Rolul și misiunea Bisericii Ortodoxe în România interbelică, în contextul proclamării Patriarhiei (1925)
The Role and Mission of the Orthodox Church in Interwar Romania in the Context of the Proclamation of the Patriarchate (1925)

Summary/Abstract: George Enache’s article examines the evolution of the concept of secularization in Romania from the second half of the 19th century until 1989. Its point of departure is Alexandru Ioan Cuza’s reform of 1863, seen as a transformation of the Church from a “symphonic” partner of the state into a public institution dependent on the national budget. The author illustrates the tension between tradition and modernity through the conflict at Neamț Monastery between the monk Andronic Popovici, a defender of the traditional order, and Abbot Dionisie Romano, a reformer committed to cultural and social engagement. During the interwar period, the Church experienced a revival, seeking to implement Andrei Șaguna’s model of ecclesiastical autonomy in the context of Greater Romania. Under the communist regime, the state formally continued to pay the clergy while simultaneously promoting secularization through propaganda and repression. In the 1970s, sociologists such as Ana Bălașa interpreted secularization as a “natural” process of declining religious commitment. By contrast, Dumitru Stăniloae argued that Orthodoxy is resistant to the Western model of secularization because it does not separate the spiritual from the material, but seeks instead to “bring heaven down to earth”.

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