Illustrative of the extent to which these people are repressed was the degree to which they were so thrilled to see us--total strangersbut we were Americans and that. to them. promised some hope for their plight. As I walked through the crowds at the churches I visited. many of the townsfolk would press up to me. and as they shook our hands. they would press prices of paper into our palms which were pleas for help to get them out of the country. The tragedy in those messages was underscored as we met with individuals who had been persecuted and tortured by the Romanian Government because of their religious beliefs and their desire to emigrate. We rejoiced earlier this fall with the release and emigration of Father Gheorghe Calciu who had been imprisoned in Romania for a period totaling more than 21 years because of his Christian belief. But his suffering II. lustrates the human rights abuses in Romania. During his imprisonment he had been beaten repeatedly and was forced to beat more inmates.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration