While the chief weapon against the Church in Bulgaria was the registration requirement, in Rumania the technique was Consolidation. Consolidate denominations, consolidate physical facilities, consolidate the hours of worship. Wherever there were churches with empty pews, the congregations were merged with others in nearby villages, and the leftover facilities confiscated by the State. In theory it sounded reasonable and even advantageous to the Church: one large united congregation in place of several small struggling ones. In practice it meant that many members of the shut-down churches
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