THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ROMANIA, FROM THE ABDICATION OF KING MICHAEL I TO THE EARLY 1960S

I. THE GREAT CHALLENGES OF 1948: THE DENUNCIATION OF THE CONCORDAT WITH THE VATICAN AND THE ABOLITION OF THE GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH

Abstract

This study provides an overview of the relations between the Romanian communist state and the Catholic Church from early 1948 through the mid-1960s. The first part of the study focuses on a brief yet eventful period, namely 1948 and early 1949.

During this period, the communist state amended legislation regarding the organization of religious denominations to the detriment of the Catholic Church, denounced the Concordat with the Vatican, and initiated the dissolution of the Greek Catholic Church. The study highlights the general context of these transformations, in which the influence of the Soviet Union played a decisive role, the strategies of the Romanian communist state in the realm of religious policies, the motivations behind the denunciation of the Concordat and the dissolution of the Greek Catholic Church, the role played by the Orthodox Church in the process of abolishing the Greek Catholic Church, the Catholic Church’s acts of resistance, and the role of the Apostolic Nunciature in supporting these acts of resistance.