“For the Glory of Romanians”: Orthodoxy and Nationalism in Greater Romania, 1918–1945

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Notes

1. *The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. Thanks also go to the staff of the National Archives of Romania and the Archive of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius in Oxford. The translations from Romanian are the author's.

2. Anderson, Imagined Communities; Smith, Myths and Memories of the Nation; Hutchinson, “Ethnicity and Modern Nations.”

3. Runciman, Orthodox Churches and the Secular State.

4. Kitromilides, Enlightenment, Nationalism, Orthodoxy.

5. Leustean, “The Political Control of Orthodoxy in the Construction of the Romanian State, 1859–1918,” 60–81.

6. Administrat¸ia Cassei Bisericii, Regulamentul Legii Clerului Mirean şi Seminariilor; Păcurariu, Istoria Bisericii Ortodoxe Române.

7. Torrey, Romania and World War I; Prodan and Preda, The Romanian Army during the First World War.

8. Seton-Watson, A History of the Roumanians, 521–554.

9. Academia Română, Istoria Românilor, România întregită (1918–1940), 31.

10. National Archives of Romania, Bucharest (TNAR), Fond Miron Cristea, Dossier 2.

11. Sandru and Borda, Un nume pentru istorie—Patriarhul Elie Miron Cristea, 127–28.

12. Scurtu et al., Documente privind istoria României între anii 1918–1944, 38–39.

13. Sandru and Borda, Un nume pentru istorie—Patriarhul Elie Miron Cristea, 130.

14. Ibid., 133.

15. Plămădeală, Contribut¸ii istorice privind perioada 1918–1939.

16. TNAR, Fond Miron Cristea, Dossier 3.

17. Cristea, Principii Fundamentale pentru Organizarea Unitară a Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, 3.

18. Ibid., 4.

19. Ibid., 6.

20. Ibid., 11.

21. Ibid., 20.

22. Ibid., 14.

23. Martineau, Roumania and her Rulers, 107–08.

24. American Committee on the Rights of Religious Minorities, Roumania, 96.

25. Article 5 of Regulamentul general al Societăt¸ii Ortodoxe Nat¸ionale a Femeilor Române [General Regulations of the National Orthodox Society of Romanian Women]. Bucharest: Tipografia Albina, 1943.

26. Pimen, Mărăşeşti, locul biruint¸ei cu biserica neamului.

27. Scurtu et al., Domente Privind istoria României între anii 1918–1944, 53–54.

28. TNAR, Fond Miron Cristea, Dossier 3.

29. Ibid.

30. The new Calendar led to a split in the Church and the creation of a small faction, the Orthodox Believers of the Old Rite, which continued to preserve the former calendar. The state supported the Orthodox Church and persecuted the leaders of the Old Rite who were seen as not representing the state's interests.

31. “Cronica bisericeasca,” Biserica Ortodoxă Română, no. 1 (1924), 33.

32. Academia Română, Istoria Românilor, 210.

33. “Cronica Bisericească. Investitura Patriarhului României,” 703–04.

34. Ibid., 704–05.

35. “România cufundată în jale,” 385.

36. Report of the Conference at Bucharest from June 1st to June 8th, 1935 between the Rumanian Commission on Relations with the Anglican Communion and the Church of England Delegation Appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

37. Dr. Nicolas Zernov proposed the establishment of the branch in Romania. The main aim of this Fellowship was to establish publications and exchanges of students, and to broaden knowledge of others' faith. The Fellowship had three main representatives in Romania, but there was no contact between them: Father Nicodim Ionit¸ă at Cernăut¸i, Father Florian Gâldău in Bucharest and Basil Prisăcaru in Chişinău. The branch had Father Nicodim Ionit¸ă as its Chairman, Father Antim Nica as Secretary and Metropolitan Visarion Puiu of Bukovina as Honorary President. See Letter from Nicolas Zernov to Father Nicodim Ionit¸ă, 2 May 1935; Chairman Father Nicodim Ionit¸ă, General Report, 20 May 1937, Cernăut¸i in the Archive of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius, Oxford (AFSASS). In 1937 the Fellowship had only 30 priests in Romania and four British students studied in the country. The Romanian branch received the journal Sobornost and published articles translated from English in the periodicals Raze de Lumina and Misionarul. Letters from Nicolas Zernov to Father Nicodim Ionit¸ă, 6 November 1936; 27 November 1936; Letter from Nicolas Zernov to Walton Hannah, 11 March 1937, AFSASS.

38. Victor Shearburn, Confidential Memorandum to the Executive Committee of the Fellowship, 30 September 1937, AFSASS.

39. Stănescu, “Politicianismul şi Biserica,” 448–49.

40. The Metropolitanate of Ungrovlahiei had five bishoprics: the Archbishopric of Bucharest, the Bishoprics of Râmnicului-Noului Severin, Buzău, Argeş and Tomis; the Metropolitanate of Moldavia and Suceava had four bishoprics: the Archbishopric of Iaşi, the Bishoprics of Roman, Huşi and Lower Danube (Galat¸i); the Metropolitanate of Ardeal had five bishoprics: the Archbishopric of Alba Iulia and Sibiu, Bishoprics of Arad, Caransebeş, Oradea and Cluj; the Metropolitanate of Bukovina had two bishoprics: the Archbishopric of Cernăut¸i and the Bishopric of Hotin (Bălt¸i); the Metropolitanate of Bessarabia (established in 1927) had two bishoprics: the Archbishopric of Chişinău and the Bishopric of Cetatea Albă-Ismail.

41. The election of bishops remained a complicated procedure. They were elected by a large body, the Electoral Collegium, which was composed of the Clerical National Congress, the members of the vacant Eparchial Assembly and the following named members if they were Orthodox: the President of the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Religious Confessions, the President of the Senate, the President of the House of Deputies, the President of the House of Cassation, the President of the Romanian Academy, rectors of the universities and the deans of the faculties of theology. The patriarch was elected by the Clerical National Congress, the members of the Eparchial Assembly of the Archbishopric of Bucharest, and the Orthodox members of the House of Deputies and of the Senate. The law stated that after canonical examination by the Holy Synod, the chosen candidate was confirmed and invested by the king and religiously enthroned.

42. The parish had the Parish Assembly (Adunarea Parohială) as legislative body and the Parish Council (Consiliul Parohial) as executive body composed of between 10 and 30 members. The Church's local patrimony was under the supervision of the Parish Guardianship (Epitropia Parohială), composed of between three and five members. Twenty to fifty parishes were under the control of a Deanery (Protopopiat) which followed the same principle in its organization: the legislative body, the Deanery Assembly (Adunarea Protopopească) (15–24 members, with one-third clergy and two-thirds lay members), the executive body, the Deanery Council, composed of six members (Consiliul Protopopesc). It was financially controlled by four guardians (epitropi). The bishopric had the same composition: the legislative body was the Eparchial Assembly (Adunarea Eparhială) (45–60 members, with one-third clergy and two-thirds lay members), the executive body, the Eparchial Council (Consiliul Eparhial), was composed of six members and each bishop had a vicar. This extent of lay participation in the organization of the Church had been in place in the Orthodox Church in Transylvania before unification. Adapting the entire organization to this formula showed the importance of this region in the life of the Church. See Hitchins, Orthodoxy and Nationality.

43. Bucur, Eugenics and Modernization in Interwar Romania, 73–75.

44. In 1935 the Church had 10 seminaries included in the state budget in the following cities: Bucharest, Cernica, Curtea de Argeş, Râmnicu-Vâlcea, Buzău, Ismail, Iaşi, Galat¸i, Roman, Chişinău; in Dorohoi the seminary was supported from students' taxes and local bishoprics. In addition, a private seminary, Nifon, functioned in Bucharest from private funding. In seminaries, 213 teachers were teaching 2,847 students.

45. In 1935 the Church had theological academies in Cluj, Sibiu, Arad, Oradea and Caransebeş; faculties of theology in Bucharest, Cernăut¸i and Iaşi, the latter having its headquarters in Chişinău.

46. Parkinson, Twenty years in Roumania, 44.

47. Crăciun, “Situat¸ia clerului din Ardeal,” 1114–15.

48. “Rapoarte generale pe anii 1932–1935 către Cogresul Nat¸ional Bisericesc din 14 octombrie 1935,” 23–25.

49. Ministère de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie, du Commerce et des Domaines, La Roumanie.

50. Parkinson, 48.

51. Miron Cristea, Memoriu cu privire la trebuint¸ele Bisericii Ortodoxe Române din t¸ară [Document on the internal problems of the Romanian Orthodox Church], 1922, in TNAR, Fond Miron Cristea, Dossier 3.

52. Nicodim, Biruint¸a nu se poate dobândi numai prin destoinicia clerului, ci prin vitejia întregii oştiri creştine, 24.

53. Recensământul Populat¸iunei din Decembrie 1899; Institutul Central de Statistică, Recensământul General al Populat¸iei României din 29 decembrie 1930, publicat de Dr Sabin Manuilă.

54. “Un om al bisericii,” in Mihalcescu, “Cronica interna,” 535–39.

55. Botoşăneanu, “Biserica Ortodoxă Română şi celelalte confesiuni,” 487.

56. Bălan, Biserica neamului şi drepturile ei.

57. “Spicuiri în cuvântările dela Senat despre Legea Cultelor,” 459–61.

58. Nae Ionescu, “A fi bun român” [Being a good Romanian], Cuvântul, no. 6, 2 November 1930.

59. Dumitru Stăniloae, “Idealul nat¸ional permanent” [The permanent national ideal], Telegraful român, no. 5, 1940, 1.

60. Staniloae, “Ortodoxie şi latinitate,” 197.

61. Dumitru Stăniloae, “Prin ce se promovează conştiint¸a nat¸ională” [How might national conscience be promoted?], Telegraful român, no. 6, 1940, 1.

62. Hitchins, “Orthodoxism,” 135–56.

63. Crainic, Ortodoxie şi Etnocratie cu o Anexă, 188.

64. Ibid.

65. His organization would be renamed in 1930 as the “Iron Guard,” in 1935 as “Everything for the Country” and in 1940 as the “Legionnaire Movement.”

66. Livezeanu, Cultural Politics in Greater Romania, 305; Ioanid, The Sword of the Archangel; Scurtu, Minorităt¸ile nat¸ionale din România, 1931–1938; Heinen, Die Legion “Erzengel Michael” in Rumänien Soziale Bewegung unde Politische Organisation.

67. Ornea, The Romanian Extreme Right, 288–89.

68. Ibid., p. 4.

69. Veiga, La Mistica del Ultranacionalismo, 231.

70. Scarfe, “The Romanian Orthodox Church,” 215–16.

71. Iordachi, “Charisma, Religion, and Ideology,” 35–36.

72. “Cronica bisericească,” Biserica Ortodoxă Română, no. 3–4, 244–47.

73. “Cronica internă,” Biserica Ortodoxă Română, no. 5–6, 373.

74. “Rapoarte generale pe anii 1932–1935 către Cogresul Nat¸ional Bisericesc din 14 octombrie 1935.”

75. Ministerul Finant¸elor, “Expunere de motive la Bugetul general al statului pe exercit¸iul 1939/1940,” 59, 237.

76. In the state budget for 1939/1940 the Ministry of Religious Confessions and Arts received 878.9 million lei; the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance 927.6 million lei; the Ministry of Agriculture 770.5 million lei; the Ministry of National Economy 167.4 million lei; and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 303.5 million lei.

77. “Cronica internă,” Biserica Ortodoxă Română, no. 11–12, 749.

78. Velehorschi, Colaborarea Bisericii Ortodoxe Române cu Straja T¸ării, 6.

79. Chronicle by Dr. Nicolas Zernov from Father Nicodim Ionit¸ă's letters [undated], AFSASS.

80. Letter from Walton Hannah to Dr. Nicolas Zernov, 29 January 1937; 1 April 1937, AFSASS.

81. The Church later established a foundation under the coordination of the Romanian Patriarchate whose aim was to build a monastery and hospitals in the region. “Cronica internă,” Biserica Ortodoxă Română, no. 9–10, 603.

82. “Cronica internă,” Biserica Ortodoxă Română, no. 7–8, 469–83.

83. Scriban, “Un dar al lui Dumnezeu,” 688–98.

84. Ibid.

85. Ibid.

86. “Însemnări,” 96.

87. “Pastorala pentru ajutorarea refugiat¸ilor din Basarabia şi Bucovina,” 518–20.

88. Vasilescu, “Nicodim, al doilea patriarh al României,” 42–45.

89. Ciucă et al., Stenogramele şedint¸elor Consiliului de Miniştri, 421.

90. Nicodim, Pastorală [Pastoral Letter], July 1941.

91. Deletant, Hitler's Forgotten Ally, 168. The religious mission to Transnistria was headed by Archimandrite Iuliu Scriban, from 15 August 1941 to 16 November 1942, followed by Metropolitan Visarion Puiu until 14 December 1943 and Archimandrite Antim Nica.

92. Giurescu, Romania in the Second World War (1939–1945).

93. Boia, Istorie şi mit în conştiint¸a românească.

94. Leustean, “Ethno-symbolic Nationalism, Orthodoxy and the Installation of Communism in Romania, 23 August 1944 to 31 December 1947,” 439–58.