Overview of Christianity in Romania

By Andre Bouravnev, M.Div., ITEM Media Director

Uniquely beautiful Romania offers a loving glimpse of both traditional and modern lifestyles. It is located in the southeast of Europe in the northern part of the Balkans, inside the Danube river basin flowing into the Black Sea. It is a home of ancient legends (e.g. Transylvania) and exciting (and sometimes violent) history.

History of Christianity in Romania
When the Romanians formed as a people they already possessed the Christian faith, based on tradition, archaeological and linguistic evidence. Basic terms of Christianity are of Latin origin: such as church ("biserică" basilica), God ("Dumnezeu" Domine Deus), Easter ("Paşte" Paschae). Christianity is traced to the Roman Empire and Christian missionary influence of the 1st century. Saint Andrew is believed to be the first Apostle to bring Christianity to Romania. Andrew, the brother of Apostle Peter, is believed to have passed through the region in the 1st century. Later Christianity became the predominant faith of Scythia Minor, proven by the remains of many early Christian churches. The Roman administration was ruthless with the Christians but the Romanian-born Emperor Galerius proclaimed freedom for Christians in the Roman Empire in 311. At that point the city of Tomis (modern Constanţa) became a Metropolitanate with as many as 14 bishoprics. By the 4th century, a powerful and organized nucleus of Christian monks existed in the area, known as the Scythian monks. Due to the complex relationship of Byzantine Patriarchates and Bulgarian kingdom, Romanians adopted Old Church Slavonic in the liturgy in the early 9th century. Byzantine religious records also mention a specific form of bishoprics - chorepiscopate or countryside episcopate in their records showing connection between the two churches.

Most religious texts were to be periodically transcribed until the 16th century in only Old Church Slavonic. However, a few Romanian translations circulated, including the Codex of Voroneţ and Palia de la Orăştie. The Bucharest Bible was the first complete Romanian translation of the Bible published in 1688 and is considered a mature and sumptuous work. Its cultural importance is not unlike that of King James Version for the English language. Thereafter, the importance of Church Slavonic and Greek languages in the Romanian Orthodox Church began to fade. In 1863, Romanian became the official language of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Both WWI and WWII brought great turmoil to Romanian church. Shortly after 1945, religious education came under the scrutiny of communist authorities and the Securitate. The Department of Religious Denominations, a governmental body dealing with religious matters since pre-communist times, continued to exist but was transformed into an agency enforcing stricter state control over religious affairs in the country.

When Romania gained freedom from the Communist regime in 1990’s religious groups could finally experience some genuine freedom.

Religious Demography
Romania is a secular state, thus having no national religion. Approximately 31 percent of the population claims to attend religious services several times a month, according to a September 2007 poll. The majority of the country's citizens are, however, members of the Romanian Orthodox Church, an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, with 86.7% (18,817,975 people) of the country's population identifying as Eastern Orthodox in the 2002 census. Other important religions include Roman Catholicism (4.7%), Protestantism which includes Baptists, Seventh day Adventists, Unitarians and smaller Evangelical groups (3.7%), Pentecostal denominations (1.5%) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church (0.9%), although this number is disputed by the Romanian Creek-Catholic Church. Romania also has a small but historically significant Muslim minority, concentrated in Dobrogea, who are mostly of Turkish ethnicity and number 67,500 people. There are also approximately 10,000 Jews. Others religions make up less than 2.9% of the population and include --Armenian Church, Old Rite Russian Christian (Orthodox) Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Baha'i Faith, the Family (God's Children), Mormons, Transcendental Meditation, Hare Krishna, and Zen Buddhism. Approximately 24,000 people claimed to be unaffiliated with any religion whatsoever but in Romanian society, the number of people without any belief (unbaptized and not having been married in a religious setting) is very low, under 0.1%.

Ethnic groups are divided as follows: Romanian 89.1%, Hungarian 8.9%, German 0.4%, Ukrainian, Serb, Croat, Russian, Turk, and Gypsy 1.6%. These lines are also corresponding to religious affiliations. Among Romanians, the dominant religion is Orthodox Christianity, which claims the support of over 80 percent of that population.

A substantial Hungarian minority in Romania is predominantly Roman Catholic, but a small part of them are Calvinist. Most of these Protestant, Roman and Greek Catholics reside in Transylvania, although there are other small populations throughout Romania. A few other religions are more regional such as well Old Rite Members in Moldavia and Dobrogea. Most Muslims are located in the southeastern part of the country.

Religious Freedom
Although most of the time under foreign suzerainty (under the Ottoman Turks in Moldavia and Wallachia and under the Hungarian rule in Transylvania), Romanians characteristically kept their Orthodox faith as part of their national identity. The current Constitution and the law provide for freedom of religion. The Government observes Christmas and Orthodox Easter as national holidays. Members of other recognized religious groups that celebrate Easter on a different date are entitled by law to have an additional holiday. There is no law against proselytizing. While the Government generally respects this right in practice, some restrictions adversely affected the rights of some religious groups.

Although the Constitution and the law provide for freedom of religion, the Government exercises considerable influence over religious life through laws and decrees. Government registration and recognition requirements pose obstacles to minority religious groups. Under the provisions of the 2006 religion law, the Government implemented a three-tier system of recognition: religious groups (groups of people who share the same beliefs but do not receive tax exemptions or support from the state), religious associations and religions. Religious associations are legal entities that do not receive government funding, must be registered and receive only limited tax exemptions. In order to register, religious associations must have 300 citizen members and must submit members' personal data, while the membership requirement for registration of any other type of association is 3 members. A religious association is entitled to receive religion status if they have 12 years of continuous religious activity in the country and a membership of 0.1 percent of the population (approximately 22,000 persons).

The 2006 religion law recognizes the same 17 religions that had this status prior to its adoption: the Romanian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Serb Bishopric of Timisoara, Roman Catholic Church, Greek Catholic Church, Reformed (Protestant) Church, Christian Evangelical Church, Romanian Evangelical Church, Evangelical Augustinian Church, Lutheran Evangelical Church, Unitarian Church, Baptist Church, Pentecostal Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Armenian Church, Judaism, Islam, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

These recognized religious groups are eligible for state support according to their representation in the census (an ambiguous number that is protested by some minority religions such as the Greek Catholic communities. Additionally, they have the right to establish schools, teach religious beliefs in public schools where they have a sufficient number of adherents, receive government funds to build places of worship with state funds and subsidize clergy's housing expenses, broadcast religious programming on radio and television, apply for broadcasting licenses for denominational frequencies, have cemeteries, worship, pay clergy and enjoy tax-exempt status.

The law governing the rights of foreigners, revised in 2003, introduced a long-stay visa for religious activities. Visa requirements include approval by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, submission of evidence that the applicants represent a religious organization legally established in the country, certification of medical insurance, and a criminal record review. The law provides for up to five years of visa extensions.

In 2005 the Government amended legislation governing property restitution to expedite and simplify restitution. This law also covers the restitution of farm and forest land and other real estate to ethnic communities and addresses restitution to religious groups. The 2005 amended law also introduced fines for officials who hinder the restitution process. Under the amended restitution law, church buildings used by public institutions (such as museums, schools, and hospitals) are to remain in tenants' hands for a period of 3 or 5 years, depending on the function of the public institutions, during which time they are to pay rent to the churches. The majority of church properties belong in this category.

Ministry of Justice regulations provide for unrestricted access of recognized religions and religious associations to any type of detention facilities, even if their assistance is not specifically requested. The National Administration of Penitentiaries can bar the access of representatives of a religious group only if it can provide solid proof that the presence of the group in question endangers the security of the detention facility. The regulations also forbid any interference by the management of penitentiaries with religious programs and forbid the presence of management representatives at meetings between representatives of any religious group and prisoners. Distribution of religious publications cannot be subjected to any restriction. Prison representatives in charge of religious assistance should not be priests or representatives of any religious group. The law entitles recognized religious groups to have military clergy trained to render religious assistance to conscripts.

Religious education in Romania
Beginning with the 1989 revolution, the legally recognized churches, especially the Romanian Orthodox Church, the country’s largest religious group, pressured the post-communist authorities to introduce religious education in public schools, offer substantial financial support for theological institutions. The Government permits religious instruction in public schools. Attendance in religion classes is optional. Only the 17 recognized religious groups are entitled to hold religion classes in public schools, but only if their adherents constitute a certain proportion of the student population.

Most education comes from the Orthodox Church but the Catholic Church, Protestant churches and even Muslims and Jews have implemented their religious education in schools.

The Constitution and the 2006 religion law allow the establishment of confessional schools subsidized by the state. The law forbids public authorities from asking individuals to specify their religious affiliation for any reason related to their interactions with the state.

Minority recognized religious groups continued to complain that public schools refused to offer classes in their religious beliefs. In addition, minority religious groups continued to report that at some festivities in public schools officials required all students to attend Orthodox religious services. Some minority religious groups also complained that the authorities generally allowed only the Orthodox Church to have an active role in opening ceremonies in schools and on other occasions. Also although a 2006 National Anti-Discrimination Council decision that asked the Ministry of Education to remove religious symbols from schools, with the exception of classrooms where religious classes were taught, was passed it was not enforced due to lawsuits challenging the decision. The Orthodox Church opposed the decision, since Orthodox icons, and chapels, are the only religious symbols in schools. On June 11, 2008, the High Court of Cassation ruled in favor of the opponents of the decision which allow Orthodox Symbols to remain in classrooms. According to a survey on religious education in schools conducted in 2007 by Pro-Europe League, religion is taught in a discriminatory manner in schools, and Orthodox religion textbooks might develop intolerance in students toward other religious groups.
The Romanian Revolution of 1989, which ended the communist regime 1989, offered the 15 religious denominations then recognized in Romania the chance to regain the terrain lost after 1945. After decades of officially-backed atheism, one of the first demands of churches was the resumption of pre-university religious education in public schools. In January 1990, less than a month after communist leader Ceauşescu was killed by a firing squad, pre-university level religious education began again in Romania. Recent national polls show Romanian Orthodox Church to be one of the most trusted institutions in Romania. At this moment there are over 10,000 qualified teachers in public schools. Their enthusiasm has provided assistance to people who were deprived by religious education for decades. Despite a shortage of qualified teachers in religion, many benefited from theological training. The Romanian Orthodox Church alone has 37 high schools/seminaries, 12 faculties of theology in higher education, with over 9,400 undergraduate students.

Conclusion
Romania has a deep respect for Christianity and its message. Majority of Romanian recognized the importance of religious education and it is made available. However, there are few qualified teachers and there is an obvious favoritism toward a particular religious group which makes it more difficult to present the truths of Scripture independently of its influence. Thus, there is a great need of establishing a network of biblical schools in Romania to spread the truths of Scripture and train future pastors, teachers and lay leaders there. Now is the time to do it.

Andre Bouravnev, March 2009

Sources used: Center for Urban and Regional Sociology, 2007 poll; 2002 Romanian census official data; International Religious Freedom Report; Religion and Politics in Post-communist Romania, Oxford University Press, 2007; Religion and national identity in post-communist Romania; Wikipedia; www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/