Romanian Orthodox Church in Communist Romania
[1] In Romania, under Patriarch Justinian, the Orthodox Church adjusted itself to support the new Communist government's "social justice" goals.
[2] The Orthodox Church did not protest or even acknowledge the existence of hundreds of thousands of Romanians in prisons and labour camps, some of whom were sentenced for religious reasons.
The government began a crackdown of possible dissidence among the religious people: between 1958 and 1963, about 2500 priests, monks and nuns were arrested,[4] with a tacit approval by the Orthodox Church hierarchy.
[6] 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.
[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.
[8] The Orthodox Church brought its contribution to the national myth-building through Mircea Păcurariu's official history textbooks, used in its seminaries, which argued that ancient Daco-Romans were Christianized by Saint Andrew, the disciple of Jesus.
[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] Even after the protest of Timișoara began, on December 19, 1989, Teoctist sent a telegram to Ceaușescu, congratulating him on his re-election as General Secretary of the Communist Party and praising him for his "brilliant activity", "wise guidance" and "daring thinking",[19] hailing the "golden age" bearing Ceaușescu's name.
[21] On January 18, 1990, Teoctist asked the believers and God to forgive him for "lying under duress" and for failing to oppose Ceaușescu's dictatorship.
Unlike in other former communist countries, the Romanian government granted only limited access to the secret police files.
[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 Orthodox Church organization collaborated closely with the authorities, defrocking and firing any priests who opposed the government's policies.
[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".
[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.
