Contributions to the Study of Parish Life in 19th-Century Moldavia: The Feredeni Church in the Era of the Autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Contributions to the Study of Parish Life in 19th-Century Moldavia: The Feredeni Church in the Era of the Autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the transformations of parish life in Moldavia during the second half of the 19th century, within the context of the ecclesiastical reorganization that culminated in the recognition of the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church (1885). The study analyzes the transition from the traditional ktetoric (founder-based) model, supported by local elites, to an institutionalized parish structure integrated into a centralized synodal system. Using the Feredeni parish (Deleni commune) as a case study, the research draws upon a documentary corpus consisting of ordination acts, clerical transfers, protopopal reports, and contemporary statistical sources to highlight the Crupenschi family's role in maintaining liturgical continuity and the impact of the disappearance of boyar patronage on community balance. The analysis demonstrates that post-autocephaly ecclesiastical modernization brought about both the professionalization of the clergy and administrative standardization, as well as local tensions, disciplinary malfunctions, and pastoral difficulties. The Feredeni parish thus illustrates the process of adaptation of rural communities to church modernity and the gradual transfer of religious responsibility toward the ecclesiastical institution and the faithful.

• Details
• Contents