Despite having to build around a public street lamp, an orthodox priest in Constanța/Konstanca carried out the construction of his church without any authorization, which brought him to the attention of prosecutors.
The incident happened way back in 2014, when the authorities acted immediately and ordered the priest to stop all construction work. But Ciprian Stanca, the parish priest of the Saint Haralambie church, did not obey and simply continued building the new church, which is now famous due to the fact that a public lamppost passes through its roof. You should, of course, ask yourself “Why is that?” And the answer is, because the pole stood too close to the construction, so they simply built around it.
Because the priest continued building despite a prohibition by both the judicial system and the prosecutor’s office, the city decided to initiate a formal investigation procedure against him. This was the point when Stanca decided to make a plea agreement with the authorities, avoiding the danger of actually being sentenced to prison.
As a result, he did receive one year in prison for the crime of continuing construction work after being ordered by authorities to stop. However, the sentence has been suspended for two years. The only question left is what will now happen with the illegally built Orthodox church? Will it be pulled down or not? For now, it’s still standing.
Title image: The illegally built Saint Haralambie church in Constanţa with its built-in street lamp. (Photo: www.adevarul.ro)
