When I decided to run as a representative in the Romanian Parliament on behalf of the Romanian citizens living abroad, I could have never imagined that I would be confronted with such a story as that of Bodnariu family, which lost all five children because of an unjust law.

The children of the Bodnariu were taken away from their parents by the Norwegian barneverent (The Children Welfare Services) in an act of “legal” abduction.

Even in the worst moments of Romania’s communist history, the Communist Party didn’t dare to interfere so terribly with the lives of its citizen’s children as this Norwegian organization did. The worst persecution didn’t go as far as to remove infants and children from their beloved parents. A story like this may have been heard of perhaps in the former Soviet Union in the 50’s or 60’s or more recently, in North Korea or Saudi Arabia but it’s hard to believe that such tragedy can happen in the country that grants annually the Nobel Price for Peace to people who promote freedom.

On November 16th, 2015, a special unit of the Norwegian police aggressively arrested the mother and the father of the Bodnariu family and took away their five children under the accusation of religious indoctrination.

The mother, Ruth, is a pediatric nurse and the father; Marius is an IT expert and a member of the school board, maintaining the networks of the local town hall. A couple with a very tender hearth, they met in a Christian orphanage from Bucharest, Romania where they volunteered their time and services to help the orphans and street kids.

After their first two years of their marriage in Romania, Marius and Ruth choose to raise their children in the beautiful landscaped country of Norway. The family moved to the countryside, where Ruth’s parents were living.

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that in a recent scientific study conducted by the University of York – the 2015 Good Childhood Report (http://goodchildhood2015.childrenssociety.org.uk/) – Romanian children proved to be the happiest in the world, leaving behind the Norwegian children who took (a honorable) sixth place. We know many families in Romania who love their children and discipline them in a loving environment and who are still happy, in spite of their poverty.

We live in a world of different traditions and the United Nations has a Convention of the Rights of Children that is still in effect. A country has the right to develop its own modern or post-modern legislation for the children welfare as long as it agrees with the UN Convention, and no country has the right to separate children from their parents for unnecessary causes or based on religious biases such as this. This is a clear violation of article 8 from the European Convention on Human Rights. It seems that the greatest concern of the social workers of barneverent, The Norwegian Agency for Protecting Children Rights, is fear that these children would be raised according to traditional Christian principles, the very principles that made Norway a great nation.

I appeal to your hearts as parents and Christian to do all that you can do to help these children to be reunited to their family.

As a parent myself, I can’t imagine anything more painful than the heartbreaking experience of having your three month old forcefully removed from your arms, while the mother is breastfeeding him.
I know what it meant to be raised in the communist Romania, where the Good News of the Birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem was perceived as a threat by the communist state and where the very name of the celebration Christmas was forbidden.

And we remember that two thousand years ago there were others too, who wanted to take the little Jesus from His mother’s breast.

Remember that we as citizens have the power to create change. I encourage you to continue lobbying the international human rights protection organizations. Take time to write to your representatives in national Parliaments, asking for the release of Bodnariu children and uniting them with their loved ones. Furthermore, make sure that your message echoes throughout Norway, Romania, America, and all over the world. The abuse that separated the Bodnariu family is casting a grim shadow over the coming Christmas, but we still exclaim: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

We hope to work together in this effort to restore the Peace of God in the hearts of the troubled Bodnariu family, who is facing the darkest hour of their life.

MP Mircea Lubanovici
Chairman of the Committee for Romanians abroad
Chamber of Deputies from the Parliament of Romania