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Romanian Orthodox Church

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The Romanian Orthodox Church (Biserica Ortodoxă Română in Romanian) is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. A majority of Romanians (18,817,975, or 86.8% of the population, according to the 2002 census data[#endnote_numbers]) belong to it. Among all Orthodox Christians, the mere numbers of Romanians make the Romanian Orthodox Church second only to the Russian Orthodox Church in size.

A Romanian Orthodox Monk
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A Romanian Orthodox Monk

Adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church sometimes refer to it as Dreapta credinţă ("right/correct belief"; compare to Greek ὀρθὴ δόξα, "straight/correct belief"). Orthodox believers are also sometimes known as dreptcredincioşi or dreptmăritori creştini.

Contents
  • 2 Canonical status
  • 3 Organization
  • 4 Relations with other Orthodox Jurisdictions
  • 5 Famous theologians
  • 6 List of Patriarchs
  • 7 Current leaders of the Church
  • 8 See also
  • 9 References
  • 10 Notes
  • 11 External links

    • History

    In 1859, the Romanian principalities of Moldova and Wallachia formed the modern state of Romania. The hierarchy of the orthodox churches tends to follow the structure of the state. Therefore, shortly after, in 1872, the orthodox churches of the former principalities (the Metropoly of Ungrovlahia and the Metropoly of Moldova) decided to unite to form the Romanian Orthodox Church. In the process, they canonically separated from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Romanian Orthodox Church declared autocephaly. In the same year was constitued a separate synod.

    The Patriarchate of Constantinople only recognized the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1885. First organized with the rank of Metropoly, the Romanian Orthodox Church became a Patriarchy in 1925, when the ranks of the Romanian Orthodox Church grew following the formation of Greater Romania.

    The Communist regime

    The Communist government, through the 1948 Law of Cults made the Church tightly controlled by the state. The monasteries were transformed into craft centers and priests were encouraged to learn other 'worldly' jobs.

    The leadership of the Church had good relations with the Communist regime, but there were many members of the clergy which dissented: until 1963 as many as 2,500 individual priests and monks were arrested and further 2,000 monks were forced to give up the monastic life.

    While the dissenters were sentenced to fairly long terms in prison, there were also many priests who collaborated and were informers for Securitate, the secret police. In 2001, the Romanian Orthodox Church tried unsuccessfully to change the law which allowed the access to the archives of Securitate, in order to deny public access to the files of the priests which collaborated with the Securitate.

    It was only after the 1989 Romanian Revolution, when Romania became democratic, that the Church was freed from state control.

    The Church in Moldova

    Romanians in the Republic of Moldova belonging to the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia (rom. Mitropolia Basarabiei), having resisted russification for 192 years (after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire in 1812) are 2 million strong in 2004. In 2001 they won a landmark legal victory against the Government of the Republic of Moldova at the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.

    This means that despite current political issues, the Moldovan Metropolitan Church is now recognized as " the rightful successor" to the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Hotin, which existed from 1918 till 1940 and was only brought by Stalin under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church's Moscow patriarchate.

    Relationships with the Greek Catholic Church

    In 1948 the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic was outlawed, and all its assets, including churches, were handed over to the Orthodox church. After the fall of the Communist regime, the Greek Catholics requested that their churches be returned, but so far only 16 of the 2600 claimed churches have been returned. There are reports that several old Greek Catholic churches were demolished while under the administration of the Orthodox Church [link].

    Romanian icon of St. Peter
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    Romanian icon of St. Peter

    Unique features

    The Romanian Orthodox Church is the only Orthodox church using a Romance language in the divine liturgy.

    Byzantine religious records also mention a unique form of bishoprics in the region - namely the chorepiscopate or countryside episcopate - as opposed to the better-known religious centers in large cities. This can possibly be compared to the "monastic bishops" of Ireland, who united the functions of countryside Abbot with that of district Bishop in another country that did not emphasize an urban episcopate, at least for a time.

    The very word for "church" in Romanian, Biserică is unique in Europe. It comes from Latin "basilica" (in turn a loanword from Greek βασιλικα - meaning "communications received from the king" and "the place where the Emperor administered justice"), rather than "ecclesia" (from Greek εκκλησία, from "those called out").

    Canonical status

    The Romanian Orthodox Church is organized as the Romanian Patriarchate. The highest hierarchical, canonical and dogmatical authority of the Romanian Orthodox Church is the Holy Synod.
    The Palace of the Romanian Patriarchate (The former Palace of The Assembly of Deputies (Adunarea Deputaţilor))
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    The Palace of the Romanian Patriarchate (The former Palace of The Assembly of Deputies (''Adunarea Deputaţilor))

    Organization

    There are five Metropolitanates and ten archbishoprics in Romania, and more than twelve thousand priests and deacons, servant fathers of ancient altars from parishes, monasteries and social centres. Almost 400 monasteries exist inside the country for some 3,500 monks and 5,000 nuns. Three Diasporan Metropolitanates and two Diasporan Bishoprics function outside Romania proper. As of 2004, there are, inside Romania, fifteen theological universities where more than ten thousand students (some of them from Bessarabia, Bukovina and Serbia benefiting from a few Romanian fellowships) currently study for a doctoral degree. More than 14,500 churches (traditionally named "lăcaşe de cult", or worshiping places) exist in Romania for the Romanian Orthodox believers. As of 2002, almost 1,000 of these were either in the process of being built or rebuilt.

    Relations with other Orthodox Jurisdictions

    Most Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches, including the Romanian, maintain a respectful spiritual link to the Ecumenical Patriarch. Now in office is His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Patriarch of Constantinople and New Rome.

    Famous theologians

    Father Dumitru Stăniloae (1903 - 1993) is one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century. His other magnum opus, aside from his duhovnicesc (deepest spiritual) opus, is the 45-year-long comprehensive collection known as the Romanian Philocaly.

    Father Archmandrite Cleopa Ilie (1912 - 1998), elder of the Sihastria Monastery, is the most representative elder and spiritual father of contemporary Romanian Orthodox spirituality.

    List of Patriarchs

    See Patriarch of All Romania

    Current leaders of the Church

    See also

    References

    Notes

    External links

    Churches and Monasteries

    History

    Religious Heritage and Cultural Tourism Programmes

    Beliefs

    Romanian Orthodoxy outside Romania

    		 This article is part of the series on Eastern Christianity — Also see the  
    Autocephalous and Autonomous Churches of Eastern Orthodoxy
    Autocephalous Churches
    Four Ancient Patriarchates: Constantinople | Alexandria | Antioch | Jerusalem
    Russia | Serbia | Romania | Bulgaria | Georgia | Cyprus | Greece | Poland | Albania | Czechia and Slovakia | OCA*
    Autonomous Churches
    Sinai | Finland | Estonia* | Japan* | China* | Ukraine* | Western Europe* | Bessarabia* | Moldova* | Ohrid* | (ROCOR)
    The * designates a church whose autocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.

     

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