Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
One estimate suggested as many as 87 percent (2002 census). The Romanian Communist Goverment promoted atheism, but did officially recognize several religions. The regime favored the Orthodox Church. The 1948 Law of Cults brought the Church under state control. There and controlled appointments of the Church hierarchy. There were dissenters, but the hierarchy and most priests accepted state control and the Church was largely submissive to the refime. The Government converted the monasteries into craft centers and priests largely had to learn and persue 'worldly' occupations. The Eastern or Byzantine Rite Catholics (Uniate Church) was supressd by the Communist Government beginning in 1948 with the Law of Cults. The Uniates had in the late 17th and early 18th centuries the Uniates broke from the Orthodox Church and accepted Catholic Papal authority even though they retained the Orthodox ritual and canon. They also retained the Orthodox calendar and conducted the mass in Romanian. The Communist Government in 1948 decided to shift the affiliaion of the Uniates back to the Orthodox Church. This was in part because the Government had more control over the Orthodox Church and was suspicious of Papal influence. It also served the general Communist desire for national unity. About 1.7 million Uniates were involved. When Uniates resisted, the Government arrested 14,000 priests and 5,000 vocal laymen. An unknown number were executed or dies from mistreatment while incarcerated. The Orthodox hierarchy cooperated in the supression of the Uniates, charching that they had been forcibly separated by the Roman Church and truly belonged in the Orthodox Church. There is a small Roman Catholic community, about 5 percent. Protestants (especially Baptists and Pentacostalists) have made inroads in recent years, amounting to about 5 pecent of the population. The first Protestants were Germans who converted at the time of the Reformation. Most of Romania's historic Jewish popultion was murdered by the NAZIs and Romanian Fascists during the World War II Holocaust. There is a small number of Muslims.
The most important religion in Romania is Orthodox Catholicism. A reader writes, "I was surprised how many young people still were going to church and how most of them crossed themselves when they were passing a church at a distance." This degree of religisity is rarely seen in Europe today, at least in Western Europe. One estimate suggested as many as 87 percent (2002 census). The Romanian Communist Goverment promoted atheism, but did officially recognize several religions. The regime favored the Orthodox Church. The 1948 Law of Cults brought the Church under state control. There and controlled appointments of the Church hierarchy. There were dissenters, but the hierarchy and most priests accepted state control and the Church was largely submissive to the regime. The Government converted the monasteries into craft centers and priests largely had to learn and persue 'worldly' occupations.
The Eastern or Byzantine Rite Catholics (Uniate Church) was supressd by the Communist Government beginning in 1948 with the Law of Cults. The Uniates had in the late 17th and early 18th centuries the Uniates broke from the Orthodox Church and accepted Catholic Papal authority even though they retained the Orthodox ritual and canon. They also retained the Orthodox calendar and conducted the mass in Romanian. The Communist Government in 1948 decided to shift the affiliaion of the Uniates back to the Orthodox Church. This was in part because the Government had more control over the Orthodox Church and was suspicious of Papal influence. It also served the general Communist desire for national unity. About 1.7 million Uniates were involved. When Uniates resisted, the Government arrested 14,000 priests and 5,000 vocal laymen. An unknown number were executed or dies from mistreatment while incarcerated. The Orthodox hierarchy cooperated in the supression of the Uniates, charching that they had been forcibly separated by the Roman Church and truly belonged in the Orthodox Church.
There is a small Roman Catholic community, about 5 percent of the population. The Hungarian minority is Roman Catholic. It is interesting that the different religions in Romania exist along ethnic lines.
The first Protestants were Germans who converted at the time of the Reformation (16th century). These Saxon Protestants have been quite significant in the history of Romania. A reader tells us, "I visited the country a year ago and I have seen the old churches and buildings."
Germans (Saxons) settled in Transylvania beginning in the 12th century. At the tme they were Roman Catholics. They founded 500 settlements in Transylvania through the ages and their cities and villages all had prominent fortified churches in order to defend the territory against the Turks. The second largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul is still standing in Sibiu (Hermannstadt), which is also the seat of the Saxon bishop of the Lutheran church. The Germans mostly converted to Lutherenism during the Reformation. Before World War II there were 800,000 German-speaking Saxons in Romania. Today only about 60,000 Saxons still live in Romania. Few Romanians convereted to Lutherenism. Protestants have, however, made inroads in recent years. A number of Romanians have converted, mostly becoming Baptists and Pentacostals. Protestants amount to about 5 pecent of the population.
The first Jews to arrive in Roman Dacia may have been merchants. Jewish tombstones have been found in Romania dating from the Roman era. The first Christians in Romania may have been associated with the earky Jews as Christianity began as the Jesus movement within Judiaism. Almost no information about early Jewish communities from this era survive. Aurelian was forced to withdraw the Roman Legionsn from Dacia allowing the Germanic Barbarians to occupy the province (272 AD?). Much of the Romanized population was evacuated. It is likely that this included most if not all of the small Jewish community. Romania did not exist in the Medieval era, but principaloties from which modern Romania was formed coaleased in this period. One of the most important Romanian principalities was Walachia which was founded about 1290. Many Jews expelled from Hungary (1387) emmigrated to Walachia. More Jews arrived after Spain expelled its Jews (16th century). Moldavia was an important stop in the trade routes between Poland-Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire. Jewish merchants participated in this trade and some settled in Moldavia. Jewish settlement was encouraged by Moldavian princes as helpful for this lightly populated principality. Moldavian princes in the 18th century the granted charters guaranteing a range of privliges to Jewish communities. These offers attracted Polish Jews. Anti-semitism was not as pronounced in Romania as in many other European countries. It has the same kind of roots in Romania as in other European countries. A major source of anti-Semitsm was not religious, but commercial. Greek Orthodox Christianity while geneally not as intensely anti-Semetic as Roman Catholcism was intolerant and priests preached anti-Semetic semons. The Church also influenced anti-Jewish legal measures. Anti-Semetic liternature began to appear in the late-18th and early-19th centuries, including Tthe Golden Order (Jassy, 1771) and A Challenge to Jews (Jassy, 1803). Emerging Romania Most of Romania's historic Jewish popultion was murdered by the NAZIs and Romanian Fascists during the World War II Holocaust.
There is a small number of Muslims.
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