Romanian Orthodox Church

Romanian Orthodox Church
Biserica Ortodoxă Română
Coat of arms
Abbreviation	ROC(in English) BOR(in Romanian)
Type	Eastern Christianity
Classification	Eastern Orthodox
Scripture	Septuagint,New Testament
Theology	Eastern Orthodox theology
Polity	Episcopal
Primate	Daniel,Patriarch of All Romania
Bishops	53
Priests	15,068
Distinct fellowships	Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate,Army of the LordandDiocese of Gyula
Parishes	15,717
Monastics	2,810 men, and 4,795 women
Monasteries	359
Associations	Eastern Orthodox Church
Language	Romanian
Liturgy	Byzantine Rite
Headquarters	Dealul Mitropoliei,Bucharest
Territory	Romania Moldova
Possessions	Serbia Hungary Western and Southern Europe; Germany, Central and Northern Europe; Americas; Australia and New Zealand
Founder	(as Metropolis of Romania) Nifon Rusailă,Carol I (as Patriarchate of Romania) Miron Cristea,Ferdinand I
Independence	1865
Recognition	25 April 1885 (Autocephalous metropolis) 1925 (Autocephalous Patriarchate)
Absorbed	Romanian Greek Catholic Church(1948)
Separations	Old Calendarist Romanian Orthodox Church(1925) Evangelical Church of Romania(1927) Romanian Greek Catholic Church(1990)
Members	16,367,267 in Romania;720,000 in Moldova11,203 in United States
Publications	Ziarul Lumina
Official website	patriarhia.ro

TheRomanian Orthodox Church(ROC;Romanian:Biserica Ortodoxă Română,BOR), orPatriarchate of Romania,is anautocephalousEastern Orthodoxchurch infull communionwith other Eastern OrthodoxChristian churches,and one of the ninepatriarchatesin theEastern Orthodox Church.Since 1925, the church'sPrimatehas borne the title ofPatriarch.Its jurisdiction covers the territories ofRomaniaandMoldova,with additionaldiocesesfor Romanians living in nearbySerbiaandHungary,as well as for diaspora communities inCentralandWestern Europe,North AmericaandOceania.It is the only autocephalous church within Eastern Orthodoxy to have aRomance languagefor liturgical use.

The majority ofRomania's population (16,367,267, or 85.9% of those for whom data were available, according to the 2011 census data), as well as some 720,000Moldovans,belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church sometimes refer toOrthodox Christian doctrineasDreapta credință( "right/correct belief" or "true faith"; compare to Greek ὀρθὴ δόξα, "straight/correct belief" ).

History

See also:History of Christianity in Romania

Orthodox believers in Transylvania according to the 1850 census

Orthodox believers in Romania according to the 1930 census (data available only for Transylvania, Banat, Crișana, Maramureș and Bucharest)

Orthodox believers in Romania according to the 2002 census

In the Principalities and the Kingdom of Romania

The Orthodox hierarchy in the territory of modern Romania had existed within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinopleuntil 1865 when the churches in the Romanian principalities ofMoldaviaandWallachiaembarked on the path of ecclesiastical independence by nominatingNifon Rusailă,Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia, as the first Romanian primate.PrinceAlexandru Ioan Cuza,who had in 1863 carried out a massconfiscation of monastic estatesin the face of stiff opposition from the Greek hierarchy in Constantinople, in 1865 pushed through a legislation that proclaimed complete independence of the church in the principalities from the patriarchate.

In 1872, the Orthodox churches in the principalities, theMetropolis of Ungro-Wallachiaand theMetropolis of Moldavia,merged to form the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Following theinternational recognitionof the independence of theUnited Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia(laterKingdom of Romania) in 1878, after a long period of negotiations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, PatriarchJoachim IVgranted recognition to the autocephalous Metropolis of Romania in 1885, which was raised to the rank of Patriarchate in 1925.

Romanian Orthodox theological education was underdeveloped at the end of the nineteenth century. The theological institute atSibiu,for example, had only one theologian as part of its faculty; the rest were historians, journalists, naturalists, and agronomists. The focus of priestly education was practical and general rather than specialized. In the early twentieth century, the curriculum of a priest included subjects such as hygiene, calligraphy, accountancy, psychology, Romanian literature, geometry, chemistry, botany, and gymnastics. A strong emphasis was placed on church music, canon law, church history, and exegesis.

AfterWorld War I,the Kingdom of Romania significantly increased its territory. Consequently, the Romanian Orthodox Church needed massive reorganization in order to incorporate congregations from these new provinces. This led to shortages and difficulties. The Church had to establish a uniform interpretation of canon law. It had to handle public funds for paying clergymen in the newly acquired territories and, generally speaking, manage the relationship with the state. The legislation was intricate. TheStatute on the organization of the Romanian Orthodox Churchadopted by the Romanian parliament on May 6, 1925, counted 178 articles. The law on the functioning of the Romanian Orthodox Church counted 46 articles. Legislators adopted the Transylvanian tradition of mi xing clergymen and laymen in administrative assemblies and granted bishops seats in the Romanian Senate.However, the context also allowed a number of young theologians likeNichifor Crainic,Ioan Savin,orDumitru Stăniloaeto study abroad. These theologians proved extremely influential after their return to Romania and helped shape theological academies. With a few rare exceptions, likeGala Galaction,the Romanian Orthodox theologians of this period embracednationalism.Their scholarly works are thus imbued with nationalist ideology.

The second half of the 1920s is marked by the rise of antisemitism in Romanian politics with figures such asA.C. CuzaorIron Guardfounding fatherCodreanu.Antisemitism also became apparent in church publications. In 1925, for instance, church journalRevista Teologică (The Theological Review)published an anti-Semitic article by Sibiu professor priest Pompiliu Morușca. Morușca's article blamed the Jews for the economic situation of Romanians inBukovina.It is a testimony of an older form of anti-Semitism going back to the 19th century. The Romanian Orthodox Church would evolve different forms of antisemitism in the 1930s.TheConcordatof 1927 also triggered anti-Catholic reactions.

1930s - Patriarch Miron Cristea's premiership

See also:Relationship between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Iron Guard

The rise ofNazi Germanyexposed Romania to the Reich's theological ideas. This mixture of nationalism, racism and theological thought found fertile ground in a Romanian Orthodox Church that was already no stranger to antisemitism. It became particularly evident in the second half of the 1930s in the writings of theologians such asNichifor Crainic,Nicolae Neaga orLiviu Stan.

In 1936, Crainic published a seminal text titledRasă și religiune (Race and Religion).While rejecting the Nazi idea of a superior Germanic race, as well as the fascination with Germanic paganism, Crainic argued that some races are indeed superior based on their accomplishment of the Christian essence. Crainic also denied the Jews the moral right to use the books of the Old Testament since, according to him, those prophesies had been fulfilled by the coming of Christ who had abolished the Jewish religion.

The deaths of prominentIron GuardmembersIon MoțaandVasile Marinon the same day, January 13, 1937, atMajadahondaduring theSpanish Civil Warwhile fighting for theNationalist factionled to the organization ofmassive processionsin Romania, particularly in Bucharest where they were interred. Hundreds of Orthodox priests participated and MetropolitansNicolae BălanofTransylvaniaandVisarion PuiuofBukovinaheld special services.Shortly after the funeral, Orthodox theologian Gheorghe Racoveanu and priest Grigore Cristescu founded the theological journalPredania (The Tradinion).The first issue featured a glorification of Moța and Marin and their sacrifice and reflected the Guard's obsession for martyrdom. Intended as a bi-monthlyPredaniaprinted a total of twelve issues before being banned by the authorities. It stood out for its profoundly anti-ecumenical editorial line, publishing attacks against Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals.

Also in the aftermath of Moța and Marin's grandiose funeral, the Holy Synod issued a condemnation ofFreemasonry.Moreover, following the lead of Metropolitan Bălan who wrote the anti-Masonic manifest, the Synod issued a "Christian point of view" against political secularism stating that the Church was in its right to choose which party was worthy of support, based on its moral principles. Iron Guard leaderCodreanusaluted the Synod's position and instructed that the Synod's proclamation should be read by Guard members in their respectivenests(i.e. chapters).

In 1937, theGoga-Cuzagovernment was the first to adopt and enact antisemitic legislation in the Kingdom of Romania, stripping over two hundred thousand Jews of their citizenship. That very same year, the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, PatriarchCristeamade an infamous speech in which he described the Jews as parasites who suck the bone marrow of the Romanian people and who should leave the country.The Orthodox church directly or indirectly supported far-right parties and antisemitic intellectuals in their anti-Jewish rhetoric.At the time many Orthodox priests had become active in far-right politics, thus in the 1937 parliamentary elections 33 out of 103Iron Guardcandidates were orthodox priests. In 1938 an Orthodox priest named Alexandru Răzmeriţă, elaborated a plan for the total elimination of Jews in the cities and their deportation to forced labor camps in the countryside.

Patriarch Miron Cristea as Prime-Minister in 1938

Overall, the church became increasingly involved in politics and, afterKing Carol IIassumed emergency powers, Patriarch Miron Cristea becameprime-minister in February 1938.In March 1938, the Holy Synod banned the conversion of Jews who were unable to prove their Romanian citizenship.Cristea continued the policies of the Goga-Cuza government but also advocated more radical antisemitic measures including deportation and exclusion from employment. Cristea referred to this last measure as "Romanianization". The church newspaperApostolulwas instrumental in propagating Cristea's antisemitic ideas throughout his premiership but church press as a whole became flooded with antisemitic materials.Miron Cristea died in March 1939. Soon after, the Holy Synod voted to uphold regulations adopted under Cristea banning the baptism of Jews who were not Romanian citizens.

Cristea's death led to elections being held in order to select a new Patriarch. MetropolitansVisarion Puiuand the highly influentialNicolae Bălanpublicly declared their refusal to enter the race. Both of these bishops held pro-German, pro-Iron-Guard and antisemitic views and it is reasonable to assume that King Carol II's opposition was instrumental in their refusal. Thus, the patriarchal office passed to a reluctantNicodim Munteanu.

1940s - World War II

See also:Romanian Orthodox Mission in Transnistria

King Carol II abdicated on September 6, 1940. An openly pro-German coalition of the military headed by marshalIon Antonescuand theIron Guardtook over. Patriarch Nicodim Munteanu's reaction was cautious and his September 1940 address was unenthusiastic. Munteanu, like Cristea before him, feared the anti-establishment nature of the Guard. But the Iron Guard was highly influential on the Church's grassroots. In January 1941, seeking full control of the country, the Iron Guard attempted a violent insurrection known asthe Legionary Rebellion.The putsch failed and out of the 9000 people arrested, 422 were Orthodox priests.

Some particularly violent episodes during the insurrection directly involved the Orthodox clergy. Students and staff of the Theological Academy in Sibiu, led by Professor Spiridon Cândea and assisted by Iron Guard militiamen rounded up Jews in the courtyard of the academy and forced them to hand over their valuables at gunpoint. Monks from the Antim Monastery in Bucharest, led by their abbot, armed themselves and, using explosives, blew up a Synagogue on Antim Street. The numerous Jewish inhabitants of the neighborhood hid in terror.

After Antonescu and the Army crushed the insurrection, the Holy Synod was quick to condemn the Legionary Rebellion and publicly paint it as a diabolical temptation that had led the Iron Guard to undermine the state and theConducător.Many of the clergymen who had participated in the Rebellion were, however, shielded by their bishops and continued parish work in remote villages. Romania's participation inWorld War IIon the Axis side after June 1941 would provide them with opportunities for rehabilitation.

By the early 1940s, Orthodox theologians such asNichifor Crainicalready had a lengthy record of producing propaganda supporting the concept ofJudeo-Bolshevism.After 1941 the idea became commonplace in central church newspapers such asApostolulorBOR.A particularly infamous article was signed by Patriarch Nicodim himself and published inBORin April 1942. It referred to the danger of domestic enemies whom he identified as mostly being Jewish.In 1943BORpublished a 13-page laudatory review of Nichifor Crainic's infamous antismetic bookTransfigurarea Românismului(The Transfiguration of Romanianism).Antisemitism was also present in regional journals,a leading example beingDumitru Stăniloae'sTelegraful român(The Romanian Telegraph).Orthodox chaplains in the Romanian army cultivated the Judeo-Bolshevik myth.

A particular case was Romanian-occupiedTransnistria.On August 15, 1941, The Holy Synod established a mission, rather than a new bishopric, in Romanian-occupied territories across theDniester.The assumption was that Soviet atheist rule had destroyed theRussian Orthodox Churchand the Romanian Orthodox Church took it upon itself to "re-evangelize" the locals. The main architect of the enterprise wasArchimandriteIuliu Scriban.In 1942 the Mission evolved into an Exarchate and was taken over byVisarion Puiu.Many of the missionaries were former affiliates of the Iron Guard, some were seeking rehabilitation after the 1941 insurrection. Abuse against the Jewish population was widespread and numerous reports of Orthodox priests partaking and profiting from the abuse exist.In 1944, Visarion Puiu fled to Nazi Germany, then, after the war, in the West. In Romania he was tried and convictedin absentiaafter the war. Many priests active in Transnistria also faced prosecution after the war, although communist prosecutors were mostly looking for connections to the Iron Guard, rather than explicitly investigating the persecution of Jews.

Historical evidence regarding the Romanian Orthodox Church's role in World War II is overwhelmingly incriminating but there are a few exceptions.Tit Simedrea,metropolitan of Bukovina is one two high-ranking bishops known to have interceded in favor of the Jewish population, the other being the metropolitanNicolae Bălanof Transylvania. Evidence also surfaced that Simedrea personally sheltered a Jewish family in the metropolitanate compound. Priest Gheorghe Petre was recognized asRighteous Among the Nationsfor having saved Jews inKryve Ozero.Petre was arrested in 1943 and court-martialed but was released in 1944 for lack of evidence.

AfterKing Michael's Coupon August 23, 1944, Romania switched sides. The coup had been backed by the communists; the Church, known for its long-term record of anti-Soviet and anti-communist rhetoric now found itself in an awkward position.Patriarch Nicodim was quick to write a pastoral letter denouncing the previous dictatorship, blaming the Germans for the events that had taken place in Romania during the 30s and during the war and praising"the powerful neighbor from the East"with whom Romania had, supposedly, always had"the best political, cultural, and religious relations."

Starting in 1944, and even more afterPetru Grozabecame Prime-minister with Soviet support in 1945, the Church tried to adapt to the new political situation. In August 1945 a letter of the Holy Synod was published inBOR.Again, it blamed the Germans for the horrors of the war and claimed that the Orthodox Church had always promoted democracy. The Romania Army was also praised for having joined forces with"the brave Soviet armies in the war against the true adversaries of our country."Finally, the Orthodox faithful were asked to fully support the new government.Later that yearBORpublished two relatively long articles authored by Bishop Antim Nica and, respectively, by Teodor Manolache. Both articles dealt with the Holocaust and painted the Romanian Orthodox Church as a savior of Jews.

Communist period

Nicolae Ceaușescuand other Party officials visitNeamț Monasteryin 1966.

Main articles:Romanian Orthodox Church in Communist RomaniaandAnti-religious campaign of Communist Romania

Romania officially became a communist state in 1947. Restricted access to ecclesiastical and relevant state archivesmakes an accurate assessment of the Romanian Orthodox Church's attitude towards theCommunist regimea difficult proposition. Nevertheless, the activity of the Orthodox Church as an institution was more or less tolerated by theMarxist–Leninist atheistregime, although it was controlled through "special delegates" and its access to the public sphere was severely limited; the regime's attempts at repression generally focused on individual believers.The attitudes of the church's members, both laity and clergy, towards the communist regime, range broadly from opposition andmartyrdom,to silent consent, collaboration or subservience aimed at ensuring survival. Beyond limited access to theSecuritateand Party archives as well as the short time elapsed since these events unfolded, such an assessment is complicated by the particularities of each individual and situation, the understanding each had about how their own relationship with the regime could influence others and how it actually did.

TheRomanian Workers' Party,which assumed political power at the end of 1947, initiated mass purges that resulted in a decimation of the Orthodox hierarchy. Three archbishops died suddenly after expressing opposition to government policies, and thirteen more "uncooperative" bishops and archbishops were arrested.A May 1947 decree imposed a mandatory retirement age for clergy, thus providing authorities with a convenient way to pension off old-guard holdouts. The 4 August 1948 Law on Cults institutionalised state control over episcopal elections and packed the Holy Synod with Communist supporters.Theevangelicalwing of the Romanian Orthodox Church, known as theArmy of the Lord,was suppressed by communist authorities in 1948.In exchange for subservience and enthusiastic support for state policies, the property rights over as many as 2,500 church buildings and other assets belonging to the (by then-outlawed)Romanian Greek-Catholic Churchwere transferred to the Romanian Orthodox Church; the government took charge of providing salaries for bishops and priests, as well as financial subsidies for the publication of religious books, calendars and theological journals.By weeding out the anti-communists from among the Orthodox clergy and setting up a pro-regime, secret police-infiltrated Union of Democratic Priests (1945), the party endeavoured to secure the hierarchy's cooperation. By January 1953 some 300-500 Orthodox priests were being held in concentration camps, and following PatriarchNicodim's death in May 1948, the party succeeded in having the ostensibly docileJustinian Marinaelected to succeed him.

As a result of measures passed in 1947–48, the state took over the 2,300 elementary schools and 24 high schools operated by the Orthodox Church. A new campaign struck the church in 1958-62 when more than half of its remaining monasteries were closed, more than 2,000 monks were forced to take secular jobs, and about 1,500 clergy and lay activists were arrested (out of a total of up to 6,000 in the 1946-64 period). Throughout this period Patriarch Justinian took great care that his public statements met the regime's standards of political correctness and to avoid giving offence to the government;indeed the hierarchy at the time claimed that the arrests of clergy members were not due to religious persecution.

The church's situation began to improve in 1962, when relations with the state suddenly thawed, an event that coincided with the beginning of Romania's pursuit of an independent foreign policy course that saw the political elite encourage nationalism as a means to strengthen its position against Soviet pressure. The Romanian Orthodox Church, an intensely national body that had made significant contributions to Romanian culture from the 14th century on, came to be regarded by the regime as a natural partner. As a result of this second co-optation, this time as an ally, the church entered a period of dramatic recovery. By 1975, its diocesan clergy was numbering about 12,000, and the church was already publishing by then eight high-quality theological reviews, includingOrtodoxiaandStudii Teologice.Orthodox clergymen consistently supported theCeaușescuregime's foreign policy, refrained from criticizing domestic policy, and upheld the Romanian government's line against the Soviets (over Bessarabia) and the Hungarians (over Transylvania). As of 1989, two metropolitan bishops even sat in theGreat National Assembly.The members of the church's hierarchy and clergy remained mostly silent as some two dozen historic Bucharest churches were demolished in the 1980s, and as plans forsystematization(including the destruction of village churches) were announced.A notable dissenter wasGheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa,imprisoned for a number of years and eventually expelled from Romania in June 1985, after signing an open letter criticizing and demanding an end to the regime's violations of human rights.

In an attempt to adapt to the newly created circumstances, the Eastern Orthodox Church proposed a new ecclesiology designed to justify its subservience to the state in supposedly theological terms. This so-called "Social Apostolate" doctrine, developed by Patriarch Justinian, asserted that the church owed allegiance to the secular government and should put itself at its service. This notion inflamed conservatives, who were consequently purged byGheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej,Ceaușescu's predecessor and a friend of Justinian's. The Social Apostolate called on clerics to become active in thePeople's Republic,thus laying the foundation for the church's submission to and collaboration with the state. Fr. Vasilescu, an Orthodox priest, attempted to find grounds in support of the Social Apostolate doctrine in the Christian tradition, citingAugustine of Hippo,John Chrysostom,Maximus the Confessor,OrigenandTertullian.Based on this alleged grounding in tradition, Vasilescu concluded that Christians owed submission to their secular rulers as if it were the will of God. Once recalcitrants were removed from office, the remaining bishops adopted a servile attitude, endorsing Ceauşescu's concept of nation, supporting his policies, and applauding his peculiar ideas about peace.

Collaboration with the Securitate

Main article:Clerical collaboration with communist secret services

In the wake of theRomanian Revolution,the church never admitted to having ever willingly collaborated with the regime, although several Romanian Orthodox priests have publicly admitted after 1989 that they had collaborated with and/or served as informers for theSecuritate,thesecret police.A prime example was BishopNicolae Corneanu,theMetropolitan of Banat,who admitted to his efforts on behalf of theRomanian Communist Party,and denounced activities of clerics in support of the Communists, including his own, as "the Church's [act of] prostitution with the Communist regime".

In 1986, MetropolitanAntonie Plămădealădefended Ceaușescu's church demolition programme as part of the need forurbanizationandmodernisationin Romania.The church hierarchy refused to try to inform the international community about what was happening.

Widespread dissent from religious groups in Romania did not appear until revolution was sweeping acrossEastern Europein 1989. The Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox ChurchTeoctist Arăpașusupported Ceaușescu up until the end of the regime, and even congratulated him after the state murdered one hundred demonstrators inTimișoara.It was not until the day before Ceaușescu's execution on 24 December 1989 that the Patriarch condemned him as "a new child-murderingHerod".

Following the removal of Communism, the Patriarch resigned (only to return a few months after) and the Holy Synod apologised for those "who did not have the courage of themartyrs".

After 1989

Romanianicon ofSaint Peter

As Romania made the transition to democracy, the church was freed from most of its state control, although the State Secretariat for Religious Denominations still maintains control over a number of aspects of the church's management of property, finances and administration. The state provides funding for the church in proportion to the number of its members, based on census returnsand "the religion's needs" which is considered to be an "ambiguous provision".Currently, the state provides the funds necessary for paying the salaries of priests, deacons and other prelates and the pensions of retired clergy, as well as for expenses related to lay church personnel. For the Orthodox church this is over 100 million euros for salaries,with additional millions for construction and renovation of church property. The same applies to all state-recognised religions in Romania.

The state also provides support for church construction and structural maintenance, with a preferential treatment of Orthodox parishes.The state funds all the expenses of Orthodox seminaries and colleges, including teachers' and professors' salaries who, for compensation purposes, are regarded as civil servants.

Since the fall of Communism,Greek-Catholic Churchleaders have claimed that the Eastern Catholic community is facing a cultural and religious wipe-out: the Greek-Catholic churches are allegedly being destroyed by representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church, whose actions are supported and accepted by the Romanian authorities.

The church openly supportedbanning same-sex marriage in a referendum in 2018.The church believes thathomosexualityis asinand unnatural.

In the Republic of Moldova

See also:History of the Orthodox Church in Moldova

The Romanian Orthodox Church also has jurisdiction over a minority of believers inMoldova,who belong to theMetropolis of Bessarabia,as opposed to the majority, who belong to theMetropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova,under theMoscow Patriarchate.In 2001 it won a landmark legal victory against the Government of Moldova at theStrasbourg-basedEuropean Court of Human Rights.

This means that despite current political issues, the Metropolis of Bessarabia is now recognized as "the rightful successor" to the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and Hotin, which existed from 1927 until its dissolution in 1944, when its canonical territory was put under the jurisdiction of theRussian Orthodox Church's Moscow Patriarchatein 1947.

After the debut of the ongoingRussian invasion of Ukraine,the Romanian Orthodox Church in Moldova has seen a significant number of parishes switching afilliation from the Moscow controlled Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, sometimes smoothly, otherwise through intense debates and highly polemicized switches.

Organization and leadership

See also:List of hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Romanian Orthodox Church organization before 2009

The Romanian Orthodox Church is organized in the form of the RomanianPatriarchate.The highest hierarchical, canonical and dogmatical authority of the Romanian Orthodox Church is theHoly Synod.

There are ten OrthodoxMetropolitanates,twentyarchbishoprics,twenty-threebishopricsin total, of which four metropolitans and nine bishops administer the Church services for the Romanian Diaspora in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. An estimated number of over twelve thousand altar servers in parishes, monasteries and social centres of the Church. Almost 400 monasteries exist inside the country, staffed by some 3,500 monks and 5,000 nuns. As of 2004, there are, insideRomania,fifteen theological universities where more than ten thousand students (some of them fromBessarabia,BukovinaandSerbiabenefiting from a few Romanian fellowships) currently study for a theological degree. More than 14,500 churches (traditionally named "lăcașe de cult", or houses of worship) exist in Romania for the Romanian Orthodox believers. As of 2002, almost 1,000 of those were either in the process of being built or rebuilt.

Current leadership

The patriarchal chair is currently held by His BeatitudeDaniel,Archbishop ofBucharest,Metropolitan ofMuntenia and Dobrudja,Locum Tenens ofCaesarea in Cappadociaand Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.The title of Locum tenens ofCaesarea in Cappadociais atitular officegranted in 1776 byEcumenical PatriarchSophronius IIto the holder of the office ofMetropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia,the precursor position of the Orthodox Church to the today Patriarchate of Romania.

• Teofan,Metropolitan ofMoldavia and Bukovina
• Laurențiu,Metropolitan ofTransylvania
• Andrei,Metropolitan ofCluj, Maramureș and Sălaj
• Irineu,Metropolitan ofOltenia
• Ioan,Metropolitan ofBanat
• Petru,Metropolitan ofBessarabia
• Iosif,Metropolitan of Western and Southern Europe
• Serafim,Metropolitan of Germany and Central Europe
• Nicolae,Metropolitan of theAmericas

Notable theologians

Dumitru Stăniloae(1903–1993) is considered one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the 20th century, having written extensively in all major fields of Eastern Christiansystematic theology.One of his other major achievements in theology is the 45-year-long comprehensive series on Orthodox spirituality known as the RomanianPhilokalia,a collection of texts written by classical Byzantine writers, that he edited and translated from Greek.

ArchimandriteCleopa Ilie(1912–1998), elder of theSihăstria Monastery,is considered one of the most representative fathers of contemporary Romanian Orthodox monastic spirituality.

Metropolitan Bartolomeu Anania(1921-2011) was the Metropolitan of Cluj, Alba, Crișana and Maramureș from 1993 until his death.

List of patriarchs

Main article:Patriarch of All Romania

• Miron(1925–1939)
• Nicodim(1939–1948)
• Justinian(1948–1977)
• Iustin(1977–1986)
• Teoctist(1986–2007)
• Daniel(since 2007)

Jubilee and commemorative years

Initiative of Patriarch Daniel’s, with a deep missionary impact for Church and society, has been the proclamation of jubilee and commemorative years in the Romanian Patriarchate, with solemn sessions of the Holy Synod, conferences, congresses, monastic synaxes, debates, programmes of catechesis, processions and other Church activities dedicated to the respective annual theme.

• 2008 –The Jubilee Yearof the Holy Scripture and the Holy Liturgy;
• 2009 –The Jubilee-Commemorative yearof Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia;
• 2010 –The Jubilee Yearof the Orthodox Creed and of Romanian Autocephaly;
• 2011 –The Jubilee Yearof Holy Baptism and Holy Matrimony;
• 2012 –The Jubilee Yearof Holy Unction and of the care for the sick;
• 2013 –The Jubilee Yearof the Holy Emperors Constantine and Helena;
• 2014 –The Jubilee Yearof the Eucharist (of the Holy Confession and of the Holy Communion) and theCommemorative Yearof the Martyr Saints of the Brancoveanu family;
• 2015 –The Jubilee Yearof the Mission of Parish and Monastery Today and theCommemorative Yearof Saint John Chrysostom and of the great spiritual shepherds in the eparchies;
• 2016 –The Jubilee Yearof Religious Education for Orthodox Youth and theCommemorative Yearof the Holy Hierarch and Martyr Antim of Iveria and of all the printing houses of the Church;
• 2017 –The Jubilee Yearof the Holy Icons and of church painters and theCommemorative Yearof Patriarch Justin and of all defenders of Orthodoxy during communism;
• 2018 –The Jubilee Yearof Unity of Faith and Nation, and theCommemorative Yearof the 1918 Great Union Founders;
• 2019 –Solemn Yearof church singers and of theCommemorative Yearof Patriarch Nicodim and of the translators of church books;
• 2020 –Solemn Yearof Ministry to Parents and Children and theCommemorative Yearof Romanian Orthodox Philanthropists;
• 2021 –Solemn Yearof pastoral care of Romanians abroad and theCommemorative Yearof the reposed in the Lord;
• 2022 –Solemn Yearof Prayer in the Church’s life and the Christian’s life and theCommemorative Yearof the Hesychast Saints Symeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas and Paisius of Neamț;
• 2023 –Solemn Yearof the Pastoral Care of the Elderly and theCommemorative Yearof the Hymnographers and Church Chanters;
• 2024 –Solemn Yearof the pastoral care of the sick and theCommemorative Yearof all the holy unmercenary healers;
• 2025 –The Jubilee Yearof the Centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate and theCommemorative Yearof the Romanian Orthodox confessors of the twentieth century.;

See also

• Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral
• List of Romanian Orthodox monasteries
• Romanian Orthodox icons
• Frumușeni Mosaics
• Byzantium after Byzantium
• Religion in Romania
• Orthodox Church of France
• Orthodox Church of Italy
• Orthodox Church in America Romanian Episcopate
• Religious education in Romania

References

Sources

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• Biliuță, Ionuț (2020).""Christianizing" Transnistria: Romanian Orthodox Clergy as Beneficiaries, Perpetrators, and Rescuers during the Holocaust ".Holocaust and Genocide Studies.34(1): 18–44.doi:10.1093/hgs/dcaa003.
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Further reading

• Article on the Romanian Orthodox Church by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA website

External links

• Official website