Religion: Noble Gesture

Last week Premier Calinescu of Rumania received a heart-warming telegram, praising him for a "noble gesture." What Premier Calinescu had done was to lift a ban on a Rumanian religious minority —250,000 Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and others. Rumanian Baptists sent the telegram of gratitude to Premier Calinescu, promptly resumed worship in their 1,500 little chapels and meeting houses.

Last year Rumania's State church, the Greek Orthodox, had temporal power with a vengeance: its Patriarch Miron Cristea was King Carol's puppet Premier. Patriarch Cristea did not resist an impulse to crack down on Protestant sects. His device was simple. He...