Romanian Orthodox Church in Communist Romania

The church collaborated closely with the Communist authorities in exchange with allowing it to keep its properties and a privileged position among the religious organizations.[7] Furthermore, the Church was vulnerable to blackmail because many Orthodox priests were members of the fascist organization Iron Guard.[8]

Justinian Marina: the "Red Patriarch"

Patriarch Justinian with the Communist Party leadership at the World Youth Festival, 1953

Main article: Justinian Marina

Justinian Marina was the Patriarch of Romania starting with 1948, about the time that the Communist Party consolidated its power in Romania. He attempted to reconcile the Orthodox Church with the communist dialectical materialism, arguing that in the communist social order can be seen the principles of the Gospels, giving the church goals that were in sync with the Communist government.[12] His collected work was published under the name Apostolat Social, in which he argued that socialism is an integral part of Christianity.[13] The church assisted the government-led Romanian literacy campaign, reformed the monasteries so that the monks and nuns learn a "useful trade", encouraged the clergy to do social work.[14]

None of Justinian's pronouncements mentioned the hundreds of thousands that were imprisoned for political reasons.[12] For this reason, together with the close collaboration with the government, many believers, particularly Greek Catholics, saw him as "Communist stooge" and "an opportunist".[14]

The Church's policies followed closely the ones of the government, even in external politics: initially, Romanian theologians condemned the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church as the instruments of "Anglo-American imperialism". By the 1960s, as Romania began developing contacts beyond the Eastern bloc, the church entered the ecumenical movement.[15]

Moisescu and Teoctist

In 1977, Ceaușescu meets Justin Moisescu, the newly elected Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Romania

1977 presidential decree signed by Nicolae Ceaușescu recognizing Teoctist Arăpașu as Metropolitan of Moldavia

Teoctist Arăpașu became patriarch because of the support of the third patriarch, Justinian Marina. The communist government did not oppose him, as he was known to be obedient and accept compromises.[19] He became known for his acceptance of Ceaușescu's policies, including demolitions of churches in "systematized" areas and defrocking any priests who stood up the government.[19] His lack of reaction in the demolitions of 22 churches in Bucharest was widely seen as a sign of collaboration with the regime.[19] Teoctist's public interventions included laudatory telegrams and speeches about Ceaușescu's achievements.[19]

While it is known that many priests collaborated with Securitate, the secret police, the extent of this collaboration is hard to assess. Unlike in other former communist countries, the Romanian government granted only limited access to the secret police files.[22]

Some Orthodox priests gave the information they obtained from confessions to the political police. Officially, the Orthodox Church denied such a thing, but this only increased public mistrust. A number of priests admitted their collaboration: Nicolae Corneanu, Metropolitan of Banat, admitted that he collaborated with the Securitate and that he defrocked five dissident priests (including Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa) in order to be allowed to rise in the church hierarchy.[23]

The number of Securitate agents and informers has been estimated to be between 400,000 and 1 million, at a population of 23 million.[22] There is no reliable data on profession of the informers, so the percentage of priests who collaborated with the Securitate is hard to estimate.[6] Nevertheless, according to a priest from Galați County, in the whole county, only one or two priests refused to collaborate, and, according to the account of Roland Vasilievici, a Securitate officer in Timișoara who was in charge with recruiting priests, 80% to 90% of the priests were collaborators.[6]

According to the same Securitate officer, the network of priests was subject to complex programs, which educated them into a nationalist and xenophobic spirit.[24] The priests were sent in missions abroad, for collecting information and infiltration, as well as in propaganda machine of the government.[24] Furthermore, he claims that all priests who were sent by the government to Western parishes were Securitate informants, who wrote reports on their return.[24]

The Orthodox Church organization collaborated closely with the authorities, defrocking and firing any priests who opposed the government's policies. There were relatively few Orthodox priests who openly opposed the government, unlike other Christian denominations, such as Protestants, who defied the government.[25]

A notable case is the one of priest Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa, who, after preaching in Bucharest against atheism and authoritarianism, was fired from his teaching job at the Orthodox Seminary and later, in 1979, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "the propagation of Fascist ideology".[26] He was released in 1985 after international pressure and following a forced residence in a village in southern Romania, he was pressured to leave Romania.[25]

The demolition of Bucharest churches saw no protest from the Orthodox Church hierarchy, but there was another singular case of dissent, this time from abroad. In 1987, Ion Dura, a priest sent by the Orthodox Church to serve the Romanian community in Benelux, wrote an open letter to World Council of Churches condemning the demolition of the churches and arguing that even the demolition of the Patriarchal Palace was planned.[20] However, no other priest, not even among those serving abroad, voiced his dissent against the systematization policies of Ceaușescu.[20]

Patriarch Justinian began reforming the 200 monasteries in Romania, so that monks and nuns would learn trades. Some monasteries even organized as agricultural cooperatives, workshops and other rural arts. This development led to an increase in the number of monks and nuns, so that by 1956, the number increased by 7000.[14]

In 1958, as the Soviet troops withdrew from Romania, the Party identified the monasteries as one possible point of opposition to the government, and it began to note any sign of dissidence in the monasteries. Between 1958 and 1963, 2,500 priests, monks, nuns and lay people were arrested and half of the monasteries were shut down.[15] In 1959, the Holy Synod accepted the government's restrictions on monasticism, including the closing of the three monastic seminaries. Further restrictions were put in place in 1966, when nuns under the age of 40 and monks under the age of 55 were required to leave the monasteries and do "socially useful work".[27]

For the rest of Ceaușescu's rule, monasticism was discouraged, but not suppressed.[27]

After 1989, the Orthodox Church tried to explain their behaviour during the Communist-ruled era. Patriarch Teoctist said that they were not collaborators, but rather they were trying to defend what was left of religion in Romania.[28] In a contradictory statement, Teoctist argued that they were not alone in collaboration with the Communist authorities and that every Romanian adult collaborated, one way or the other, with them.[28]

Bishop Nifon Ploieșteanul argued that in this case, the end justifies the means and that the goal was to give the Church material welfare and a relative prosperity and this justified the hierarchs' support of the authorities, the lack of criticism over injustices or defend those persecuted by the government.[28]

• Dennis Deletant (1995). Ceaușescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989. M.E. Sharpe, London. ISBN 1-56324-633-3.
• Lucian N. Leuștean (1995). Orthodoxy and the Cold War: Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230218017.
• Lucian Turcescu; Lavinia Stan (2007). Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530853-2.
• Sabrina P. Ramet, "Church and State in Romania before and after 1989", in Carey, Henry F. Romania Since 1989: Politics, Economics, and Society, p.278. 2004, Lexington Books, ISBN 0-7391-0592-2.