)
• Where: Rokycany, west Bohemia
• Service: Sundays, 10 a.m.
• When: First Roma-led Divine Liturgy started Feb. 9
• Why: David Dudas was placed here to appeal to the Romany community
• Needed: The church is under repair -- walls, floors and heating need to be replaced
THE DUDAS FILE
• Born: March 22, 1981, in Plzen (Pilsen)
• Studied: Theological Metropolitan Seminary, in Neamt, Romania; 1997-2002
• Ordained: Jan. 19, 2003, in St. Anna, in Plzen
Somehow the news warms my heart, particularly. Before I married my Greek wife, and years before I converted to Holy Orthodoxy I briefly dated a Romany woman.
Obviously this young man is a sincere believer. More power to him and I hope that he will bring more of his people into the faith.
St. Marilyn of Toogood?
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
No!
Patron Saint of the Rom and Sinti
Zefferino Giménez Malla (1861-1936), known as "El Pelé", was born of a Catholic gypsy family. He lived like a nomad for forty years and then settled in Barbastro (Spain). He married but had no children. Although he was illiterate, he taught the gypsy and non-gypsy children the first elements of Christianity, using the Bible above all, and he trained them to pray daily.
He made peace among the Kalòs (Spanish nomads) and resolved their disputes with others. He was honest in his work as an animal trader. In 1926 he became a member of the Franciscan Third Order. He belonged to Conference of St. Vincent De Paul. In 1931 he began participating in "Night Adoration".
During the religious persecution, he defended a priest who was being brought to jail. He too was arrested and then killed in Barbastro together with many priests, brothers and lay persons. He died shouting, "Long live Christ the King!", holding a rosary in his hands. His body was thrown into a common grave and never found again. In 1997 John Paul II proclaimed him Blessed.
OK now just a second here. I wanna do this too.
Someone should point out that the Roman Catholics could have just let the place collapse. It is quite likely that there was a more charitable motivation for their gift.
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Great story, thanks.
The one prayer from vespers is so beautiful, I think it is St Symeon's.
What would your vote be?
And it always makes me tear up....
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