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Romania Religion
Church-State Relations
Although officially atheistic, the state in 1989
recognized and
financially supported sixteen different religious groups.
These
groups and the scope of their activity were controlled by
the
Department of Cults and were subject to strict
regulations.
Churches could not engage in any religious activity
outside
officially designated religious buildings. This
restriction
prohibited open-air services, community work, pilgrimages,
and
evangelization. Religious education for young people was
expressly
forbidden, and religious classes in general were
prohibited. Severe
restrictions limited the printing and import of bibles and
other
religious books and materials, and their distribution was
treated
as a criminal offense. The state recognized no religious
holidays
and often asked for "voluntary labor" on important
holidays in an
apparent effort to reduce church attendance and erode
religious
influence.
After 1984, under the guise of urban renewal, many
churches of
all denominations in and around Bucharest, including
churches with
unique spiritual and historical importance, were
demolished by
government orders. By 1988 approximately twenty-five had
been
razed, and sixty or seventy more were scheduled for
destruction.
Some of the buildings leveled were more than 300 years
old, and
many were classified as architectural monuments. Along
with them,
valuable icons and works of art were destroyed. Protests
by
congregation members, leading intellectuals, and Western
governments failed to halt the demolition.
Data as of July 1989
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