In the 80, the churchgoers did not risk much: they felt though and they were perceived as outsiders. One did not talk about one?s religious interests either at work or at home. Not because of a diffuse fear of possible disagreeable things, but because the topic did not belong either to the public space or to the general interest. One Sunday I met a good friend of mine at the church. He had come with his mother to commemorate a relative. Realizing that I was not there on business, I asked me surprised what I was doing at the church. To attend the religious service as such seemed odd to him. As in many other regards, communism forcibly ? modernized? the Romanian society, as far as the religious behavior was concerned; besides manifesting a tacit respect towards the Orthodox tradition and for its worth as far as our identity was concerned, religion had become a private business, strictly personal. There were other interpretations of this marginality. A lot of church goers considered themselves opponents of the communist regime somehow, the defenders of the church, although their attitude did not imply a public gesture. A priest told the young people at the church one day:? you overcame your fear. You are monks living among the crowds?. Monks or not, the religious practice was half surreptitious (because of the regime and with the acceptance of the actors); it was somehow risky if one wished social success. One heard about the risks, the insignificant threats, here and there: a teacher warned his pupils not to go to church on Easter, because he was going to be there and check and those who came were to receive a bad school report.

There were risks for those who created a group. Because of the preaching and father Galeriu?s presence, Silvestru church was always full of people; it was a well known church in Bucharest. People used to stay in front of the church and discuss after the service was over, commenting upon it, change points of view. Father Galeriu had connections among the intellectuals. In 1987, Sorin Dumitrescu had organized a series of dialogues in his studio with Father Galeriu, Andrei Plesu, Gabriel Liiceanu. He Published after 1990 a book comprising these ? evening dialogues?. Father Galeriu never made any reference to communism or the regime in his preaching or discussions. But he was a vivid personality, with a discourse full of pith, and all this had contributed to the creation of a constant audience at Silvestru, if not a group. In 1988, I think, one night, some? evildoers? came to the priest?s house, beat him (he was a man in his 70), rummaged among his papers and books. The habitues of the church immediately found out, came to ask about Father?s health; a kind of guard group was set up in front of the house and church. The next day, Father appeared wearing dark glasses to cover the bruises; he only came out of the altar for a little while. But he did come out: his gesture was a kind of demonstration, which everybody understood, as to his calm, courage and confidence. It was maybe a kind of mute resistance? (87)