During the period of Turkish rule in Walachia and Moldavia and of Hungarian rule in Transylvania, the Romanian Orthodox Church helped to maintain the national consciousness of the Romanian people and was active in their struggle to achieve national unity and independence (see ch. 2). The Turkish policy of religious tolerance enabled the church to thrive in Walachia and Moldavia; in Transylvania, however, a post-Reformation settlement between the Hungarian rulers and the various churches did not recognize the Romanian Orthodox Church as a legal denomination.
In order to gain legal status and its accompanying freedoms and benefits, a major portion of Romanian Orthodox clergy and laymen in Transylvania agreed, in 1698, to accept the jurisdiction of the pope while retaining Orthodox liturgy and ritual. The resulting Uniate church was an important religious and political force in Transylvania until the communist government forced it to reunite with the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1948. As the church of the Romanian people in Transylvania, the Uniate church played a major role in their emancipation and eventual integration into a greater Romania.
With over 1.6 million adherents in 1948, the Uniate church in Romania was the second largest and second most influential church in the country. Fearing and resenting the influence of the Roman Catholic pope with such a large number of its people, the communist regime decreed that the Uniates be merged with the Romanian Orthodox Church and disavow allegiance to the pope. Some Uniate clergy and laymen resisted and were persecuted and imprisoned. The pattern for the dissolution of the Uniate church was the same everywhere in Eastern Europe, and from 1946 to 1950 the Uniate congregations were absorbed into the various national Orthodox churches.
Until the Romanian state was enlarged in 1918, the Orthodox faith was, with minor exceptions, the exclusive religion of the country. The Romanian Orthodox Church was legally accepted as the national church and was supported by the state. Its hierarchy generally supported the policies of the government both as individuals and as officials of the church. The close relationship between church and state was of particular significance in rural areas, where the church was often called on to carry out local government functions. As the only literate person in the area, the parish priest was often not only the spiritual mentor of the population but also the teacher, judge, and government official. The power of the church in relation to the population, therefore, was based on both spiritual and governmental authority. In the eyes of the devout peasant, the local priest was an important authority on a variety of matters as well as a confidant and adviser.
The role of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the life of the country changed considerably after World War I with the addition of substantial populations of other faiths. Efforts to secure a favored position in its legal relationship to the state and to other denominations were defeated when pressure from the Roman Catholic and Uniate churches forced the government to guarantee religious freedom and the complete equality of all churches. At the same time, the Orthodox church's former role in the administration of governmental affairs at the local level was being lost to a growing secular civil service and educational system. The position of the church in the life of the average communicant, however, continued to be one of considerable power and influence. As the largest Orthodox church outside of the Soviet Union, the Romanian Orthodox Church also exercised a degree of leadership among other Orthodox churches.
The revised statutes of the Romanian Orthodox Church issued in 1949 differ little from those in effect before that date. Authority was somewhat more centralized, and the prerogatives of the patriarch were more clearly defined, but the structure of the church remained essentially the same. The patriarchate is divided into five metropolitanates, which in turn are divided into twelve dioceses. Each diocese is composed of parishes encompassing 1,500 to 2,500 communicants each. The clerical head at each level is assisted in his religious and administrative duties by a council composed of one-third clergymen and two-thirds laymen. The administration of monasteries falls under the jurisdiction of the head of the diocese. Since a 1952 reorganization of institutions for religious training, the Romanian Orthodox Church has had two theological institutes for the training of clergy and six schools for chanters and for monastic priests.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Roman Catholic Church is second in size of membership to the Romanian Orthodox Church and, since the absorption of the Uniates by the Orthodox church, the most important minority religion. Its estimated membership of between 1.2 million and 1.5 million in the 1960s was composed mostly of Hungarians and German Swabians (see ch. 4).
As the principal denomination of the Hungarian minority, the Roman Catholic Church has played a cultural and political role in the life of the country as well as a religious one. The well-organized body of the church and its related institutions have been a natural vehicle for the promotion of Hungarian group interests and the preservation of Hungarian cultural traditions. Catholic schools, which were independent of government control until 1948, most often used Hungarian or German as the language of instruction.
The Concordat of 1927 between the Holy See and the Romanian state defined the legal position of the Roman Catholic Church in Romania until the communist takeover. It gave the church full equality with the dominant Romanian Orthodox Church and other denominations and granted it sole control over its educational institutions, hospitals, and charitable organizations. In contrast to all other denominations, the Roman Catholic Church was free from state administrative control and did not receive any financial support from the state. The concordat was abrogated by the Romanian government in 1948, and since that time the position of the Roman Catholic Church has been unclear.