In line with its view of religion as a private and personal matter, the government has not published any statistical or other information pertaining to the various religious communities since 1950. Research on the role of religion in the daily life of the people has been discouraged; therefore, up-to-date information is restricted to observations by foreign visitors to the country. According to reports from such observers, more than twenty years of communist effort to undermine religion as a force in the life of people has been unsuccessful. Some of the clergy have lost their former influence by openly working on behalf of the government, and some young people question the relevance of some beliefs and practices. The fundamental faith of the people, however, has been little changed. Even longstanding members of the party have been publicly criticized for subscribing to religious views and practices.
CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS
The Constitution of 1965 guarantees freedom of conscience and freedom of religion to all citizens. It also specifically guarantees the right not to profess any religion. The organization and activities of any church are regulated by state law, and religious organizations are prohibited from operating any educational institutions other than those for the training of clergy and members of religious orders.
Within these broad guarantees and prohibitions, the state exercises strict control over the organization and activities of religious denominations through its Department of Cults, which functions in accordance with the General Regulations for Religious Cults passed by the Grand National Assembly in 1948. Under these regulations the state must approve the statute of organization and administration and the statement of beliefs of any church before it can be recognized as a legal body. Clerical appointments are subject to state approval, and all clergy must take an oath of allegiance to the Socialist Republic of Romania.
All legally recognized churches receive state subsidies for salaries of clergy and other operating expenses; churches are not allowed to receive any income or financial assistance directly. Budgets are subject to approval by the Department of Cults, which may withhold funds for individual parishes or for salaries of individual clergymen if their activities are found to be in violation of the policies or laws of the state. The Department of Cults may also suspend any policy decision, regulation, or other measure passed by the governing body of a church if it is deemed contrary to the provisions of law either directly or indirectly.
State supervision and control of administrative and financial affairs of religious denominations had existed in Romania before the communists took power. The terms of the General Regulations for Religious Cults followed in many ways the Law on Cults of 1928; however, several differences in the degree of control point out the fundamental difference in church-state relations in these two periods. Before 1948, for instance, the churches could receive income from property and donations in addition to the state subsidy. More important, however, the earlier law gave the state no right to interfere in matters of belief except in the case of minor sects whose specific beliefs were subject to approval. The 1948 law makes the state the ultimate authority on matters of faith as well as administration. Thus the intent of the earlier law appeared to be the regulation of the activities of essentially independent bodies, but the intent of the present law is to give complete authority and control to the state.
In practice, state control of religious bodies has been carried out through its control over finances and through its confirmation of clerical appointments. No changes have been made in the traditional methods of selecting and appointing clergy and laymen for the various positions in the church. By using its power to confirm these selections, however, the state has managed to fill all the important positions and decisionmaking bodies with persons willing to cooperate and carry out state policy. The state has refused to grant recognition to the Roman Catholic Church because of the church's belief in the supremacy of the pope in all matters of faith and morals and in church administration; however, the church does function with the tacit agreement of the regime.
THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
The Romanian Orthodox Church is the most important church in the country and the one into which the vast majority of Romanians are born. It is an independent Eastern Orthodox church headed by a patriarch in Bucharest. Its membership in the 1950s, after the incorporation of the Uniate church, was estimated at more than 15 million.
Romanians were introduced to Christianity during the period of Roman rule of Dacia. By the tenth century they were known to be following the Slavonic liturgy of the Eastern Christian Church. Old Church Slavonic remained the liturgical language until the late sixteenth century, when it began to be replaced by Romanian.