The Prince slept with us in the Social Center Lazarus for three nights. That was weeks ago. Since then I only see him on the streets. I fi nd him in the back courtyard of a building. Children are lying on torn up mattresses, some pregnant themselves. Stefania barely still has teeth, Ramona is numb from sniffing solvents, Iliescu’s leg is beginning to rot. Maria is there with two little children, she doesn’t let them come to us. The neighbors yell complaints from the windows, the police cruise the area but can do nothing.

We have brought milk, bread, sausage and apples. Black and greedy hands stretch out to us. It takes all we have to establish some order. Then we can eat. The Prince is lying in the middle of the dirt, his eyes half open, he eats nothing. Today our service is a struggle. As we are leaving, the Prince grabs my foot and holds me tightly. He wants to tell me something. I can barely understand him. "Are Bobo and Cristina still with you?" He is asking about his siblings. They are with us and have managed to move up from the emergency shelter to a real room. His voice becomes strong: "I sent them to you." A light comes into his eyes. Despite all the pain I feel over Prince in this hell, I am proud of him. He saved his siblings.

Adrian, that’s the Princes’ name, has not liked for a long time when the children call him Prince. He would no longer wear the red coat. When I find him like this in the back courtyard, he is truly no longer a prince. Although he makes me doubt my work, he remains, nonetheless, something special. Barely any other child was closer to me and none made me so sad. He himself didn’t make it, but he sent others to the Social Center. He is like Judas. Tragic and nonetheless a savior. When I was a child I felt sorry for Judas. I got to know him as a greedy traitor who committed suicide and ended up in hell. Psychology converted me and my understanding expanded. In contrast to the other eleven, Judas had his own opinion. He did not betray Jesus, he handed him over to the authorities. He trusted Jesus to triumph politically. He didn’t expect the outcome of the trial. Overwhelmed and despairing, he took his own life. The diagnoses must be: extreme personality profi le and miscalculation with tragic consequences. Because he was responsible for the common purse, he was fi nally also discriminated as a thief. He repented and wanted to give back the thirty silver pieces. Even that couldn’t persuade Christians up to the present to judge him more mildly.

It’s only fair to remember that Jesus chose this Judas. He was true to him till the end and encouraged him. "What you are going to do, do quickly!" Yes, Jesus needed Judas for his work, for the salvation of the world. Naturally, he also needed the other eleven whom he had called. But he chose to bind the eleven good ones together with the difficult one. Judas, one of the twelve, reminds us of the goal, reveals the highest meaning of life: to save, to help, to heal what is wounded. In this way, life becomes livable.

The Prince is like Judas, one who can not hide his tragedy. He reveals the concerns and the weaknesses which even the best families have. He rouses the tired and satiated church. Through this irritation the hallelujah gains its necessary relationship to the world. The "one" reminds us of the illnesses of the world, even more, he carries them into the healthy community.

The child of the streets not only holds up a mirror to society, but also rouses its best strengths. Joy giving generosity. And young people begin to help. Privileged children and street children are dependant on one another. They are the twelve whom Jesus leads together. The relationship one to eleven is exciting. One problem child and eleven strong ones. Eleven leaders and one who doesn’t allow you to forget the wounds. He guarantees for sensitivity in raising the children and protects from self-satisfaction. Will we successfully pass on a humane, just and peaceful world to young people? For that you need the eleven and the one.

Judas, one of the twelve - this is our motto for the new work year. We may also be thankful for our concerns and our problem children. They are the motor of our humanity. Finally, the flood in Romania demanded lots of strength and found it as well. Our children sacrifi ced their holidays in order to help families who had lost their houses. Good friends sent tools, material and construction workers to the catastrophe area. In our infirmatory and the "City of Children", in the Republic of Moldavia we take in those abandoned. The Prince, Judas and the flood - the "one" - doesn’t destroy the hope of the eleven, but rather makes it stronger.

In the solidarity of the twelve, I send my greetings.

Your,

Bucharest – Chişinău, summer 2005