The Romanian orthodox church after 1989: social identity, national memory, and the theory of secularization

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
Iuliana Conovici
Keyword(s):  
Mass Communication ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
National Memory ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
The Church

The Romanian Orthodox Church engaged, after the fall of communism, in the reconstruction of its public identity and its position in society. The public discourse of its official representatives – the Holy Synod and individual hierarchs, especially the Patriarch Teoctist – expresses and „translates” this process to the faithful and the general public. Its perception by this public, particularly when mediated by means of mass communication, is usually partial and frequently altered.</p> <p>By focusing on the official discourse of the Romanian Orthodox Church representatives, as expressed in the ecclesiastical press and (re)transmitted in the common mass media, this paper will explore the justification/explanation by ecclesiastical officials of this process, following the lines of two main - intertwined - lines: the legitimization of the resurgence in the public sphere of the Church as an institution of spiritual and social assistance and its presence as the privileged keeper and guardian of national values.</p> <p>It will be further argued that, while explicitly refuting and condemning any signs of secularization in the Romanian society, the Romanian Orthodox Church, through its official discourse, is actually contributing to the deepening of this very process within both society and the Church itself.</p> <p>Our main sources for the public discourse of the Romanian Orthodox Church will be the ecclesiastical press and collections of speeches, sermons, articles of Orthodox hierarchs and documents of the Holy Synod. For the theoretical framing of the paper, the main references will be works of Thomas Luckmann, Danièle Hérvieu-Léger, Grace Davie, René Rémond, etc.

Is There a Need for the Church to Officially Assume Mobile Applications? Case Study: Romanian Orthodox Church and Anglican Church

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-112
Author(s):  
Liviu Vidican-Manci ◽  
Emil M. Mărginean
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Anglican Church ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
Romanian Literature ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
The Church

"Abstract Over the past years, there has been a significant increase in mobile applications with religious content. Whether we are talking about Holy Scriptures or the Quran, about liturgical or theological content, digital resources are made available by many interesting applications. The question is, are these applications accurate? How many of them are affiliated with Church institutions? How important would such an affiliation be? What is the situation in Romania, in the Romanian Orthodox Church? In the Romanian-Orthodox digital space there is an abundance of mobile applications, over 20, of which only one is institutionally affiliated. The presence in Romania of many mobile applications developed by private individuals that do not display the source of the liturgical and biblical text is a major concern for the accuracy and authenticity of the information presented. In the first study of this kind in the Romanian literature, we will analyze different examples in order to better understand the functionalities of these applications, but especially to confirm or reject our hypothesis that in the religious environment, an institutionally assumed application is more valuable for keeping the Church teaching unaltered, compared to an application which is the result of a private initiative or even a commercial project. Therefore, we compare the Romanian Orthodox applications with similar applications belonging to a Church that currently has the most complete panel of mobile applications. These are not only fully functional and officially assumed by the Anglican Church, but are constantly updated and maintained. Keywords: mobile applications, Christian apps, digital media, Romanian Orthodox Church, Anglican Church"

scholarly journals Ecumenical Convergences: Romanian Evangelicals Exploring Orthodoxy

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 398
Author(s):  
Cristian Sonea
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Theoretical Possibility ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
Inclusive Theology ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
Published Research ◽  
The Church

Historically, in Romania, the relations between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the evangelical communities have been characterized by tension and mutual distrust. That is why, unfortunately, there has been no official dialogue between the two communities so far. The present article investigates the theoretical possibility for such an ecumenical dialogue to occur by analysing the contributions of several evangelical theologians who published research studies on theological topics specific to Eastern orthodox theology. Their positions were analysed from the perspective of an inclusive theology which allowed us to identify some common themes for both traditions: the authority in interpreting the Scriptures, salvation as a process, and the Church understood through the application of a perichoretic model. All these convergent themes could constitute the basis for a future official ecumenical dialogue between the evangelicals and the orthodox from Romania.

scholarly journals The Way Romanian Students Refer Themselves to Orthodox Christianity

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-405
Author(s):  
Daniela Sorea
Keyword(s):  
Church Attendance ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Orthodox Christianity ◽  
Great Confidence ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
The Church

Abstract The Romanian Orthodox Church is one of the institutions in which Romanians have great confidence, according to surveys conducted in the country and studies conducted at the level of the European Union in recent years. The results of these researches do not reflect the attitude of young Romanians towards the church. Theoretically coded analysis of 23 essays by sociologist students on their trust or lack of trust in Orthodox Christianity highlights the students' reserve for priests' behavior, communication strategies, financial interests, and their inclination towards opulence. The analysis also highlights the students' tendency to operate with a far wider understanding of things than the canonical concept of Christianity. This tendency, manifests mainly in the declarative separation of faith from church attendance, shows the alignment of students to the post-secular evolutionary direction of European religiosity

The Devil's Confessors: Priests, Communists, Spies, and Informers

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 655-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavinia Stan ◽  
Lucian Turcescu
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
National Council ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Religious Denomination ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Exposure ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
Romanian Orthodox

The article charts the efforts of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the country's largest religious denomination, to block the public exposure of the names of priests and prelates who collaborated with the dreaded communist secret political police, the Securitate, by informing on other priests, disclosing information obtained from believers during confession or supporting communist antireligious policies. The article identifies four types of attitudes toward the Securitate of members of the Romanian Orthodox clergy, presents the arguments in favor of and against the public exposure of tainted priests, examines the recent revelations regarding the controversial past of Patriarch Teoctist, and investigates the Church's efforts to impose amendments to the Romanian transitional justice legislation that would exempt priests from being investigated by the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archive.

scholarly journals Elements of Father Andrei Scrima’s Ecumenical Activity as Reflected in File No. 0005468 from the “Securitate” Archives

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-511
Author(s):  
Iuliu-Marius Morariu
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Political World ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
The Church

Abstract The Romanian Archimandrite Andrei Scrima was an important worldwide theological personality. His activity as a kind of ambassador of the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras to the Second Vatican Council, together with his publications, conferences and activity as a professor, transformed him into a voice that was almost always trusted. His attitudes and speeches that criticized the Romanian Communist regime made him also to be seen as an enemy by Bucharest’s government. In this context, the Securitate was interested in his ecumenical activity and in his ideas regarding the ecumenism and the potential role of the Romanian Orthodox Church there, trying also to see if his theological ideas were related to the political world and contained criticisms of the dictatorial regime or its relationship with the Church. In this paper, we will describe how his ecumenical activity is described in the Securitate Archives. Due to the fact that file no. 00005468 contains the most important information regarding this topic, the main references cited in the paper are extracted from this source.

scholarly journals STEPPING OUT OF THE “ENCLAVE”: PUBLIC ACTIVITIES OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE QUEST TO REGAIN SOCIAL AUTHORITY IN THE 1980S

2020 ◽  
pp. 254-278
Author(s):  
IVANA VESIĆ ◽  
VESNA PENO
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Social Authority ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Restrictive Legislation ◽  
Postmodern Spirituality ◽  
The Church

In this paper we will consider how, from the beginning to the end of the 1980s, the Serbian Orthodox Church gradually abandoned its restricted mode of public action and moved from an enclave form, with occasional elements of counterpublics, to a dominant public sphere. This process was the result of a complex set of phenomena that often overlapped. Pressure from authorities on religious communities and believers started to decline at the time despite restrictive legislation regarding public appearances by religious officials still being in force. This was followed by a pronounced deatheization of younger parts of the population and an expansion of various forms of secular religiosity (popular culture, sports), including hybrid types of postmodern spirituality within Yugoslav society. In such circumstances, religious communities were encouraged to expand the scope of their public activities, so they found new forms of communication and networking, both among believers and in various social circles. Our aim is to point to forms of public action cultivated at the time by the Church and the stages it underwent in its participation in the public sphere. Additionally, the factors that influenced a change in the Church’s public and social position in the late 1980s will be discussed, along with the consequences caused in different areas of its functioning.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN PREVENTING CRIME IN RISK SOCIETY SPECIFIC TO GLOBALIZATION

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramona-Gabriela Paraschiv
Keyword(s):  
Risk Society ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Transnational Organized Crime ◽  
Christian Morality ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
The Church

In the current context of increasing transnational organized crime, in a risk societyfavored by certain phenomena of individualism and globalization, it is necessary toinvestigate what role the Church may have in preventing deeds dangerous to human values.In this respect, the Romanian Orthodox Church, which has a well-defined place in thenew European construction, aims to substantially contribute to educating people in the spiritof Christian morality, so that they cannot commit antisocial acts injurious to others and forother values of humanity.

scholarly journals The Religious life of Romanians in 18th-20th century Hungary, reflected in the works of researchers in the Hungarian space

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 422-428
Author(s):  
Alin Cristian Scridon
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Material ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The Road ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
Distorted Form ◽  
The Church ◽  
Research Period

Aim. We tend to believe that the religious life of Romanians in the diaspora – living in the proximity of the Romanian borders (we do not take into account the groups that left towards Spain, Italy, Germany, and so on at the beginning of the third millennium) - is a taboo subject. The Orthodox (Romanian) clerical elite focused less on the assiduous study of the religious life of their Romanian brothers outside the borders; in this case, in Hungary. Therefore, we have the scientific duty—but more importantly, the moral duty—to bring to light the truths that are either not known or are known in a distorted form. The road of Voniga (Giula-Giroc)  that we followed during the PhD research period was a blessing from the point of view of a scientific void/niche. Methods. In our study, we have applied two “simple” components: the archive and the specialised bibliography. Results. The archive was largely preserved only by Elena Csobai and Emilia Martin. The respectable ladies professionally structured the archive (Romanian Orthodox Church in Hungary) and saved hundreds of research sources from the depth of history. Conclusion. As Moisa noted (2011), the puzzling ethnographic, linguistic, cultural, and historical bulk material is without a doubt focused on the Church. The church is inextricably linked to the lives of Romanians in Hungary. Going through the tens of thousands from the mentioned fields, even superficially, there is an undeniable truth: the spirituality is present, more or less, in the writings of most of the select researchers who have worked in the scientific field for the past three decades.

Patriarhul Iustin Moisescu (1910-1986), un ierarh care și-a pus „toată osârdia, priceperea și râvna“ în slujba Bisericii Ortodoxe Române

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 138-149
Author(s):  
Sorin Marinescu
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Times ◽  
Romanian Orthodox Church ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
Romanian Orthodox ◽  
The Church

The present work is intended to be a retrieval of the history of the contribution of personalities that have marked the history of the Romanian Orthodox Church and, implicitly, the history of Romania. Thus, In the “Commemorative Year of the Patriarchs Nicodim Munteanu and Iustin Moisescu and of the translators of church books” in the Romanian Patriarchate, addressed to the Romanian Orthodox hierarchies and eparchies in the country and abroad, we set out to talk about the Patriarch Iustin Moisescu for understand the role it played in promoting living theology as a model, based on prayer, experience and life, even if the historical times were very difficult for the Church, the communists wanting to destroy it, because it maintained the consciousness of national identity and a hierarchy of authentic values, that opposed the atheist ideology promoted by them. Thus, starting from a brief biography of the one who was the fourth Romanian Patriarch, we were interested in the perception of contemporaries, as well as those who succeeded him, as I have not neglected his quality as a theologian, teacher university and publisher. Iustin Moisescu was an intellectual, theologian, who devoted all his energy to maintaining the right faith, to support the monastery life, to relieve the people and to give cultural brilliance to the Church, as he alone confessed.

On Waxen Wings: Challenges to the Public Sphere in the Network Age

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Francoeur
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Multiple Viewpoints ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Communicative Space

There is a tendency, particularly among Western pundits and technologists, to examine the Internet in almost universally positive terms; this is most evident in any discussion of the medium’s capacity for democratization. While the Internet has produced many great things for society in terms of cultural and economic production, some consideration must be given to the implications that such a revolutionary medium holds for the public sphere. By creating a communicative space that essentially grants everyone his or her own microphone, the Internet is fragmenting public discourse due to the proliferation of opinions and messages and the removal of traditional gatekeepers of information. More significantly, because of the structural qualities of the Internet, users no longer have to expose themselves to opinions and viewpoints that fall outside their own preconceived notions. This limits the robustness of the public sphere by limiting the healthy debate that can only occur when exposed to multiple viewpoints. Ultimately, the Internet is not going anywhere, so it is important to equip the public with the tools and knowledge to be able to navigate the digital space. 

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