Romanian Orthodox Church

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Postage stamp for the 130th anniversary of autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church (2015) with the image of the Cathedral of the People's Redemption, which is under construction

The Romanian Orthodox Church - Patriarchate of Romania , Romanian Biserica Ortodoxă Română (BOR) , is numerically the second largest Orthodox autocephalous church in the world after the Russian Orthodox Church - Patriarchate Moscow . About 87 percent of the Romanian population belong to it. The Holy Synod has 42 bishops. Since the revolution in 1989 and the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu , the church has experienced an upswing. There are now 15  theological faculties and over 500  monasteries with more than 8,000 monks and nuns .

Since 1949, the 300,000 Romanians living in other European countries have been represented by a metropolitan in Paris . There are now several foreign dioceses, such as a metropolis for France and the Mediterranean region and, since 1993, a Romanian Orthodox metropolis for Germany, Central and Northern Europe (Nuremberg).

The Romanian Orthodox Church reports to the Patriarch Daniel Ciobotea in Bucharest , who has been in office as the sixth Patriarch since 2007.

history

The first so-called metropolises on today's territory of Romania were formed at the beginning of the 15th century :

  1. Hungarian Wallachia (Argeș 1359)
  2. Principality of Moldova ( Suceava 1401) (See also the article Moldavian monasteries )
  3. Transylvania (in the 14th-15th centuries Bălgrad , later called Alba Iulia , Archdiocese of Vad , Feleacu , Geoagiu and Hunedoara )

The Orthodox cult of the Romanians in Transylvania was recognized together with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1781 through the Edict of Tolerance of Emperor Joseph II . The Romanian Orthodox Church was declared an autocephalous church in 1885 and a patriarchate in 1925 . The Romanian Orthodox Church has been a member of the World Council of Churches since 1961 .

The first patriarch from 1925 was Miron Cristea, who in 1938 became Prime Minister for a year until his death during the establishment of the royal dictatorship of Charles II , thereby legitimizing the abolition of the constitutional state.

The church had offered itself to every ruler of the 20th century, says Oliver Jens Schmitt ; first to the king from 1938 to 1940, then to the army, and finally from 1944 to the communists. Under the Communists, the Orthodox Church appropriated the ecclesiastical property of the Uniate Church in Transylvania, which still today makes up a considerable part of the wealth of the Orthodox Church. At the same time the ties to the west - at the behest of Stalin - were broken off. The church became an instrument of power for the regime. In contrast to the Catholic and Protestant churches in Romania, the Romanian Orthodox Church remained loyal to the Ceausescu regime until its end; their patriarch Teoctist had made a declaration of loyalty to the regime in the last days of the dictatorship, therefore resigned and after 4 months was still to be found at the side of the post-communists. The church moved back to the center of political events. In the 2010s the “post-communist oligarch party” (Schmitt) PSD was closest to her. With its conservative orientation, the church stirs up anti-western and authoritarian resentments.

The Romanian Orthodox Church is one of the largest landowners in Romania and exercises great economic power with it and with its companies without paying taxes.

An autonomous part of the Romanian Orthodox Church is the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia with its seat in the St. Teodora-de-la-Sihla Cathedral in Chișinău . About 20% of the Orthodox communities in the Republic of Moldova belong to it.

Patriarchs

  1. Miron Cristea (1925-1939)
  2. Nicodim Munteanu (1939-1948)
  3. Justinian Marina (1948-1977)
  4. Justin Moisescu (1977-1986)
  5. Teoctist Arăpașu (1986-2007)
  6. Daniel Ciobotea (2007–)

See also List of Metropolitans of Hungarian Wallachia and Patriarchs of Romania

structure

Romanian Orthodox eparchies in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Hungary and Serbia
  1. Metropolis of Wallachia and Dobrogea : Archdiocese of Bucharest , Archdiocese of Tomis , Archdiocese of Targoviste , Archdiocese of Buzau and Vrancea , Archdiocese of Arges and Muscel , Archdiocese of Lower Danube , Diocese of Slobozia and Calarasi , Diocese of Alexandria and Teleorman , Diocese of Giurgiu , Diocese of Tulcea
  2. Metropolis for Moldova and Bukovina : Archdiocese of Iași , Archdiocese of Suceava and Rădăuți , Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău , Diocese of Huși
  3. Metropolis for Transylvania : Archdiocese of Sibiu , Archdiocese of Alba Iulia , Diocese of Covasna and Harghita , Diocese of Oradea , Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara
  4. Metropolis for Cluj, Maramureș and Sălaj : Archdiocese of Vad, Feleacu and Cluj , Diocese of Maramureș and Satu Mare , Diocese of Sălaj
  5. Metropolis for Little Wallachia : Archdiocese Craiova , Archdiocese Râmnicu , Diocese Severin and Strehaia , Diocese Slatina
  6. Metropolis for the Banat : Archdiocese of Timișoara , Archdiocese of Arad , Diocese of Caransebeş , Diocese of Dacia Felix (Serbia), Diocese of Hungary
  7. Metropolis for Bessarabia (Republic of Moldova): Archdiocese of Chișinău , Diocese of Bălți , Diocese of South Bessarabia , Diocese of Dubăsari and Transnistria
  8. Romanian Orthodox Metropolis for Western and Southern Europe : Archdiocese for Western Europe , Diocese for Italy , Diocese for Spain and Portugal
  9. Romanian Orthodox Metropolis for Germany, Central and Northern Europe
  10. Archdiocese for America
  11. Diocese for Australia and New Zealand
  12. Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Romanian Orthodox Church  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Oliver Jens Schmitt : Romania's Orthodox Church has always been a servant of power , NZZ, September 21, 2018