THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Religion
in Romania - The Christianity
The
Romanian people was formed, together with the Romanian language, between the
first and the seventh centuries A.D. According to the ecclesiastic history, the
inhabitants who were lived in the North of the Danube received the Gospels from
Apostle Andrew and his disciples, in the first to third centuries A.D.
Archaeological testimonies prove that at the end of the fourth century church
life was powerful, numerous religious abodes, priests and faithful existing on
the territory of present-day Romania. The first printings in Romanian were
achieved in the Orthodox monasteries, which also organized the first Romanian
schools. The Christian terminology in the Romanian language is yet another
indication that the proto-Romanians were developed by consensus of the
universal church synods. In accordance with the census of January 7th, 1992,
from the sum of 22.760.449 inhabitants of Romania, 19.762.135, that is 86.6 per
cent, are Orthodox.
The
highest authority of the Romanian Orthodox Church is the Holy Synod, made up of
the Patriarch, as chairman, and all the metropolitans, archbishops, bishop
vicars and archhierarchs-vicars, as members. The executive representative body
of the Holy Synod is the National Church Council.
The
Romanian Orthodox Church keeps up relations with nearly all the Christian
churches in the world.
Outside
the country's boundaries, on the territories of neighboring countries, there
are a few million Romanian Orthodox organized in church units. Most of them are
in the Metropolitan Seat of Bessarabia, and in the Northern Bukovina. On
December 19th, 1992, the Synod of Romanian Orthodox Church, endorsed the
request to reactivate and receive under its canonical jurisdiction the
Metropolitan Seat of Bessarabia, autonomous and in the old style, based in
Chisinau.
At
present, there are 15 religious denominations officially acknowledged in
Romania: the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Church United with Rome,
which received official recognition under CPUN decree no 9 of December 30, the
Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession, the Evangelical Synod-Presbyterian
Church, the Unitarian Church, the Armenian Church, the Christians of Old Rite,
the Muslim Cult, the Mosaic Cult, the Christiana according to the Gospels. To
them we may add upwards of 120 religious associations, both independent and
within the denominations. At present, the denominations freely elect their
leading bodies and their servants, without any interference from the State.
Religious
freedom of the cults in Romania is assured materially as well. The State
supports their activity, granting monthly financial contributions to the
religious staff, earmarking annual sums for the building of new abodes, as well
as the conservation and restoration of valuable assets of the national heritage
in the property of the denominations.
The
Romanians living in the world have also organized in approximately 250 Orthodox
communities, most of them under the canonical jurisdiction of the Romanian
Patriarchate.
The Romanian churches, representing landmarks in history, are superb monuments of art and architecture, proving by their variety, in point of construction and painting, the spirit of an ancient culture, philosophy, art and technique of a people of universal vocation.