Abstract
This chapter outlines the role played by the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC) in shaping the direction taken by Romania’s post-communist governments in foreign policy issues. Different definitions of concepts such as religious freedom are discussed: the Orthodox interpretation, on the one hand, and that of the United States and the European Union, on the other.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Emanuil Gojdu was a successful lawyer in the nineteenth century Habsburg Austro-Hungarian empire. He remained a Romanian patriot and financially supported many young Orthodox Romanians by paying their tuition. (Sigmirean & Pavel, 2003). Gojdu left a sizeable legacy, which is managed by a foundation. One of the foundation’s projects was the construction of the so called Gojdu udvar (Gojdu Courtyard—seven buildings in historic Budapest) in Budapest in 1900–1901, which today is valued at billions of euros. In the early 1950s, the buildings were nationalized by the Hungarian communist authorities. In 1999, Gojdu Courtyard was privatized, leading to protests from the ROC. Representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church hoped that the Romanian state would be able to convince Hungary to revoke the decision of privatization or pay the equivalent in compensation (the market price); several Romanian sources estimated its value at about three billion euros (Golea, 2015). The ROC was planning to use this money to fund fellowships for young Orthodox students.
- 2.
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was secretary-general of the Romanian Communist Party/Romanian Workers Party from 1945 to 1965 (except for a brief period of time between 1954 and 1955). Dej’s successor Nicolae Ceauşescu was secretary-general of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989.
- 3.
Antonie Plămădeală—a political prisoner in the mid-1950s—was bishop-vicar (episcop vicar) of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate in Bucharest (1970–1979) and responsible for ROC’s external affairs. He was bishop of Buzău from 1979 to 1982. In 1982, Antonie was appointed metropolitan of Transylvania (Păcurariu, 2002, p. 366).
- 4.
The Greek Catholic Church is also called Uniate/United with Rome. A number of historians used the terms Uniate and Uniatism in a derogatory way.
- 5.
Romanian American political scientist and historian Vladimir Tismaneanu defined national Stalinism as “a political variety within Leninism, different from what is usually called national Communism; national Stalinism systematically opposed any form of liberalization, let alone democratization. Reactionary and self-centered, it valued autarky and exclusiveness. It adhered to a militaristic vision both domestically and internationally. National Stalinism clung to a number of presumably universal laws of socialist revolution and treated any deviation from these as a betrayal of class principles.” (Tismaneanu, 2012). There are obvious differences between the political regime in Romania and other communist regimes and especially the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, a period in which the country had a truly liberal and reform-oriented regime. Among other things, the Prague Spring led to the re-establishment of the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia in 1968, while the Ceauşescu regime refused to reconsider the decision made in 1948 to suppress Greek Catholics. (Coranič, 2010, pp. 192–202.). On the contrary, the Ceauşescu regime intensified the collection of surveillance data on underground Greek Catholics.
- 6.
In general, few Romanian foreign ministers have enjoyed a significant level of autonomy from the government party or ruling coalition of parties. The latter relied on the “Orthodox vote” or on what they perceived (sometimes erroneusly) to be a disciplined Orthodox electorate.
- 7.
Miron Cristea served as Orthodox primate metropolitan of Romania (1919–1925) and as patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church from 1925 to 1939 (Leustean, 2009, pp. 40–44).
- 8.
which would become the Social Democratic Party.
- 9.
PDSR—Party of Romanian Social Democracy. After 2001 PSD (Social Democratic Party).
- 10.
PUNR—Party of Romanian National Unity. PRM—Greater Romania Party.
- 11.
PSM—Socialist Party of Labor.
- 12.
In addition to expressing praise for Ceauşescu, Teoctist did nothing to stop the demolition of Orthodox church buildings in Bucharest in the late 1980s. Afterwards, he kept up the pretense while on official visits abroad that religious freedom existed in communist Romania. In January 1990, angry anti-communist Orthodox theology students forced Teoctist to resign. However, the Iliescu regime reinstated him as patriarch in April 1990. (Vasile, 2017, p. 249).
- 13.
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. (1921–2008). Helms served as the chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1994–2000).
- 14.
Following the 1992 elections, the leadership of the ROC recommended that its clergy abstain from partisan politics. However, the Orthodox Holy Synod did not punish the Orthodox priests who did not follow this recommendation.
- 15.
Personal conversation with N.D., a political scientist based in Bucharest, in the summer of 2010.
- 16.
The ecclesiastical diplomatic office of the ROC is not officially affiliated with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is made up of only clergymen. Its current director is Father Sorin Şelaru, who has held the position of cultural advisor to Patriarch Daniel. The main purpose of this office is to monitor the policies and activities of the European institutions in areas of interest to the Romanian Orthodox Church. The office has carried out Europe-wide studies and analyses of issues of importance for the ROC. For example, in 2013, the office prepared a study on the teaching of religion in the public school systems of the member states of the European Union. One of its objectives was to demonstrate that the ROC is not the only Church within the EU that supports the integration of religious studies in the pre-university public educational system. (Şelaru & Vâlcu, 2012). The office has refrained from publicly taking a stance on controversial issues relating to human rights or the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
- 17.
Personal conversation with B.M., a historian based in Cluj, in the autumn of 2007.
- 18.
UDMR—Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România/The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania—represented the Hungarian minority in the Romanian parliament as of 1990; its electoral score was usually around 7–8%.
- 19.
The Department for Religious Denominations (Secretariatul de Stat pentru Culte) was part of and subordinate to the Ministry of Culture from 2000 to 2009. As of 1990, the undersecretary for religious denominations was traditionally an Orthodox Christian or very close to Orthodoxy in his or her views. However, in 2009, the Orthodox lobby secured the independence of the department following the appointment of Hunor Kelemen (a Hungarian Catholic) to the post of minister. The ROC believed that the department was thus in a better position to represent Orthodox interests. (Vasile, 2016, p. 584).
- 20.
Except perhaps for the USR/Uniunea Salvaţi România/Save Romania Union (a liberal progressive political party that emerged after 2016).
- 21.
Read more on Russia in “Constructing Russian Foreign Policy: Interdependencies between the State and the Russian Orthodox Church” by Maria Toropova.
- 22.
PiS—Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice Party in Poland).
- 23.
In the preface, the report was never described as the “final” report, probably to please the hierarchy of the ROC and to send a message of encouragement. Afterwards, the Romanian Patriarchate put together a team of Orthodox historians who drafted a counter-report in 2009 that was praised by Orthodox and radical right-wing groups.
- 24.
I used Carolyn M. Warner and Stephen G. Walker’s definition of these concepts (Warner & Walker, 2011, p. 114).
References
Biskupski, M. B. B. (2020). The Polish second republic: The geopolitics of failure. In S. P. Ramet (Ed.), Interwar East Central Europe, 1918–1941. The Failure of Democracy-Building, the Fate of Minorities (p. 35–74). Routledge.
Bozgan, O. (2004). Cronica unui eşec previzibil. România şi Sfântul Scaun în epoca pontificatului lui Paul al VI-lea (1963–1978). Editura Curtea Veche.
Buzilă, B. (2009). Un patriarh în oglinda vremii sale. Editura Timpul.
Carp, R. (2009). Religia în tranziţie. Ipostaze ale României creştine. Eikon.
Cesereanu, R. (2008). The final report on the holocaust and the final report on the communist dictatorship in Romania. East European Politics and Societies, 22(2), 270–281.
Communiqué. (1993). Communiqué of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue Between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church; Balamand, 17–24 June 1993. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/ch_orthodox_docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19930624_lebanon_en.html. Accessed: 2 Jun. 2020.
Coposu, C. (2014). Confesiuni. Dialoguri cu Doina Alexandru. Editura Vremea.
Coranič, J. (2010). Legalization of Greek Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia in 1968. E-Theologos, 1(2), 192–202.
Friling, T., Ioanid, R., & Ionescu, M. E. (Eds.). (2005). Final report. International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania-Polirom.
Gabor, A. (2006). Note de lectura asupra raportului Tismaneanu. Anuarul Facultăţii De Teologie Patriarhul Justinian, 1, 185–206.
Golea, S. (2015). Fundaţia Gojdu, o afacere cu aur şi imobile de 3 miliarde de euro. Libertatea. https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/fundatia-gojdu-o-afacere-cu-aur-si-imobile-de-3-miliarde-de-euro-1167801. Accessed: 2 Jun. 2020.
Hintikka, K. (2000). The Romanian Orthodox Church and the world council of churches, 1961–1977. Luther-Agricola-Society.
Iliescu, I. (2004). The great shock at the end of a short century: Ion Iliescu in dialogue with Vladimir Tismaneanu on communism, post-communism and democracy. East European Monographs.
Ionescu, N. (1990). Roza vânturilor. Editura Roza vânturilor.
Leustean, L. N. (2009). Orthodoxy and the cold War: Religion and political power in Romania, 1947–1965. Palgrave Macmillan.
Moses, A. H. (2018). Bucharest diary: Romania’s journey from darkness to light. Brookings Institution Press.
Năstase, D. (2005). Secularizare şi religie în integrarea europeană. Bisericile majoritare est-europene împotriva statului laic vest-european? In R. Carp (Ed.), Un suflet pentru Europa. Dimensiunea religioasă a unui proiect politic (pp. 235–251). Editura Fundaţiei Anastasia.
Papadimitriou, D., & Phinnemore, D. (2008). Romania and the European Union: From marginalisation to membership. Routledge.
Patriarhul, D. (2008). Patriarhul Daniel trebuia sa fie premier. Ziare.com. http://www.ziare.com/ion-iliescu/petre-roman/patriarhul-daniel-trebuia-sa-fie-premier-240720. Accessed: 9 Jun. 2020.
Păcurariu, M. (2002). Dicţionarul teologilor români. Editura Enciclopedică.
Popa, I. (2017). The Romanian Orthodox church and the holocaust. Indiana University Press.
Ramet, S. P. (2020). The Catholic church in polish history: From 966 to Present. Palgrave Macmillan.
Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. About IHRA. https://www.mae.ro/en/node/36166#null. Accessed: 25 May 2020.
Roncea, V. (2011). O dezbatere necesară: Părintele Justin, Petru Vodă, Mişcarea Legionară şi România. Ziarişti la Porţile Raiului. Ziaristionline.ro. http://www.ziaristionline.ro/2011/02/22/roncea-ro-o-dezbatere-necesara-parintele-justin-petru-voda-miscarea-legionara-si-romania-ziaristi-la-portile-raiului/. Accessed: 8 Oct. 2020.
Runcan, N. (2000). Concordatul Vaticanului cu România: considerații istorico-juridice. Ex Ponto.
Schmitt, O. J. (2016). Capitan Codreanu: Aufstieg und Fall des rumänischen Faschistenführers. Paul Zsolnay Verlag.
Schmitt, O. J. (2017). Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. Ascensiunea şi căderea „Căpitanului“, trsl. W. Tauwinkl. Editura Humanitas.
Şelaru, S., & Vâlcu, G. (2012). Studiul Religiei în şcolile publice din statele membre ale Uniunii Europene. http://www.orthodoxero.eu/media/Documente/Religia%20in%20Uniunea%20Europeana.pdf. Accessed: 8 Oct. 2020.
Sigmirean, P., & Pavel, A. (Eds.). (2003). Emanuil Gojdu - Bicentenar. Editura Academiei Române.
Stan, A. (1997). Iuliu Maniu. Naţionalism şi democraţie. Biografia unui mare român. Editura Saeculum I.O.
Stan, L., & Turcescu, L. (2011). Church, state, and democracy in expanding Europe. Oxford University Press.
Stan, L. (2013). Transitional justice in post-communist Romania: The politics of memory. Cambridge University Press.
Ştefănescu, D. (1995). Cinci ani din istoria României. O cronologie a evenimentelor, decembrie 1989-decembrie 1994. Editura Maşina de Scris.
Tismaneanu, V. (2012). What was national Stalinism. In D. Stone (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of Postwar European history (pp. 463–479). Oxford University Press.
Tudor, C. V. (1980). Idealuri. Săptămîna Culturală a Capitalei, 30, 1.
Tudor, C. V. (1983). Saturnalii. Versuri. Editura Albatros.
Tismaneanu, V., Dobrincu, D., & Vasile, C. (Eds.). (2007). Raport final. Comisia Prezidenţială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România–Editura Humanitas.
Vasile, C. (2016). Biserica Ortodoxă Română în postcomunism. De la căderea dictaturii la aderarea la Uniunea Europeană. Câteva consideraţii istorice. Revista istorică, 27,(5–6), 579–602.
Vasile, C. (2017). Coming to terms with the controversial past of the Orthodox church. In L. Stan & L. Turcescu (Eds.), Justice, memory, and redress in Romania: New insights (pp. 235–256). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Vinea, A. (Ed.). (2003). Anii ’80 şi bucureştenii. Editura Paideia.
Voicu, G. (2000). Zeii cei răi. Cultura conspiraţiei în România postcomunistă. Polirom.
Voicu, G. (Ed.). (2006). Pogromul de la Iaşi (28–30 iunie 1941). Prologul Holocaustului din Romania. Polirom.
Warner, C. M., & Walker, S. G. (2011). Thinking about the role of religion in foreign policy: A framework for analysis. Foreign Policy Analysis, 7, 113–135.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vasile, C. (2021). The Orthodox Factor in the Foreign Policy of Post-Communist Romania. In: Toropova, M. (eds) Rethinking the Religious Factor in Foreign Policy. Politik und Religion. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-33776-6_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-33776-6_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-33775-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-33776-6
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)