Thread by @DanielaGabor

if you think the Vatican is a cesspit of financial shenanigans, wait till you see this incredible documentary on Romanian Orthodox Church and its leader, Patriarch Daniel of Romania, aka 'The Great White'

(1.2 million views in opening day)

this is an outrageous story of Church milking public funds at national, regional and local level with help from politicians across the political spectrum

of a Patriarch doubling as local baron

of a Patriarch covering priests' sexual abuse

most rich men (yes) in Romania have become rich by stealing from the state, by legal and illegal means, but so far we knew little of the Orthodox Church's role, including its unholy cuddling of far right politicians

Patriarch Daniel's most visible project, largest after Ceausescu's 'House of People'

The People's Salvation Cathedral: built on prime Bucharest land donated by State (EUR 180 million), with public money (EUR 120 million)

Money that went to construction firms linked to Daniel.

the network of favours for contracts includes Adrian Videanu, liberal ex minster of finance and Mayor of Bucharest (EUR 20 million contract for marble)

under Daniel, the Orthodox Church has become a successful corporation, with annual (declared) revenues of EUR 160 million.

Daniel's business model: the Church must absorb as much public money as possible

The Great White presides over a three layer corporate structure for milking the state:
- executive layer of priests
- politicians and civil servants that implement politicians' commitments to Daniel
- business men that get Orthodox Church contracts to spend public money

investigative journalists at Recorder managed to infiltrate this ecosystem through a social-democrat (PSD) politician, Lazar Neacsu.

Neascu is a local PSD councillor in Bucharest, real estate entrepreneur and expert in channeling money from local budgets to Orthodox Church.

this is excellent: at first meeting w journalist passing as European funds consultant, Neacsu asks that all mobile phones be left in a separate room.

Neacsu is, in his own words, one of the 45 chosen 'Romanian elite' lay men sitting on the Orthodox Church's governing body alongside 45 bishops.

those 45 lay men are the transmission belt from public budgets to Church coffers.

OMG, this beats any Netflix series:

Neacsu, wondering which party to join to become a local councillor & push Church interests, gets this advice from the Great White in 2016:

'join PSD (social democrats), they will win everywhere*'

*w a bit of help from the Orthodox Church

'how did Daniel know that PSD will win?', Neascu asks rhetorically

'he's Secret Service (securitate, or Romanian KGB), he's the best informed man in the country'

thus confirming suspicions of many in Romania.

the other hero of this story is clergy Aurel Mihai, the Great White's right hand and organiser of shoddy deals in chief: 'once we get approval from his Holiness, it's better than Strasbourg, you will get your share of the money'

two days after Recorder released the video, both Neacsu and Aurel Mihai have resigned from Bucharest's City Council and the Patriarchy respectively.

The Great White, in all his CEO glory, knows how to sacrifice scapegoats.

timing of this scandal is priceless:

political crisis at the height of deadliest COVID wave so far, result of killer combination of political incompetence and decades long underinvestment in public health.

Romanians will now connect the dots.

finally, Recorder made another video - with English subtitles - 'The Cathedral of Humiliating the Gentile'

Jesus would certainly weep to see the logic of its grand opening: politicians and influencers in, poor people freezing outside