State Secretariat for Religious Affairs

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Bucharest2019

2nd Edition Revised and Added

State Secretariat for religiouS affairS

State and

Religionin

Romania

translated byDella L. Marcus

State and Religion in Romania

© 2019 State Secretariat for Religious Affairs web: www.culte.gov.roe-mail: corespondenta@culte.rotel.: +40.21.318.81.53; +40.21.318.81.54fax.: +40.21.318.81.51; +40.21.318.81.60

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României State and Religion in Romania / Secretariatul de Stat pentru Culte.–Bucureşti: Litera, 2019 ISBN 978-606-33-3759-8

I. Secretariatul de Stat pentru Culte (Bucureşti)

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Introduction .....................................................................................................................5

1. What is the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs?. ...................................................9

2. Short Institutional History ........................................................................................ 15

3. Evolution of the Religious Affiliation Structure........................................................27

4. What Church-State relations exist in democratic countries? ...................................39

5. Publicly Debated Issues ............................................................................................97

6. Religious organizations.......................................... .................................................... 127

7. Legislation Relating to Religious Life ......................................................................165

Annexes ....................................................................................................................... 211

Glossary ....................................................................................................................... 217

Translator’s note ........................................................................................................... 219

Bibliography ................................................................................................................221

CONteNt

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INtROduCtION

This book is an overview by the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs of several issues being debated in connection with the status of religion in society, and specifically of those religions recognized by the Romanian State. The relationship between the State and recog-nized religions, especially with the Romanian Orthodox Church, has become the focus of some public figures, politicians, and the media. Through our activities, including the publication of this work, we wish to contribute to a balanced debate based on concrete data, legisla-tion, and an understanding of the historic evolution of the relation-ship between the State and faith organizations in our country. We are talking about constitutive elements of national identity, whose com-plexity requires an objective approach, as an essential condition for civil, argument-driven debate.

the State Secretariat for religious affairs knows how to carry out its mission as principal institution through which the romanian State defines, articulates, and puts into practice pub-lic policies having to do with religious life in romania, and wish-es to facilitate an honest dialogue, open to all interested parties. this book, compiled by the State Secretariat for religious affairs in collaboration with the Ministry for foreign affairs through the romanian embassies in the North atlantic region, the National institute for Statistics, and the National authority for the restitution of Properties, makes available to the public a series of data and information that will provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between the State and the various religions from a historic perspective and within a european context.

this book is intended to be a working instrument for po-litical decision-makers, the diplomatic corps, civil servants di-rectly involved with such matters, as well as religious leaders. Moreover, this volume is destined for researchers who are con-cerned with the romanian religious phenomenon, and for civil society players who are directly interested in the improvement of the functioning of the romanian political and judicial system.

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first, we wish to offer through this book some clarification of the status of the State Secretariat for religious affairs as part of and its role within the central public administration, and an in-cursion into its history as a key institution in the modern State’s relation with the manifestation of various religious phenome-non in romania. Second, we would also like to provide the pub-lic relevant statistical data to help it understand the evolution of the religious structures of the modern romanian population.

the romanian model of church-state relations, as it is de-fined by law 489/2006 on freedom of religion and the general Status of religions, is part of the european family of models of church-state relations, central to which are religious freedom and the principle of state neutrality with respect to the manifestations of religious phenomenon. as is the case also in other european countries, relations between the state and organized forms of re-ligious life in romania have been developed based on historic, legal, and local institutional traditions, while taking into account existing european models, as well as the demographic situation, social and spiritual needs, and society’s current expectations. an overview of the main themes related to the church-state relation-ship, currently under debate and part of the public agenda, illus-trates the stakes yet to be clarified within romanian society and the political system. in short, the scope of this book is a clarifica-tion of the place and role of religion in the public space.

in order to better understand the main players in romania’s religious life and the role these have had and are playing in romanian society, this book offers a short description of the cur-rent situation and activities of recognized religions and religious associations in romania. far from being isolated in the private sphere and the liturgical space, one can observe that almost all of these have understood that they must play an active part in vari-ous areas. Whether we speak about education, charitable activi-ties, social or medical services, or cultural projects, organized faiths in romania are acting as significant players in the public space. the chapter in the previous edition of this book (2015) dedicated to the relationship between the state and religious organizations in europe has been restructured and expanded. in this way we wish to draw a comparison between the consonance of the romanian model with the practices in the different european countries in terms of relations between church and state and the place these

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have in terms of tradition and the legal and political practices of democratic countries. the end of the book contains a selection of legislation in effect in this area which should prove to be a useful instrument for those wishing to understand the way in which the romanian state relates to the activities of faiths in romania.

to date, the State Secretariat for religious affairs has pub-lished several editions of a book on religious life in romania (in romanian in 1993, 1999, 2005, 2008, and 2014, and in english in 1999, 2005, and 2015). Because the previous editions were so well received by the religious organizations as well as by decision-mak-ers, the diplomatic corps, universities, etc., this current edition has been expanded, and it focuses on an explanation of the role and contribution of the State Secretariat for religious affairs in the de-velopment and administration of the relationship between church and state in romania. this is the reason why space allocated to legislation and a detailed presentation of the religious organiza-tions has been reduced in favour of greater historical and statisti-cal information and a presentation of the vision of the institution on matters that are presently being publicly debated and which di-rectly affect the dynamic of the relationship between the state and religious organizations. all the data and information carried over from the above-mentioned previous editions has been updated. the data is also presented in a more accessible graphic form.

Within the european and romanian context in which there is increasing talk of a significant rise in the level of religious illiter-acy, as well as an increase in the level of religious illiteracy regard-ing religious freedom, we believe that the publication of this book is a contribution to a better understanding of religious life and es-pecially a duty to raise public awareness about religious freedom as a fundamental, constitutional right at the root of democracy. likewise, through the publication of this volume in 2019 the State Secretariat for religious affairs wishes to contribute to a success-ful romanian Presidency of the council of the european union, by highlighting the fundamental role which religions have had and still have today, both historically and at present, in the building of a better, more democratic, and more unitive society.

Victor Opaschi State Secretary for religious affairsMay 2019

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What is the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs?

the State Secretariat for religious affairs (SSra) is a special-ized, central, public administration body, a legal entity, subor-dinate to the government, and coordinated by the romanian Prime Minister.

1.1. What are the objectives of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs?

to ensure the respecting and promotion of the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the romanian constitution, law no. 489/2006 on freedom of religion and the general Status of religions, as well as international treaties and conventions that romania is party to in the area of freedom of conscience and religion.

to develop a social, cultural, and educational partnership be-tween central and local public authorities and those religions recognized by law. in this connection, the State Secretariat for religious affairs is run in accordance with the fundamental principle that religions are free, autonomous, and equal before the state authorities.

1.2. Who runs this institution?

the State Secretariat for religious affairs is run by a Secretary of State appointed by the Prime Minister. the Secretary of State has his own office and is supported in his activity by an administrative Director (religious relations administration) and two heads of office (Support Services, education, funding access, and respectively economic, Human resources, and administrative).

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1.3. What are its sources of financing?

the State Secretariat for religious affairs is entirely financed by the State Budget through the government’s general Secretariat Budget. the State Secretariat for religious affairs is a third-party spending agency.

1.4. What are the attributes of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs?

according to government Decision H.g. no. 44/2013 regard-ing the organization and operation of the State Secretariat for religious affairs, including subsequent changes and amend-ments, the following are its attributes:

� promotes the development and implementation of laws and governmental strategies that relate to religious life;

� approves proposed normative acts with a potential im-pact on religious life issued by other governmental and admin-istrative bodies;

� consults religious organizations regarding proposals to improve normative acts with a potential impact on religious life.

� promotes the relations of the State with all recognized religions and religious associations in romania;

� supports all religions and religious associations to en-sure that they fully participate in the country’s social and spiri-tual life;

� provides a connection between religions that have been recognized by law and the Ministries and other central and local administration bodies, in order to ensure that the freedoms and autonomy of religions are respected, and to prevent and elimi-nate any abuses, by the application of the law;

� participates in the amicable resolution of conflicts be-tween religions, and between these and religious associations, in order to prevent or eliminate any forms, means, or acts of re-ligious division.

� compiles reports1 concerning the overall situation of the respecting of religious rights and freedoms in romania;

1 at the request of the Ministry of foreign affairs, the universal Periodic review (uPr) of the united Nations (uN)/Human rights council (Hrc), the european commission against racism and intolerance (ecri) of the european council, and for other mixed inter-governmental commissions dealing with national minority issues.

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� grants advisory opinion prior to the granting of religious association status;

� reviews applications for the establishment of new reli-gions, the compilation of documents required by law, and the making of proposals to government for their recognition;

� compiles documents required by law, the submission of proposals to government for the recognition of changes or amendments to the organizational and operational by-laws of recognized religions;2

� keeps a record of the monastic staff of recognized reli-gions that have no income from employment, pensions, or oth-er sources;

� records the election or appointment of persons due to take over leadership functions, as well as of religious and lay staff of legally recognized religions, including those involved in the-ology education, who are not integrated in public education, in order to allocate financial support from the state budget for the payment of salaries of religious staff, in accordance with the law;

� keeps a record of the religious units of recognized re-ligions that are requesting assistance for paying the salaries of their religious staff;

� issues notices that are needed for the granting of long-term visas for religious activities or the right of temporary resi-dence for religious activities carried out by foreign missionaries;

� collaborates with the educational system, and records the educational plans and analytical programs for religious edu-cation drawn up by the legally recognized religions;3

� advises the government on state public utility recogni-tion for non-governmental organizations in the area of religious life, in keeping with legal norms;

� offers support to recognized religions for the organiza-tion and carrying out of religious and social assistance activi-ties in the army, penitentiaries, hospitals, homes for the elderly, orphanages, and other institutions, as well as for special needs families;

� administers public financial resources allocated to

2 the by-laws of these 18 religions were recognized by government ordinance in the 2008-2010 period, in accordance with art. 49 of law no. 489/2006

3 in 2018, the State Secretariat for religious affairs issued 416 approval notices for the granting of visas, of which 375 were extensions and 41 were for new visa requests for missionaries carrying out activities for recognized religions, religious associations, and religious foundations.

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supplement salaries for religious staff, in accordance with the laws;4

� offers assistance in support of activities carried out by religions, according to art. 29, point (5) in the constitution and specific legislation, for the following:

a) the salary system of the country’s religious staff and of romanian communities abroad;

b) the construction and repair of places of worship in the country and in romanian communities in the diaspora, the res-toration of historic monument churches, and for socio-charita-ble activities carried out by the recognized religions;

c) the support of the main romanian endowment on Mount athos (the romanian Skeet Prodromus);

d) the keeping of records of the monastic staff of recog-nized religions that have no income from employment, pen-sions, or other sources;

e) the theological teaching units that are not integrated into the public education system;

f) the control of the way in which funds received by reli-gions from the State budget are used, in accordance with specif-ic appropriation and in keeping with legal provisions;

g) the support to religions, upon request, for the organiza-tion of their accounting and statistics, in accordance with spe-cialized legislation, ensuring their collaboration with competent institutions.

� initiates external relations activities with similar State institutions in other countries and with international non-gov-ernmental organizations that promote and guarantee the re-specting of religious freedom and other fundamental human rights, and participates in the activities organized by the above;

� draws up studies and documentary syntheses on reli-gious life in romania, as well as on the activities of religious com-munities in other countries;

� organizes debates, with the participation of romanian and foreign specialists, on the secular and ecclesiastical theory and practices in this area.

4 funds allocated from the State budget for non-religious staff salaries are administered by county councils.

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The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs is a state insti-tution that administers the relations between the state and religious organizations (recognized religions, recog-nized religious associations, and associations and foun-dations established in conformity with Government Ordinance No. 26/2000 which also carry out religious ac-tivities) in Romania. It is an institution of the state which offers expertise in the area of religious life and partici-pates directly in the drafting and application of public policies concerning religious freedom and the general status of religions.

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Short Institutional History

Precursor institutions of the current State Secretariat for religious affairs were established during the time in which the romanian united Principalities [Țările române] were governed in accordance with the organic Statutes, under the aegis of the great european Powers. these were respectively the great Stewardship of faith [Marea logofeție a credinței], established in Wallachia in 1831, and the church governorship [Vornicia Bisericească] created in 1844 in Moldavia.

these had as principal attributes the organization of the inventorying of church assets and of the institutional situation of the church in both countries, in the context of efforts to politi-cally modernize public institutions.

2.1. Establishment of the Institution

the establishment of the State Secretariat for religious affairs as a modern institution, with clear attributes, is linked to the founding of the modern romanian state. immediately follow-ing the simultaneous election of alexandru ioan cuza as ruler of Moldavia and Wallachia, Ministries of religious affairs and Public education were set up in both iași and Bucharest.

in 1862, concomitant with the administrative unification of the romanian Principalities, a single Ministry of religious affairs and Public education was established, and this is considered the official date of the foundation of the institution that today car-ries the name of State Secretariat for religious affairs. Since its establishment and until the present day, this executive body has had different names, depending on the institutional articula-tion of the area of religions and other public policies: Ministry of religious affairs and Public education, Ministry of religious affairs and arts, Department of religious affairs, Ministry of religious affairs, State Secretariat for religious affairs, and Ministry of culture and religious affairs.

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throughout its existence, this institution has been run by well-known personalities in the political, cultural, and sci-entific domains in romania, including V.a. urechia, alexandru odobescu, Dimitrie Bolintineanu, c.a. rosetti, titu Maiorescu, Vasile conta, take ionescu, Spiru Haret, Dimitrie a. Sturdza, i.g. Duca, P.P. carp, ion c. Brătianu, Simion Mehedinți, octavian goga, P.P. Negulescu, Vasile goldiș, Nicolae iorga, Dimitrie gusti, Bishop and academician Nicolae colan, ion Nistor, constantin giurescu, ion Petrovici, gheorghe Nenciu, Dumitru Dogaru, Nicolae Stoicescu, gheorghe Vlăduţescu, and răzvan theodorescu.

When the modern romanian state began, political authori-ties were preoccupied with the centralized modernization of soci-ety. During alexandru ioan cuza’s rule (1859-1866), the dominant political view was favourable to the affirmation of the dominance of political authority over religious life.

this was expressed on the one hand by placing religious as-sets under state administration (including making some of these the direct property of the State, such as in the case of the sec-ularization of monastic assets). on the other hand, this was also manifested by an attempt on behalf of the State to institutionally reorganize the orthodox church of the united Principalities, trans-forming it into a modern state religion, directly subordinate to po-litical authorities, and overturning its right to self-administration.

in the effort to modernize, the State believed that it was initially necessary to support public schools by directing church funds through the Ministry of religious affairs. the articulation of the State’s religious policy also required the radical reorganization of theological education.

2.2. The State and the dominant Church

a second phase, following the abdication of alexandru ioan cuza, was characterized by a conciliatory effort between the State’s agenda for modernization and a wish on the part of the church of romania to affirm its growing autonomy, not only from the ecumenical Patriarchate of constantinople (by obtaining its auto-cephaly, with the active support of the State), but also from the romanian State. in this period, after experimenting with other so-lutions (such as the restricting of the number of clerics and of land

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ownership by the clergy) the State began financing religious staff salaries, as a means of solving the economic situation of the cler-gy, which had become critical.

the Ministry of religious affairs and Public education contin-ued to be the main body responsible for the administration of reli-gious life in romania in this period, with extensive tasks involving the supervision and control of religious activities in many areas, including: organizing parishes and dioceses, the operations of the Holy Synod and church consistories, appointing to and rescind-ing religious staff positions, the administration of church assets and the status of monastic life, the organization and operation of theological education, the supervision of the production of news-papers, encyclicals, and pastoral letters from the orthodox clergy, etc., the authorization and supervision of the operations of other faiths on romanian soil, etc. the dominant church (according to the 1866 constitution) managed to obtain a relatively limited au-tonomy from the State, exerting its authority through the Ministry of religious affairs and Public education.

the secularization of church assets was carried out through the Ministry of religious affairs, but, once this project of the unionist generation had ended, for successive decades to the end of the 19th century not much government effort was dedicated to the resolution of the difficulties created for the church through its previous massive dispossession of material properties. thus, in 1902, a simple office of religious affairs operated within the Ministry of religious affairs and Public education: its administra-tive activity lacked substance, it had only a few civil servants (4 heads and 9 executive assistants), and was centred primarily on the relationship between the church and schools.5

2.3. The Church Bureau

The Church Bureau [Casa Bisericii] was established in 1902, based on an Anglo-Saxon politico-administrative model. This office was at-tached to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education but had its own law.6 Its purpose was to make the administration of church assets more efficient, and to eliminate the arbitrary intrusion of a 5 BruSaNoWSKi, Paul, Stat și Biserică în Vechea Românie între 1821-1925 [State and Church in Old Romania], Presa universitară clujeană, cluj-Napoca, 2010

6 Sanctioned by royal Decree no. 255 of 21 January 1902

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variety of public authorities in internal ecclesiastical life. The Church Bureau took over the Office of Religious Affairs in the Ministry, built its own headquarters with the Schools Bureau7, and was given the at-tributes of control and administration of the Church’s assets, and the preservation of places of worship. The political intent behind the cre-ation of this institution at that time was that the Orthodox Church and the other faiths would in time become fully capable, and would have the power to administer their own properties, for the general ben-efit of Romanian society. It was for this reason that the heads of the Church Bureau were initially appointed from among politicians in the governing party, whose mandate would last for the duration of the government.

Each year, the Church Bureau would draw up its own budget of income and expenditures, distinct from the State budget, which it submitted for approval to the Assembly of Deputies. In 1908, the budget of the Church Bureau was included in the State budget, and included:

� the budget surplus of self-supporting places of worship; � a 10% tax, later 15%, applied to the church revenues ad-

ministered by the church Bureau; � funds from church land leasing and oil exploitations on

church land; � urban community subsidies and a share of rural com-

munes’ revenues; � funds from the application of fines based on the law for

producing and selling wax candles; � funds allocated from the annual State budget for the

administration of churches, personnel salaries, upkeep of the christian orthodox church, as well as other revenues, etc.

church Bureau expenditures included salaries for the orthodox church hierarchy and related chancelleries, contributions to the wages of rural parishes personnel, contributions for the repairs of places of worship, scholarships for romanian pupils and theology students, etc.8

7 this is presently the headquarters of the Ministry of National education in Bucharest, at 28-30 gen. Berthelot Street.

8 DoBreScu, c., Casa Bisericii 1902-1919 [The Church Bureau 1902-1919], tipografia cărților Bisericești, Bucharest, 1920.

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in this way the church Bureau operated like a church management institution in the classical sense, placing the church in a public administration sphere rather than a civil society sphere. the church Bureau had a mission to establish order in the administrative chaos that originated in the successive church reforms that had begun with the organic Statutes. in this sense, the brief operation of a ministerial section as a government agency (1902-1920) constitutes a faithful image of a state on the verge of centralization, developing its capacity to monopolize political decision.9

2.4. Recognition of Religious Pluralism

a third stage followed, after the first World War and the union of 1918, when there was a reorganization of the legal frame-work concerning the status of faiths in romania, aiming to grant proper recognition to the manifest religious pluralism of greater romania.

the new regime of religious affairs was hierarchical: it continued to recognize the orthodox church as the dominant church; however, the orthodox and greek catholic churches were recognized as romanian churches, being granted prima-cy over other faiths; the roman catholic church, the historical churches in transylvania (lutheran, reformed, and unitarian churches) and communities of other world religions (Judaism and islam) enjoyed relative internal autonomy and some advan-tages compared to the smaller religious organizations, whose le-gal status remained unclear. Some evangelical denominations enjoyed relative freedom to organize and operate, while the ac-tivities of other faith organizations were restricted.

the first law for general religious arrangements (1928) was not centred on religious freedom as a fundamental citizen’s right, but rather on freedom of religions and their protection by the State (art. 1). the Ministry of religious affairs took the lib-erty of overseeing and controlling religious organizations (art. 25), and religious leaders were recognized only with the approv-al of the King, based on recommendations by the Ministry of religious affairs. (art. 27).

9 cătălin raiu, Ortodoxie, postcomunism și neoliberalism, curtea Veche Publishing, București, 2012.

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the law for general religious arrangements (1928) stat-ed that state financial support be accorded “on the basis of the number of their believers holding romanian citizenship per the country’s total population, on the material situation of the reli-gions, and on their real needs” (art. 31). the Ministry of religious affairs reserved the right to withdraw financial support “from those found guilty of agitation against the order and safety of the State” (art. 31). During this period, recognized religions ex-panded their educational activities and philanthropic works (charitable), establishing a series of schools, hospitals, clinics, and institutions serving children orphaned during World War i, the sick, the poor, etc.

2.5. The Communist Regime

the establishment of the communist regime in romania led to a change of vision in terms of the organization of church-state re-lations. formally, many elements of legislation from previous pe-riods relating to church-state relations were preserved, but the communist regime, based on an atheist Marxist-leninist ideolo-gy, was determined to exclude religions from the public sphere and to limit their influence on the population.

the activities of religious organizations were restricted to religious activities and to an external representation role that was rigorously controlled by the State. this control over reli-gious organizations was very brutal and invasive, with charitable organizations and religious educational institutions disbanded, religious education eliminated from schools, theological educa-tion sharply reduced, and the properties of religions and their charitable organizations confiscated for the most part and trans-ferred to State ownership.

the greek catholic church was forcibly disbanded, the roman catholic church continued to operate, though precari-ously, and evangelicals had supplementary operational restric-tions imposed on them.

the orthodox church and other religions were subject-ed to harsh institutional cuts (the number of parishes and dio-ceses was restricted, as were missionary and other activities). Monastic life was severely limited, particularly after 1959. the

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re-systematization of villages and urban areas, and especially of the country’s capital, led to the closure and even the destruction of some churches, including several historical monuments..10

2.6. Democracy and Religious Freedom

after the fall of the communist regime in December 1989, church-state relations entered a new stage, characterized by freedom of religion, liberty for religious faiths to handle their internal organi-zation autonomously, and a desire to make up for the injustices and abuses of the previous regime. in this context the romanian State abandoned the role of supervision and control of religious activities which it had taken upon itself at the beginning of the modern state and replaced this with democratic policies cen-tral to which are religious freedom and the role of religious faiths as potential free partners of the State in areas of common social interest.11

the State Secretariat for religious affairs functioned for a short time as an autonomous Ministry (January-June 1990), subse-quently as an autonomous State Secretariat (1990-2001), and then as part of the Ministry of culture and religious affairs (2001-2010). as of 2010, the State Secretariat for religious affairs is again operat-ing as a distinct institution, coordinated by the Prime Minister. the institution became directly involved, as per its attributes, in the rebuilding of church-state relations in the post-communist peri-od, drawing up the necessary legislation, participating in the reor-ganization of practical aspects of the relations between religions and state institutions, and supporting religious organizations to reorganize and re-establish themselves as important players in public life and social partners of the State. law no. 489/2006 on the freedom of religion and the general Status of religions, origi-nally drafted by the State Secretariat for religious affairs based on consultations with religious communities and support of national and international experts, is the principal normative act in effect at this time that regulates religious life and the relationship be-tween the State and religion in romania.

10 lucian leuȘteaN, Orthodoxy and the Cold War: Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2009.11 iuliana coNoVici, Ortodoxia în România postcomunistă. Reconstrucția unei identități publice, volumul i, eikon cluj-Napoca, 2009.

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the State Secretariat for religious affairs has supported and continues to provide support (including financial) for activities orga-nized by religions in romania, and for religious dialogue meetings and conferences. aware of the importance of interfaith dialogue, churches and religions in the country have also given their attention to romania’s political and social destiny since 1989. Visible results of these concerns were the Declaration of faiths for the integration of romania in the european union, drawn up at Snagov on 16 May 2000, as well as the organization of several major events, such as the 12th international Meeting on “People and faiths,” 30 august – 1 September 1998, organized in Bucharest by the Sant’egidio community; the visit of Pope John Paul ii on 7-9 May 1999, the first visit by a roman Pontiff to a predominantly orthodox country, and the 3rd european ecumenical assembly of 4-9 September 2007, which brought together the representatives of all european church-es, as well as important european political leaders.

the romanian consultative council of religions was estab-lished in 2013 at the initiative and with the participation of most re-ligions. it is an informal body that assists religions to consult and have dialogue on problems of common interest.

the State Secretariat for religious affairs has been an im-portant body of the executive branch throughout its existence. in romania, as in most european countries, the connection be-tween political power and religious life is one of the fundamental areas based on which public policies are generated in relation to other sectors of society, such as social assistance, education, diplo-macy, rights and freedoms, cultural patrimony, etc. it is for this rea-son that it is both necessary and useful that the State Secretariat for religious affairs should play its part as an interface between the romanian government and religions, acting in a predictable, re-sponsible, and democratic manner. this is even more important, as can be seen above, since the State Secretariat for religious affairs is not merely an institution that carries out technical and bureaucratic functions, but is also an active mediator between the State and re-ligious organizations.

2.7. Today’s Vision of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs

the vision of the State Secretariat for religious affairs on the role of religious organizations in society’s life is clearly enunciated in

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law no. 489/2006 on the freedom of religion and the general Status of religions, but elements thereof are also included in oth-er normative acts in effect.

A Vision Focusing on Religious Freedom

in carrying out its responsibilities, the State Secretariat for religious affairs has a primary mission to guarantee and pro-mote the respect of religious freedom in romania, both individ-ually and collectively. the institution’s dialogue partners are the recognized religions and religious associations, as well as asso-ciations and foundations that have religious activities, organized according to government ordinance no. 26/2000 on associa-tions and foundations as a form of collective expression of cer-tain convictions or religious faiths.

in order to distance itself from the authoritarian practices of past periods, and conscious of the fact that one of the funda-mental missions of a european democratic state is that of guar-anteeing the free development of communal solidarities, the State Secretariat for religious affairs collaborates with all reli-gious organizations, respecting their freedoms and avoiding in-volvement in their internal affairs.

finally, taking into account the responsibility of the romanian State to maintain social order and the equal respect of the rights and freedoms of its citizens, the State Secretariat for religious affairs has adopted the role of mediator in the re-lations between religious organizations and between these and the State.

A Perspective Anchored in Romanian Reality

The vision of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs concerning the church-state relationship in Romania and the role of religious commu-nities in society is based on existing legal traditions, as well as on the current Romanian societal realities.

thus, considering the high level of religious affiliation of the population, as seen in the census and the daily life of soci-ety, as well as public expression of religious pluralism; consid-ering the freedom and willingness of religious organizations in

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romania to actively participate in the everyday life of society, and to have an active part in cooperating with the State in the development of the common good; considering the different experiences and the various levels of involvement of religious communities in society, the State Secretariat for religious affairs promotes a flexible model of church-state relations, intended to support and turn to best advantage the contribution of religious communities to social life.

The State and Religion – Complementarity and Subsidiarity

recognizing the specific contribution of religious faiths in the edification of the common good, and the particularities of the manner of involvement of religious faiths in romania in societal life, due to their specific world views, the State Secretariat for religious affairs views as beneficial the affirmation of religious organizations in the romanian public sphere as social actors that may contribute to the sustainable development of romanian so-ciety. thus, fully aware of the fact that the State cannot alone meet all the needs of society, and that it is in the best common interest that complementarity relations are developed between the actions of the State and that of organized civil society, based on the principle of subsidiarity, the State Secretariat for religious affairs is in a position to promote the development of a social partnership between the State and religious organizations, based on its sphere of competence.

in the view of the State Secretariat for religious affairs, co-operation between the State and faiths is necessary and use-ful in many areas: in education – for the edification of a society based on values and strong identities; in the social context – due to the readiness of faiths to participate with their own expertise, and human and material resources in the development of a dig-nified and solidary society; in the cultural context – due to the specific contribution of faiths in all major cultural areas.

the State Secretariat for religious affairs considers the romanian model of church-state relations as being a balanced european model, an adequate synthesis of the demands for modernization and europeanization of the romanian political regime and the current needs of romanian society.

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General Lines of Action of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs

in a europe marked, on the one hand, by the ascendancy of fun-damentalism and extremism, and on the other by a rebirth of xe-nophobia and nationalistic and isolationist tendencies, the State Secretariat for religious affairs recognizes the need for an increase in the level of religious literacy as an important element for ensur-ing social harmony. likewise, it supports the recognition and capi-talization of the positive potential of religious pluralism, which leads it to encourage and support actions whose purpose is to foster in-terconfessional and interreligious dialogue. the State Secretariat for religious affairs lays stress on the importance of the role of re-ligious pluralism in the context of public actions for the purpose of edifying national and european identity and conscience.

at the same time, aware of the need to put romanian so-ciety’s religious dynamism at the service of the greater good, the State Secretariat for religious affairs works to deepen the partner-ship relations with religious organizations, and for the develop-ment of relations with the religious associations, as important civil society players involving over 99% of the country’s population.

another priority line of action of the institution is the sup-port and valorification of actions and projects of religious organi-zations in support of the retention and promotion of the language and the national and cultural identity of romanians in the diaspo-ra. recognizing the capacity of religious organizations to accom-pany communities of romanians to ensure their retention of the language and of the romanian national identity and religion, the State Secretariat for religious affairs acts in support of romanian religious communities along romania’s borders, as well as in the actual diaspora.

although it has a very small staff, the State Secretariat for religious affairs works to make its activities very efficient in order to ensure the respecting of modern, administrative demands and increasingly stricter financial discipline. furthermore, our institu-tion is taking steps to raise transparency and the predictability of institutional decision-making, as well as for prompt and proper in-forming of the public regarding general information on religious life in romania.

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in the interest of rising public interest in all manifestations of religious life in the romanian and european contexts, the State Secretariat for religious affairs collects and disseminates up-to-date information on the religious phenomenon in romania, of-fers public expertise on religious freedom to public institutions, and participates actively in european public debate during con-sultations convened by international organizations on the role of religion and religious communities for the promotion of peace, dia-logue, and social solidarity.

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Evolution of the Religious Affiliation Structure

the history of official romanian statistics coincides with the his-tory of the modern romanian national state. the double elec-tion of alexandru ioan cuza in both Moldavia and Wallachia on 24 January 1859 was a defining moment that marked the be-ginning of the transformation of the romanian countries into a modern state, through the establishment of new institutions in-spired by the european models of the time. the need for an un-derstanding of socioeconomic realities led to the establishment of the office of Statistics in July 1859.

3.1. The Modern Period

three censuses were carried out in the modern period: the first in 1859, the second four decades later in 1899, and the third in 1912, pri-or to the great union of 1918. one of the interesting pieces of infor-mation gleaned from the census was the religious affiliation of the population. Since the country’s territorial composition changed very little during that period, the data obtained during all three censuses can be used for a viable comparison (see table 1).

Table 1. Religious affiliation structure of the population in the 1859-1912 period

ReligiousAffiliation

Year

1859 1899 1912Believers % Believers % Believers %

Total 4,424,961 100% 5,956,690 100% 7,235,320 100%

1. Romanian Orthodox 4,198,862 94.89 5,451,787 91.52 6,735,444 93.092. Judaism 134,168 3.03 266,652 4.48 241,088 3.333. Roman Catholic 45,154 1.02 149,667 2.51 157,938 2.184. Protestant 28,903 0.65 22,749 0.38 24,727 0.345. Armenian 8,178 0.18 5,787 0.10 6,985 0.106. Lipovan 8,375 0.19 15,094 0.25 21,628 0.307. Islam 1,323 0.03 44,732 0.75 46,406 0.64

8. Other faith - - 222 < 0.01 1,104 0.02

ChapteR 3

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according to the first census, most of romania’s popula-tion was orthodox, some 95%, followed at a significant distance by the Jewish community, at a little over 3%, with the other be-liefs making up the remaining 2%.

Besides drawing up a religious affiliation structure, the 1859 census also inventoried places of worship (see table 2). according to the results of this research, the number of plac-es of worship amounted to 7,230 for a population of 4,424,961; this translates to an average 612 congregants per place of wor-ship. in this sense, the orthodox church was above average (630 congregants per church); the most “crowded” places of worship were Protestant, with an average 2,408 congregants per church, while at the opposite spectrum were the synagogues, with 486 congregants per place of worship. thus, the Jewish community had the larger number of places of worship per number of congregants.

Table 2. Number of places of worship by faith and size of religious commu-nities in 1859

Religie1859

Number ofbelievers

Number of houses ofworship

Number of believers perplace of worship

Total 4,424,961 7,230 612

1. Romanian Orthodox 4,198,862 6,658 630

2. Judaism 13,4168 276 486

3. Roman Catholic 45,154 63 716

4. Protestant 28,903 12 2,408

5. Armenian 8,178 11 743

6. Lipovan 8,375 7 1,189

7. Other faith - 3 -

the territorial changes following the War of independence of 1877-1878 did not significantly influence the structure of the religious affiliation of romania’s population. the transfer of the three counties that made up Southern Bessarabia (cahul, ismail, and Bolgrad) to the russian empire and the gain of Dobrogea from the ottoman empire, which included tulcea and constanța

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counties led to an increase in the Muslim population, whose ra-tio rose from 0.03% in 1859 to 0.75% in the 1899 census.

orthodox believers made up most of the population in 1899, at 91.52%, with the remaining faiths at 8.5%. the faith with the largest number of believers after the orthodox faith was Judaism, with 4.5% (the second-largest Jewish community in europe, after austria at 4.6%), followed by the catholics at 2.5%, Muslims with 0.7%, and Protestants (lutherans and reformed calvinists) at 0.4%. compared to the previous census, there was a rise in the ratio of minority faiths.

the largest increase was noted in the catholic commu-nity (some 230%) and the Jewish community (98%). the nu-merical growth of the catholic population was most likely due to immigration, because the natural growth of this communi-ty was much lower than that of other faiths. the growth of the Jewish community was due to both immigration and natural in-crease, which was very high at that time. as concerns the islamic population, the increase registered was the result of the incor-poration of Dobrogea in romania’s territory, resulting in an addi-tional 41,677 persons. this was the case also for the old Believers (lipovans or Starovery). those denominations whose ratios de-creased included the armenian church and the Protestants, al-though Dobrogea brought in a significant number of religious minorities compared to those lost following the cession of Southern Bessarabia to russia.

the population distribution by religion in the 1899 census differed from one region to another. as concerns historical prov-inces and living areas, the situation of each province registered a significant departure from the national averages. the largest number of orthodox believers lived in oltenia (98.5%), while the smallest number was registered in Dobrogea, with an orthodox population of 73.4%, followed by the Muslim community, mak-ing up 15.6% of the inhabitants of that region. there were sig-nificant differences in rural and urban areas. thus (see table 3), the orthodox population in urban areas amounted to 72.54%, followed by the Jewish population, with an average 18.98%. the largest Jewish community was in Moldavia (38.72%), especial-ly in the county capitals, such as Dorohoi (over 53%), iaşi (some 52%), Botoşani (52%), etc.

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Table 3. Urban population by religious affiliation in percentages in 1899, na-tionally and by provinces

ReligiousAffiliation

1899Urban population, by faith (percentages)

Romania Moldavia Muntenia Oltenia Dobrogea

1. Romanian Orthodox 72.54 55.71 80.50 86.93 74.31

2. Judaism 18.98 38.72 10.64 4.09 5.59

3. Roman Catholic 5.60 4.37 6.35 7.58 2.82

4. Protestant 1.37 0.35 2.13 1.13 1.06

5. Islam 0.92 0.07 0.21 0.28 12.23

6. Armenian Apostolic 0.40 0.60 0.17 < 0.01 1.82

7. Old Believers(Lipovans)

0.19 0.16 < 0.01 - 2.14

8. Other faiths 0.01 0.02 < 0.01 < 0.1 < 0.01

the results of the 1912 census did not yield major surpris-es, with the confessional structure remaining similar to that of 1899, with one significant difference: the Jewish population had dropped due to emigration. there were romanian state territo-rial changes between 1912 and 1918 that had a significant ef-fect on the national ethnic and confessional distribution of the population, namely the annexation of Southern Dobrogea (the so-called Quadrilateral). the population of the new province was mostly turkish and tatar, belonging to the Muslim faith, and Bulgarian orthodox, as per the 1930 census, when the Muslim community numbered over 185,000.

3.2. Confessional Structure of Modern Transylvania

transylvania was part of the Habsburg empire territory, known as the “grand Principality of transylvania.” With the instauration of the dualist austro-Hungarian empire in 1867, transylvania be-came part of the Hungarian Kingdom. the Habsburg admin-istration carried out two censuses in 1850 and 1857, while the Hungarians carried out four censuses in 1869, 1880, 1900 and 1910. the results of the first two and the last three are not interop-erable, because of the difference in territorial area investigated and the means for defining indicators. We therefore present the results of the austrian and Hungarian censuses separately.

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Table 4. Results of the Habsburg administration census

Religious Affiliation

Year%

1850 1857

1. Romanian Orthodox 30.2 31.9

2. Greek Catholic 32.2 28.8

3. Reformed 14.4 13.8

4. Roman Catholic 10.6 11.8

5. Lutheran 9.6 10.2

6. Unitarian 2.2 2.5

7. Judaism 0.8 0.7

8. Armenian-Catholic - 0.3

Table 5. Results of the censuses carried out by the Hungarian administration

Religious Affiliation

Year%

1880 1900 1910

1. Romanian Orthodox 37.1 34.9 34.3

2. Greek Catholic 23.3 23.5 23.7

3. Roman Catholic 17.7 18.8 18.9

4. Reformed 12.4 13.0 13.2

5. Evangelical Lutheran 5.5 5.2 5.0

6. Judaism 2.6 3.3 3.5

7. Unitarian 1.4 1.3 1.3

8. Other faiths 0.1 0.05 0.09

Modern transylvania was characterized by a great ethnic and confessional diversity. Most of the orthodox and greek-catholic populations were romanian (with a Serb minority), while the ethnic Hungarian and german populations were mostly Protestant or roman catholic. thus, the integration of transylvania into the romanian Kingdom after 1918 brought about a significant change in its population structure.

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3.3. The Interwar Period (1918-1940)

the confessional structure of romania’s population between the two World Wars was registered in the 1930 census. in the pe-riod between the 1912 and 1930 censuses, the romanian ethnic and confessional territorial structure changed fundamentally as a result of the union of Bessarabia, Bukovina, transylvania, and Banat with the romanian Kingdom in 1918.

romania’s population structure changed in terms of both ethnic and confessional structures. the ratio of romanian and orthodox believers according to the 1912 census had been of 93.5% and 93.1%, respectively, while in the 1930 census these dropped respectively to 71.9% and 72.6% (see table 6).

Table 6. Population Structure by Religious Affiliation in 1930

Religious Affiliation Believers %

Total 18,057,028 100

1. Romanian Orthodox 13,108,227 72.59

2. Greek Catholic 1,427,391 7.90

3. Roman Catholic 1,234,151 6.83

4. Judaism 756,930 4.19

5. Reformed Calvinism 710,706 3.94

6. Evangelical Lutheran 3987,59 2.21

7. Islam 185,486 1.03

8. Unitarian 69,257 0.38

9. Baptist 60,562 0.34

10. Old Believers (Lipovans) 57,288 0.32

11. Adventist Christian 16,102 0.09

12. Armenian Gregorian 10,005 0.06

13. Armenian Catholic 1,440 0.01

14. Other faith 7,434 0.04

15. No faith 6,604 0.04

16. Undeclared 6,686 0.04

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the new provinces brought 56% of romanians into the romanian state, with the remaining 44% being other nationalities/faiths, in-cluding ethnic Hungarians (14.7%), ethnic germans (7.6%), ethnic ukrainians (6.4%), and Jews (5.1%). one especially important aspect of the romanian population’s religious affiliation structure was the presence in transylvania and Banat of the greek catholic church, whose believers were almost exclusively romanians, making up some 8% of the total population of greater romania (15% of the to-tal population of the new provinces). the romanian church united with rome (greek catholic) became the second-largest denomina-tion in romania, recognized in the constitution of 1923, alongside the romanian orthodox church, and it was declared a romanian church. in addition to the traditional religious affiliations, this was also the first time that the situation of two evangelical churches was registered, namely the Baptists and the adventists. the religious af-filiation structure of the new provinces (not including Wallachia and Moldavia) is presented in table 7.

Table 7. The religious affiliation structure of the new Romanian provinces

Religious Affiliation Believers %

Total 9,265,774 100

1. Romanian Orthodox 5,054,762 54.55

2. Greek Catholic 1,396,694 15.07

3. Roman Catholic 1,058,605 11.42

4. Judaism 697,581 7.53

5. Reformed Calvinism 492,892 5.32

6. Evangelical Lutheran 369,940 3.99

7. Islam 68,420 0.74

8. Unitarian 57,835 0.62

9. Baptist 34,574 0.37

10. Old Believers (Lipovans) 7,373 0.08

11. Adventist Christian 1,547 0.02

12. Armenian Gregorian 1,284 0.01

13. Armenian Catholic 620 0.01

14. Other faith 5,079 0.05

15. No faith 4,465 0.05

16. Undeclared 4,499 0.05

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3.4. 1940-1945 Period

as of the summer of 1940, romania lost a significant part of her territory, with the associated population. Bessarabia, northern Bukovina, and the Hertza region were annexed by the Soviet union, northern transylvania was annexed by Hungary, and southern Dobrogea was ceded to Bulgaria. During the Second World War, the territorial structure of the romanian state changed again temporarily, with the liberation of Bessarabia and the annexation of transnistria. these territorial changes, in turn, produced other changes in the population’s religious affiliation structure, the latter being observed statistically only to a certain extent in the 6 april 1941 census, whose information could not be entirely processed and made available due to political disturbances.

3.5. 1945-1989 Communist Period

the principal characteristic of the communist period, in terms of religious affiliation statistics, was a lack of precise official information, due to the elimination of several indicators included in the censuses. the first census in romania after the Paris Peace treaty, when romania’s current borders were established, was carried out in 1948, but the data gathered was based only on native language, not nationality or religion.

the 1948 constitution guaranteed freedom of religion, and the new law on the general Status of religions recognized new faiths, including the Pentecostal community, probably the most dynamic in terms of numeric evolution during the communist era, while the romanian church united with rome (greek catholic) was disbanded. using the same logic, the three censuses that followed (in 1956, 1966, 1977) recorded only “nationality”, and not “religion,” which makes it impossible to provide an exact evolution of the population’s religious affiliation structure during the almost five decades of communism.

3.6. Post-communist Period

With the fall of the communist regime and the adoption of the new romanian constitution in 1991, the structure and evolution of romania’s religious life began being recorded

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statistically once again, with the reintroduction of the “reli-gion” category in subsequent censuses. there have been three censuses in the 30 years since December 1989, based on com-parable geographic areas.

the first census highlighted the surprising lack of results of efforts by the communist regime to promote atheism. a mere 0.17% of the population declared themselves to be athe-ists or as having no religion; most of the population declared themselves as belonging to a religious faith. according to the latest census carried out simultaneously in european union states in 2011, after 21 years of religious freedom in the former communist countries, the percentage of those declaring them-selves atheists or having no religion in romania (0.19%) contin-ues to be the lowest in europe, compared to former communist countries like the czech republic, whose percentage reached 34.2%, Hungary 23%, or Bulgaria 11.8%.

the 1992 census statistically captured the destiny of the Jewish community. Due to the Holocaust, as well as the poli-cies of the communist regime encouraging mass emigration of romanian Jews to israel, the romanian Jewish community di-minished dramatically. the census also highlighted the situa-tion faced by the romanian church united with rome (greek catholic); it returned into the public sphere and was officially recognized after 50 years of clandestine survival, but has never reached the number of believers it had in the period between the two wars.12 Subsequent censuses highlighted the relatively stable trend in the evolution of the population’s religious affili-ation structure.

figures on religious affiliation remained very high, at over 99% of the population declaring they belonged to a re-ligion. on the whole, the orthodox faith remained relatively stable, with a minor decrease in the past 30 years. there have been similar drops in the numbers of roman catholics, greek catholics, and traditional Protestant communities, significant in terms of the total number of believers.

12 representatives of the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic con-tested the results of the 1992, 2002, and 2011 censuses, claiming that the manner in which data were collected was defective.

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Table 8. Religious affiliation structure in Romania, according to the results of post-communist censuses13

ReligiousAffiliation

Year

1992 2002 2011

Number % Number % Number %

Total 22,810,035 100 21,680,974 100 20,121,641 100

1. Romanian Orthodox 19,802,389 86.81 18,817,975 86.79 16,307,004 86.45

2. Roman Catholic 1,161,942 5.09 1,026,429 4.73 870,774 4.62

3. Reformed 802,454 3.52 701,077 3.23 600,932 3.19

4. Pentecostal 220,824 0.97 324,462 1.50 362,314 1.92

5. Greek Catholic 223,327 0.98 191,556 0.88 150,593 0.80

6. Baptist 109,462 0.48 126,639 0.58 112,850 0.60

7. Seventh-Day Adventist 77,546 0.34 93,670 0.43 809,44 0.43

8. Islam 55,928 0.25 67,257 0.31 64,337 0.34

9. Unitarian 76,708 0.34 66,944 0.31 57,686 0.31

10. Jehovah’s Witnesses - - - - 49,820 0.26

11. Evangelical Lutheran 49,963 0.22 44,476 0.21 42,495 0.23

12. Old Believers 28,141 0.12 38,147 0.18 32,558 0.17

13. Old-Rite Orthodox 32,228 0.14 - - - -

14. Evangelical Lutheran (Presbyterian Synod)

21,221 0.09 27,112 0.13 20,168 0.11

15. Serbian Orthodox - - - - 14,385 0.08

16. Romanian Evangelical - - 18,178 0.08 15,514 0.08

17. Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania

39,119 0.17 8,716 0.04 5,399 0.03

18. Judaism 9,670 0.04 6,057 0.03 3,519 0.02

19. Armenian - - - - 393 0.002

20. Other faiths 56,129 0.25 89,196 0.41 30,557 0.16

21. No faith 26,314 0.12 12,825 0.06 18,917 0.10

22. Atheist 10,331 0.05 8,524 0.04 20,743 0.11

23. Not stated 8,139 0.04 11,734 0.05 - -

24. Unavailable - - - - 1,259,739 6.25

13 in 1992 the christian church of the gospel and the romanian evangelical church merged as a single denomination; the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization became a recognized religion in 2003; the Serbian orthodox Bishopric of timișoara was recognized after 2006. .

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the most dynamic religious denominations proved to be the evangelical communities, and especially the Pentecostals, which registered considerable growth between 1992 and 2002, and somewhat less growth in 2011 (when the waves of emigrants led to a significant drop in the population). the ratio of these re-ligions in the total population rose slightly (more in the case of the Pentecostal community). the Muslim community also grew, due in part to immigration.

there was a dramatic drop in the numbers of the Jewish community, down one third compared to 1992. in the census of 201114 there was also a total drop among persons in the “other faiths” category, from 0.41% in 2002 to 0.15%, due to the recogni-tion by the state of the Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination (0.25% of the population having declared their religious affiliation in 2011).

14 administrative sources were used for the first time in the 2011 census, where direct interviews had not been possible. Based on these sources, the religious affiliation of a significant number of persons could not be established, and therefore a “Not available” category was added to the table. these amounted to almost 1.3 million persons, repre-senting 6.25% of the total population, and hence these absences affect the interoper-ability of the data. the percentages were calculated for 2011 on the basis of population for which faith had been registered directly.

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ChapteR 4What Church-State relations exist in democratic countries?

on the basis of treaties in effect, the european union respects the competence of member states in terms of politics and pub-lic policies regarding religious life, and does not enter into any specific relation with a particular religion or faith. the european union recognizes that religious communities have their own identity and a specific contribution to european society,15 at-tributing to them a consultative role in the functioning of the union and the development of its policies. Member states have exclusive competencies in the internal policies regarding reli-gious life. thus, there is no single legal model for relations be-tween church and state in europe. Nevertheless, we can identify a series of common elements in the legislation of the european states, outlined on the basis of common historic experiences of these states in the past two centuries.16 the principal elements of a possible joint model are:

� the guaranteeing of freedom of conscience and free-dom of religion for all citizens;

� the existence of forms of legal recognition of the dis-tinct character of religious communities in connection with oth-er types of public and private organizations;

� the respect of the autonomy of religions and faiths in connection with the state (in varying degrees);

� lack of religious discrimination; � the existence of various forms of direct and/or indirect

15 ”(1) the union respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religious associations or communities in the Member States. (2) the union equally respects the status under national law of philosophical and non-confessional organizations. (3) recognizing their identity and their specific contribution, the union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and organizations.” article 17c of the treaty of lisbon amending the treaty on european union and the treaty establishing the european community, official Journal of the european union, 2007/c306/1.16 StaN, lavinia, lucian turceScu, Church, State, and Democracy in Expanding Europe, oxford university Press, oxford/New York, 2011.

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support for religious communities; � an increasingly inclusive recognition of religious pluralism.

4.1. How are church-state relations classified in Europe?

in the absence of a single european normative church-state relations model, and due to the diversity of the forms of religiosity embraced by european citizens, church-state rela-tions have been subject to several classification solutions. from a methodological standpoint17,these were organized based on:

a) legal and constitutional definitions of the church-state relations regime (separation, cooperation, state, or dominant church, etc.);

b) the means of financing religions and faiths (direct, indi-rect, mixed, etc.);

c) the place and role of religion in the public space (active secularism – with the placement of religion in the private sphere; “indifferent” neutrality – in which the State abstains from attrib-uting to religions and faiths any specific social role; and “pos-itive” or “favourable” neutrality, in which the state recognizes and actively supports the presence of religions and faiths in the public space);

d) the levels of permissiveness of the legislative framework in connection with the recognition of religious minorities and new religious movements – regime open to all religions and faiths or inclusive regime vs. selective or limited recognition re-gime; regimes with a single level or multiple levels of recognition;

e) the way religious education is handled – state with reli-gious confessional education vs. non-confessional, optional vs. mandatory, supported by the State or “privatized”, etc.

the most accessible criterion for categorizing church-state relations is by legal definition. thus, from the standpoint of leg-islation in effect in european states we can distinguish three ma-jor models:

1) regimes where there is clear separation of church and state, as in the case of france (except for alsace, Moselle, and the overseas territories), the Netherlands, Portugal, and ireland. as a

17 facultÉ De Droit et De ScieNce PolitiQue D’aiX-MarSeille, Religions, droit et sociétés dans l’Europe communautaire. actes du Xiiie colloque de l’institut de Droit et d’Histoire religieux (iDHr), aix-en-Provence, 19-20 mai 1999, Presses universitaires d’aix-Marseille, aix-en-Provence, 2000.

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rule, the States that embrace this type of relationship model do not offer direct financing to religious communities;

2) regimes with a prevailing or dominant church, as in the case of Denmark, finland, greece, Malta, great Britain, and un-til recently Norway and Sweden. in this case, one or more reli-gions have a special status, and are partially integrated in public administration;

3) regimes that recognize several religions (at one or sever-al levels) and, where applicable, are defined as regimes of coop-eration or partnerships between church and state. recognized religions enjoy a privileged status compared to those who do not have this status. the State recognizes the utility of church activities, supporting them financially directly or indirectly, and this is the case in Belgium, germany, italy, luxembourg, Spain, Poland, the czech republic, romania, Slovakia, etc.

The general regime of religions and faiths in every European State is a result of various historical developments, of social and de-mographic transformations, etc., and of changes that arose in public perception of the general religious phenomenon.

Thus, traditional or “historical” religions and faiths still enjoy a special status in most European States: the state “knows” them better institutionally and doctrinally, and as such has more instruments at hand to position itself in relation to them. These are religions and faith with which the modern state negotiated a relationship over a very long period, so that the successive understandings between these re-ligions and State institutions have shaped the legal formulas and in-stitutional practices of the church-state relationship up to the present time. Gradually the European States identified institutional recogni-tion formulas of an increasing number of religions and faiths, adapt-ing to increasing religious pluralism in the European sphere.

the influx of migrants from Muslim countries in the past few decades has led to significant changes in the religious con-figuration of some european countries, and has also influenced their culture and traditions. Due to a recrudescence of reli-gious extremist movements, especially Muslim-inspired, certain european countries have resorted to measures to curb some forms of manifestations and actions of Muslim communities that are going against the general rules of cohabitation in a demo-cratic society.

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Several examples will be offered below, including elements of church-state relations in a few european States. these are meant to help us better understand the european context of debates on issues that are increasingly being analysed also in the romanian public sphere.18

4.2. The particularity of church-state relations in Europe and the Romanian model

as some researchers of this phenomenon19, have observed, his-toric religions and faiths in europe have retained their advantage over newer faiths, with european States traditionally showing some reservations relating to the latter. only in the past two de-cades have these reservations started to be blotted out, with newer or newly-arrived religions or faiths in their territories be-ginning to be recognized by european States and legally assimi-lated alongside historic religions.

In Romania, the church-state relations, governed by the Romanian Constitution and Law no. 489/2006 on Freedom of Religion and the General Status of Religions, are based on cooperation and mul-tiple-level recognition. As in other European states, such as Austria, Belgium, Italy or Spain, where by tradition most of the population be-longs to one large confession (Catholic for the first, Orthodox in the case of Romania), relations between church and state are marked, in prac-tice, by the historic and legal tradition of the presence of a dominant church, but also by the existence of substantial religious minorities.

Choosing one model over another for relations between church and state in Europe has not always been linked directly to the level of reli-giosity manifested by the citizens of a country. Some countries with a low rate of participation in religious services (Nordic countries) have had, until recently, or still have a state church, while countries with a very high level of religiosity (such as Ireland) have opted to separate church and state. A country such as the Czech Republic, with one of the lowest rates of religi-osity in Europe, continues to support religions and faiths, and has devel-oped a multi-level system of recognition which is comparable in many

18 Main sources for the information presented above comes from: roBBerS, gerhard (ed.), États et Églises dans l’Union Européenne, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden, 2007, and the romanian embassies in european union countries.19 francesco Margiotta-Broglio, cesare MiraBelli, francesco oNiDa , Religioni e sistemi giuridici. Introduzione al diritto ecclesiastico comparato, il Mulino, Bologna, 2000.

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ways with those in Poland and Romania, where levels of religiosity are much higher.

The choice of one solution over another of state financing for church activities has likewise not been determined exclusively by the presence or absence of a confessional majority: the dominant church in a country like Ireland receives no direct financing; the Evangelical Church in Denmark, which is the state church, is financed through a church tax and funds allocated by the State, as is the Catholic Church in Italy and Spain.

Nor does the separation of church and state necessarily mean that there is no form of financing: in secular France chaplains in hospitals can be paid by the State. However, this does not happen in Belgium, which has a regimen for recognized religions. And finally, regardless of the type of church-state relationship, religions and faiths enjoy a varying number of tax exemptions.

In Romania, a country with a high level of religiosity, with an aver-age European rate of religious participation (but higher than the average for Orthodox countries), a regimen of positive neutrality was preferred, based on the cooperation between religions and the state, characterized by an elaborate combination of direct and indirect public financing for re-ligions and faiths. A portion of the direct financing is part of the “compen-sation” logic marking the relationship between the state and religions. Romania is not alone in this stance either.

In Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and other European countries, some direct financing offered to religions and faiths is explicitly presented as compensation to these for the confiscations of assets by public authorities in the past two centuries.

Different approaches were adopted by European States offer-ing direct financing: either in the form of a church tax, usually adminis-tered by the State and most often automatically retained from income tax (Germany, Italy, and Spain), or directly from the State or local budgets (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Romania, and Slovakia).

In most European States there exists a form of financing for plac-es of worship (constructions, maintenance, or repairs). Financing comes from either the central or local authorities, and can be global or limited to a certain type of place of worship (historical monuments or State-owned places of worship).

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On the other hand, due to a drop in the number of believers and in order to ensure the upkeep of some churches, in some European countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands, or Great Britain, the State or even certain religions or faiths have been resorting to the transformation of churches (including historical monuments) into li-braries, conference/exhibition centres, restaurants, gyms, or offices.

Unlike countries with consolidated systems of State coopera-tion with various types of religious communities, “a social partner-ship” between State and religions and faiths is still in development in Romania. Religions are recognized as “providers of social servic-es,” but the guarantees of the proper functioning and the inclusion of services organized by religions or faiths in the social services mar-ket and in the whole of the non-profit sector will depend directly on the way in which reforms in the areas of health and social assistance will evolve.

Finally, most European States recognize the need or at least the legitimacy of organizing some forms of religious education and/or education about the religious phenomenon. Even in countries where the State does not itself support a form of religious educa-tion in public schools, or even prohibits (such as France) the manifes-tation of any form of religiosity in the public education system, the State understands that it must find a solution which allows for the or-ganization of such religious education courses in the private sphere. Furthermore, as providers of private education services, confessional schools may benefit from State financial support in most European countries, even in countries where a strict separation of church and state is in place.

In this respect, the Romanian system follows the logic of the multi-level system of recognition of religions and faiths, offering con-fessional religious education courses as a part of the common core of subjects, with participation in these courses an individual elective.

Thus, one can see that from a legal standpoint the Romanian model of church-state relations greatly resembles in part the German and Belgiumn systems of cooperation, and on the other the church-state relations of post-communist countries. Below, we offer several examples of legislative elements and government practices from a variety of countries in the Euro-Atlantic region.

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How is religious freedom regulated in democratic countries?

Austria

church and State are separate, with guaranteed freedom of per-sonal faith (since 1781) and freedom to demonstrate in public spaces (since 1919). religions are autonomous, with a relation-ship of cooperation with the State in the area of religious edu-cation in schools, subsidization of certain social and charitable activities, or participation in public media programs.

Belgium

religious freedom and the regulation of religions and faiths are administered based on five fundamental constitutional prin-ciples: equality, non-discrimination, freedom of religions and faiths, freedom of citizens to express their opinions in all areas, and the autonomy of religions and faiths from the State

Bulgaria

the constitution of the republic of Bulgaria guarantees free-dom of religion and faith, stipulating that religious practice must be unrestricted and separate from the State; proclaims the in-violable right to freedom of conscience, belief, and the choice of religion and faith; freedom of association and expression are guaranteed; all citizens are equal before the law, regardless of faith or religion they belong to.

The Religious Denominations Act no.120/29.12.2002 stip-ulates the provisions and supplementary regulations concern-ing the rights to freedom of religion or faith guaranteed by the constitution. articles 5 and 6 protects freedom of religion and expression of religious faith. the exercise of religious expression in public is illegal for religious groups that are not registered.

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Canada

the preamble of Canada’s Constitution Act, 1982 (Charter of Rights and Freedoms) states that canada is founded upon prin-ciples that recognize the supremacy of god and the rule of law.

in principle, due to a lack of specific constitutional provisions in canada’s constitution concerning the separation of church and State, the Sovereign (Queen elizabeth ii), who is the guarantor and defender of the faith and the anglican church in canada, toler-ates all other religious communities, including atheists.

in practice, the totality of canadian legislation relating to re-ligious life consecrates the principle of State neutrality regarding religion. the canadian charter of rights and freedoms provides for the State to guarantee certain fundamental rights, with the first mentioned being the freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.

the principle of non-discrimination based on religion and faith is consecrated. the religious regulations in effect are based on the separation of church and State. all religions and faiths are free, autonomous, and equal before the public authorities, and are protected from any sort of involvement by the State in inter-nal issues.

Croatia

article 40 of the constitution of the republic of croatia guar-antees freedom of conscience, as well as freedom of public ex-pression of religious or other beliefs. the constitution of the republic of croatia (article 41) regulates the relationship be-tween the State and religions and faiths. there is a clear separa-tion of church and State, although the State has the obligation to support and protect religious communities, so that these can freely carry out their activities. the constitution gives religious communities the right to carry out public ceremonies, to finance and administer schools, colleges, institutes, and social and chari-table organizations according to the organic law that regulates these activities. all religious communities are guaranteed equal-ity before the law.

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the guarantee of religious freedom rights, as well as the re-lationship between the State and religious communities, set by the constitution, are detailed in the law on the Status and rights of religious communities (2002). the law defines both relations between the State and religious and faith communities, as well as direct relations between such communities, freedom of associa-tion, ways in which religious communities keep records and other aspects, such as their financing, their legal status, the financing of theological schools and colleges, religious education in State schools, the social rights of religious leaders and students who are enrolled in theological institutes, and the access of religious com-munities to means of public communication.

the condition set for this law to be applied to a religious community is that the respective community be registered in the religious community register. there are two exceptions in this law: the catholic church and the Serbian orthodox church, which have a special status, based on their historic tradition. the law defines the limits of action of religious communities as follows: the promotion of interconfessional hate speech and intolerance, public expression of faith must respect public order and moral-ity, safety, the life and health of any person, and must not trample on the rights and freedoms of other citizens. the catholic church-state relations are regulated by bilateral accords between croatia and the Holy See.

Estonia

the church-state relationship is defined in art. 40 of the constitu-tion, which stipulates that citizens enjoy freedom of conscience, religion, and belief. there is no State church, and all are free to practice their own religion, both privately and in public, except in the case where practices disturb the public order, health or mor-als. according to provisions in art. 130, religious freedom may not be restricted, even in periods of war

France

With the adoption of the Law on the Separation of the Churches and the State (1905), france became a secular State (according to art. 2, which states that „the republic does not recognize, pay, or subsidize any religious sect”).

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Secularism became a constitutional value with the passing of the 27 october 1946 constitution (art. 1: “france is a secular republic”), while art. 1 of the 1958 constitution, which was the ba-sis for the fifth republic states that “france shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social republic. it shall ensure the equal-ity of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion. it shall respect all beliefs”). there is a distinctive legal exception for the recognition of religion and faith for alsace and Moselle, as well as france’s overseas Departments and territories.

Germany

religious freedom is guaranteed. anyone may become a mem-ber of a religious community and may freely practice a religion or faith. this same freedom is guaranteed if someone wishes to change his/her religion or faith, to leave or switch their religious affiliation.

the State is the “protector of all citizens,” regardless of their religion or faith, and it does not have the right to identify either with a specific religion or a specific belief, but rather must be neu-tral and tolerant in relation to religious communities in order to organize religious instruction in schools and in other areas. article 4 of the constitution stipulates that the rules are equally valid for all religious communities, while other matters pertaining to reli-gious law are regulated by contracts between the State and reli-gious communities.

Greece

religious freedom and freedom of religious conscience are en-shrined in article 13 of the constitution, which regulates the invio-lability of religious freedom. the constitution is proclaimed in the name of the Holy trinity.

the prevailing religion is orthodox christianity. religions are free to publicly manifest their faith, while respecting public or-der and proper moral values. Proselytism is prohibited. offenses against the christian religion or other religions and faiths may be sanctioned.

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Hungary

the fundamental law (art. 6) recognizes the principle of free-dom of belief, conscience, and religion, including freedom of ex-pression of religious faith and the right to change one’s religion or faith, and it guarantees the principle of non-discrimination. this Hungarian law also separates church and State. “religious communities” are independent legal entities, and the State may cooperate with these (art. 7, para. 4). registered churches and religious organizations are defined as religious communities.

Based on Law no. CCVI/2011 on the right to freedom of conscience and religion and the legal Status of churches, Denominations, and religious communities, the number of rec-ognized religions and faiths dropped to 14, and over 300 reli-gious communities lost their legal status. in february 2012, as a result of international pressure, the Parliament raised the num-ber of recognized religions or faiths to 31. in february 2013, the constitutional court decided that the de-registration of recog-nized religions or faiths was unconstitutional.

following the constitutional court’s decision, the Hungarian Parliament modified Law no. CCVI/2011 and Hungary’s fundamental law, granting Parliament the explicit authority to select religious communities that may collaborate with the State in “activities of public interest.” Nine religious organizations who lost their status as a result of the legislative changes, reported the government to the european court for Human rights. on 28 June 2016, the european court for Human rights ruled in their favour, deciding that the Hungarian State must pay them dam-ages and restore their previous legal status.

Iceland

according to the constitution (art. 62) the lutheran evangelical church is the State church, with 80% of citizens being affiliat-ed therewith. this status assures it substantial support from the public authorities. over 25 other religious organizations are of-ficially registered, which gives them the possibility of obtaining financial assistance from public sources for their activities.

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the constitution (art. 65) confers equality of rights regard-less of belief, and religious freedom. there is specific legislation in iceland to prevent and combat blasphemy, although there have been very few convictions for this crime in the past few decades.

Italy

When the constitution went into effect (1 January 1948), which regulates the relationship of the State with various religious or-ganizations, italy recognized religious freedom, freedom of ex-pression, and consecrates the principle of religious and social non-discrimination. religions and faiths are free to organize ac-cording to their own statutes. the expression of religious faith is free, provided public morals are respected.

Latvia

freedom of thought, conscience, and religious freedom are sanc-tioned in the constitution and by law pertaining to religious or-ganizations (1996). freedom of expression may be restricted only to protect the rights of other persons, and the democratic govern-ment, to guarantee public safety, well-being, and public morality. the constitution stipulates that there is separation of church and State.

Lithuania

the constitution guarantees freedom of religion and faith. these must be carried out while respecting public order, health, and morality and other fundamental rights and freedoms. churches and religious organizations are free to organize and function ac-cording to their own rules and statutes. there is no State religion in lithuania. Public schools may offer religious education at the request of parents.

Luxembourg

the constitution (art. 19) guarantees the right to all persons to manifest religious opinions, as well as freedom of religion. the re-lations between the State and religions and faiths is regulated by agreements.

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Malta

the special, historical relationship between the State and the catholic church is consecrated by the constitution, which names catholicism as the State religion. Maltese legislation prohibits re-ligious discrimination and provides for freedom of conscience and religion.

The Netherlands

religious freedom is a fundamental right. it is forbidden to re-strain the rights of any person in the name of religious or tradi-tional values. the constitution prohibits religious discrimination, and it provides for freedom for all persons to manifest their re-ligious convictions, individually or as part of a community, pro-vided that the laws are respected. the constitution allows the government to limit the exercising of religious faith on the basis of probable cause, such as endangerment to health, traffic, or public safety.

from a legal standpoint, incitement to religious hatred in public discourse is considered a crime, and this is punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a fine. the National center for expertise against Discrimination monitors cases of discrimina-tion, including those that incite religious hatred.

the law allows employees to refuse to work on Sundays for religious reasons, but depending on the nature of the work employers may refuse to offer employees such facilities. the law does not require religious groups to register with the public authorities.

Norway

the constitution, national legislation, and governmental poli-cies guarantee and protect religious freedom. Norway’s consti-tution states that all inhabitants are free to choose and practice their religion or faith. the law regarding religious freedom and affiliation guarantees the respecting of the right of all persons to choose, practice, or change their religion or faith. any person residing in Norway over the age of 15 has the right to become a member of any religious community or to cease to belong

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thereto. Parents have the right to choose their child’s religion up to the age of 15, but they must consider the child’s opinion if (s)he is over 7 years of age, and especially if (s)he has turned 12.

the penal code provides for punishment when the right to religious freedom is violated, including a lack of respect for repre-sentatives of a religion, its members, or religious discrimination.

Poland

the constitution recognizes the national christian heritage. re-ligious communities in Poland are autonomous and carry out their activities in conformity with provisions based on freedom of conscience and religion in the constitution (art. 25, 48, and 53) and of the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religion - 1989).

this law states that religious and philosophical convictions are equal (art. 1, para. 3), that the State is neutral in matters of religion and faith (art. 10, para. 1), and explicitly rejects the prin-ciple of State sovereignty over religious organizations (art. 11).

Portugal

the constitution (art. 41) guarantees freedom of religion. reli-gious freedom and life, as well as relations between public au-thorities and religious organizations (equal) are regulated by Law no. 16/2001 on Religious Freedom.

the law on religious freedom (art. 58) provides for special rights and privileges for the catholic church in the area of religious ed-ucation, civil effects of religious weddings, decisions of catholic courts, recognition of entities established legally by the church, and fiscal exemptions stipulated in the concordat between the Vatican and Portugal in 1940.

Portugal and the Vatican agreed to a new concordat in 2004, which provides for a church tax, and for the continuation of the teaching of “catholic morality” in state schools by teachers appointed by the Bishop and paid for by the State. the State pro-vides funds for the building and maintenance of religious build-ings, especially historical buildings

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Slovakia

the constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the right of citizens to practice religion individually or in a group, even if the group is not registered. the separation of church and state is stipulated in the constitution. freedom of religion or faith may be restricted only to ensure public order, for health reasons, or to protect the freedoms of other people.

Spain

the constitution guarantees freedom of convictions, of reli-gion and faith, as well as the principle of non-discrimination be-tween religions or faiths, and the freedom to educate children according to one’s own religious convictions. there may not be an official religion because the State affirms its religious neu-trality (aconfesionalidad). the State cooperates with the catholic church and other faiths, and may establish cooperation agree-ments/conventions with religious organizations.

Sweden

the constitution guarantees freedom of expression, freedom to associate, and freedom of religion or faith. religious discrim-ination is prohibited. the registration of religious communities (defined as a group involved in religious activities) is regulated legally by the Act on Religious Communities (1998).

Switzerland

article 15 of the constitution of the Swiss confederation guar-antees freedom of conscience and faith, and the right of every person to choose and practice his/her religion or faith freely. ac-cording to art. 72, the cantons are free to determine their own regulations concerning relations with religious organizations, strictly respecting the principle of religious freedom.

the cantons must be impartial in their relations with all re-ligions or faiths. for well-grounded and legally pertinent rea-sons, cantons may provide religious communities a status of public law organization, similar to that of universities.

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United States of America

religious freedom is one of the founding principles of the united States, protected by the first amendment of the constitution and several federal laws. the uS constitution protects the right of ev-ery person to exercise and share a certain faith, to change religion, or not to have a religious belief. the principle also includes the right not to be discriminated against or persecuted for religious reasons.

according to the first amendment of the uS constitution of 1791, “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assembly, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, colour, sex, or national origin, also forbids discrimination based on religion. two other laws protect religious freedom: the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996, according to which arson or vandalism of churches, synagogues, mosques, or other places of religious worship, and violent interference with an individual’s lawful exercise or attempted exercise of the right of religious freedom are considered criminal acts; and the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act of 2000, which prohibits discrimination of local authorities towards places of worship and religious institutions.

What is the population’s level of religious affiliation?

Austria

in austria there are 24 recognized churches and religious societies, eight officially registered religious communities, and numerous religious associations. the main advantage for those who enjoy the status of recognized religious group is: the right to exclusivity

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(protection of name and exclusivity of religious service for their members), autonomous regulation and administration of their own activities, protection of institutions, foundations, and funds against secularization, the right to establish private confessional schools, to religious instruction in public schools, and to provide pastoral care in hospitals.

Belgium

Six religions and faiths are officially recognized: catholicism (since the formation of the Belgian State), orthodoxy (since 1985), Juda-ism (since 1808), anglicanism (since 1835), Protestant-evangelical (since 1876), and islam (since 1974). the catholics, orthodox, Jew-ish, and anglicans are organized at the territorial, communal level, while the Protestants-evangelicals and Muslims are organized at the territorial, provincial level and at the Brussels-capital regional level. as of 2002, the non-confessional philosophical organization was recognized in Belgium. Buddhism is not recognized in Bel-gium although the Buddhist union of Belgium operates as an as-sociation and receives public financing.

Bulgaria

according to the 2011 census, 59% of the 7.6 million inhabitants have declared themselves to be christian orthodox, 9.3% atheists, and 7.8% Muslims. other churches or religious societies, including Judaism, catholicism, armenian apostolic, and Protestant make up some 2% of the population, while 21.8% of inhabitants have not supplied information about their religious affiliation.

according to data available in 2015, 132 churches and re-ligious societies were registered, in addition to the Bulgarian orthodox church. Some religious communities are geographical-ly clustered: many Muslims, including turkish, roma, and Pomaks (descendants of Bulgarian Slavs who converted to islam during the ottoman rule. ethnic turks and Muslim roma also live in large numbers in the northeast of the country and along the Black Sea coast. More than half of the catholics are in the Plovdiv city re-gion. Most of the Jewish community lives in Sofia, ruse, and along the Black Sea coast. Protestants are dispersed throughout the en-tire country. the areas with the largest roma populations tend to have one of the largest percentages of Protestant believers.

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Czech Republic

there are 34 state-recognized religious organizations in the czech republic: twenty one churches and thriteen religious so-cieties.

Croatia

according to the 2011 census, 86.28% of residents are catholics, 4.44% are Serbian orthodox, 1.47% are Muslims, 0.34% are Prot-estants, and 3.81% are declared atheists.

Denmark

the Danish constitution states that lutheranism is the State re-ligion. over 80% of citizens belong to the evangelical lutheran church of Denmark or the folkekirke.

Estonia

according to the 2011 census, estonia has one of the lowest declared religious affiliations, at 29%, with 16.15% christian or-thodox, 9.91% lutheran, and 3.25% members of other church-es/religious societies.

Finland

according to the 2011 census, 72% of fins declare themselves as lutherans, 1.1% are christian orthodox, 1.6% belong to oth-er churches/religious societies, and 25% have no religious af-filiation.

there are two official churches in finland: the evangelical lutheran church and the orthodox church of finland. the oth-er churches/religious societies (islam, catholic, and Protestant) are free, with staff organized according to their own statutes.

France

france does not keep official statistics on religious affiliation of the population.

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Germany

according to data presented by the federal Ministry of the inte-rior, the catholic church has 24.7 million members (30.8% of the population), the evangelical church has 24.3 million members (30.3% of the population), and the orthodox church 1.5 million members, especially migrants or descendants thereof (greek, russian, Serbian, romanian, Bulgarian, georgian, and ukraini-an). germany has the third-largest Jewish community in europe, with 107,000 members. the german government believes it has a special duty to the Jewish community and rejects any tenden-cy to deny the Nationalist-Socialist crimes against the Jews.5this commitment is also reflected in the support of numerous initia-tives and organizations who are dedicated to the fostering of col-laboration between christians and Jews.

in the past decades there has been significant growth of the Muslim communities, as a result of the migration from Muslim countries (especially turkey). there are some 4 million Muslims in germany, making up 5% of the population, with almost half of these having german citizenship. the federal Ministry of the interior established the german conference on islam (Deutsche Islam Konferenz), which is the main framework for dialogue be-tween the german State and Muslims in germany. conference participants include the main Muslim organizations in germany. Sunnis make up 74% of Muslims in germany, followed by alevis with 13%, and the Shi’as with 7%.

Greece

Most of the population (about 95%) are members of the or-thodox church. the larger religious minorities are the Muslims, catholics, and Jews.

Hungary

according to the 2011 census, religious affiliation in Hungary is as follows: 37.1% of respondents stated that they are roman catholics, 11.6% are reformed christians, 2.2% are lutherans, 1.8% are greek catholic, and 1% are Jews. Some 16.7% have in-dicated they have no religious affiliation, while 27.2% chose not to answer the question.

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Italy

the main religious organization in italy is the catholic church, with the second-largest community being christian orthodox, with over 1,300,000 believers (romanians, ukrainians, Moldo-vans, greeks, Bulgarians, etc.), due mostly to massive migration from eastern europe.

islam is the third-largest religion after catholicism and orthodoxy, with most of them Sunnis, at 1.2 million. only 150,000 of these are italian citizens. the union of islamic organizations and communities in italy (ucoii) is the most important italian Muslim organization, uniting 122 associations and administering some 80 mosques and 300 places of worship.

the relationship between the State and the catholic church is regulated by a concordat signed in 1929, and revised in 1984, when the provision that catholicism was the State church was eliminated. the relationship between the State and other churches and religious societies (union of Seventh-Day adventist churches, the Baptist evangelical christian union of italy, assemblies of god in italy, union of italian Jewish communities, greek orthodox archdiocese of italy and exarchate of Southern europe, the church of Jesus christ of latter-day Saints in italy, the apostolic church, the italian Buddhist union, and the italian Hindu union) are regulated by way of bilateral understandings.

Lithuania

The Law on Religious Communities and Associations (1995) records a positive attitude of the State towards religions or faiths, and provides for a series of facilities for the nine traditional religions or faiths: recognition of marriage celebrated in church; exemp-tion from paying Vat; the possibility of receiving State financ-ing; the possibility of purchasing inner-city land; access to State mass-media; State support for faith-based primary and second-ary schools.

the following traditional churches/faiths are recognized: roman catholic, greek catholic, evangelical lutheran, reformed evangelical, russian orthodox, old Believers, Baptist, Judaism,

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Sunni Muslims, and Karaite Jews. other churches and reli-gious societies (considered non-traditional) are the Pentecostal church, the adventist church, the united Methodist church, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the church of Jesus christ of latter-day Saints, the armenian apostolic church, etc.

Latvia

the following traditional churches are recognized: the evangeli-cal lutheran church, the catholic church, the russian ortho-dox church, and the old orthodox church. other churches and religious societies, considered non-traditional, also operate in estonia, such as: Baptist churches of estonia, the union of evan-gelical christian churches, the Seventh-day adventists, the New generation church, the New apostolic church, the neo-Pagans (called Dievturi), Judaism, as well as some 15 islamic congrega-tions, most of which came from former uSSr states (tajikistan, turkmenistan, etc.). Some 18% of latvia’s population has no re-ligious affiliation.

Malta

Some 98% of the population is roman catholic. there are nu-merous roman catholic religious orders operating in Malta, in-cluding the Jesuits, the franciscans, the Dominicans, and the Benedictines. Most members of the local evangelical congrega-tions are not ethnic Maltese, but rather British pensioners who live in the country and occasionally tourists of other nationali-ties.

Malta’s religious organizations include: the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Jesus christ church of latter-Day Saints (Mormons), the Baptist church, the evangelical Brotherhood church, as well as anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, adventists, and other religious communities.

there is a single mosque and Muslim primary school. of the 3,000 Muslims in Malta, about 2,250 are foreigners, 600 are naturalized citizens, and some 150 are local Maltese. every June the country celebrates World refugee Day, and this is an occasion for christians, Protestants, and Muslims to organize prayers together.

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Norway

according to the National Statistics Bureau, 79% of the country’s population (some 5.08 million inhabitants in July 2015) belonged to the evangelical lutheran church. the other residents belong to different christian churches (313,000 registered members) and to Muslim communities (120,900 registered members). oth-er major christian churches are the roman catholics (about 120,000 members, whose rise is significant since 2010, when there were 57,000 registered roman catholic members) and the Pentecostal church (with some 39,400 registered mem-bers).

Muslims are concentrated in the oslo metropolitan re-gion but are also scattered around the country. there are 788 persons belonging to the Jewish congregations, with most members of the two official Jewish congregations in oslo and trondheim. orthodox christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus make up 5% of the country’s population.

Most of the religious groups outside the evangelical lutheran church are made up of migrants. Massive groups of Polish and filipino migrants contributed to the significant rise in the number of catholic residents. Migrants from Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Somalia, have led to a con-siderable increase in the Muslim population.

Poland

according to the National institute for Statistics Poland has some 125 churches and religious associations operating around the country: the catholic church (92.2%, or some 33.4 million members), the Polish autocephalous orthodox church (about 500,000 members), Jehovah’s Witnesses (130,000 members), the evangelical augsburg church, the Pentecostal church, the old catholic church, the Seventh-Day adventist church, the Baptist union of Poland, the Methodist church, the church of god, the evangelical reformed church, the catholic Mariavite church, the Jesus christ of latter-Day Saints church, the Pen-tecostal church, the union of Jewish communities, and the is-lamic religious union.

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Portugal

of the approximately 10 million inhabitants some 80% are af-filiated with the roman catholic church, and approximately 4% with various Protestant and evangelical churches. as migra-tion from eastern european States has risen, especially from ukraine, romania, and the republic of Moldova, there are now some 200,000 christian orthodox residents in Portugal.

More than 2% of the population have declared that they belong to a non-christian religion. less than 3% have indicated that they do not have any religious faith. there are some 50,000 Muslims in Portugal (mostly from the former Portuguese colonies in africa and Southern asia). likewise, there are Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, taoists, and Zoroastrians.

Slovakia

the State recognizes 18 churches and religious societies. the fol-lowing information was gathered as a result of the 2011 census: some 62% of Slovaks declare themselves to be roman catho-lics, 3.8% greek catholics, 8.9% Protestants, 0.9% christian or-thodox, 13.4% atheists, and 10.6% chose not to respond to this question.

it is estimated that the population includes some 0.1% Muslims. Prior to the Second World War there were about 90,000 Jews, representing 1.6% of the population, while now there are 2,300 Jews in Slovakia.

Spain

the State has signed accords with the catholic church (1976, 1979, and 1994), with the federation of evangelical religious en-tities, the federation of Jewish communities, and the union of islamic communities (1992).

in order that orthodox churches may benefit from an ac-cord with the Spanish State, public authorities are insisting that all orthodox churches operating in Spain form a single, federal entity, something which has not yet happened.

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Sweden

as of the year 2000, a series of reforms have been introduced to create a separation between the lutheran church and the State.

at present, the Swedish State may offer financial support (through government subsidies) to stable religious communities who contribute to the maintaining and consolidation of nation-al, fundamental values.

Switzerland

there are two national churches in Switzerland in all its cantons, the Swiss reformed church and the catholic church. in some cantons there is a third church, considered national, the old catholic church.

What are the criteria for obtaining the legal status of religious organization and what advantages do registered/recognized religious organizations enjoye?

Austria

churches and religious societies recognized by the State obtain the legal status of public law corporation, while the others func-tion as legal entities governed by private law.

the austrian State has been regulating its relationship with the catholic church through a concordat with the Holy See since 1933; with the Protestant church through laws dating back to 1867 and 1961; with the Muslim faith through laws from 1912 and 2015, and with the orthodox church by laws of 1967 and 2003.

Belgium

official recognition of a religious organization or a philosophical

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organization must be done legally and is a prerogative of the legislator. this is approved based on a request and requires that several criteria are met to demonstrate that the recognition of the respective religious organization fits the social needs of the population.

these criteria are: the existence of the religious organization or the philosophical organization on Belgian territory for several decades; the applicant must demonstrate that recognition of the religious organization is in the social interest of the population on Belgian territory; the number of believers must be sufficiently large (several tens of thousands of believers); the authorities must have a single interlocutor with the respective religious or philosophical organization; the respective organization may not carry out activities that violate public order. in some cases they may receive some subsidy to support this process.

in situations where the recognition of a religious or philosophical organization also has multi-level budgetary consequences coordination of the entities involved is required (commune, province, federal state). official recognition brings with it certain benefits: salaries of the religious organization (religious ministers) and of the delegates of the local communities recognized by the Ministry of Justice, and the payment of their retirement benefits by the federal public service; officially recognized churches/religious societies may request recognition from the region or the federal authorities, and may receive financing from local authorities; administrative structures that manage a religious organization have a public law status and manage both moveable and real estate properties needed to carry out the function of the respective religious organization; regions (through administrative councils or structures of the religious edifices) exercise control over accounting and civil operations; the religious or philosophical organization has the right to have a certain number of chaplains or counsellors in penitentiaries; may designate professors or integrate religion or faith in education; may receive subsidies from the authorities.

Bulgaria

according to the constitution, “eastern orthodox christianity is considered the traditional religion of the republic of Bulgaria,”

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and the orthodox church has a special status, exempted from having to register with State authorities, a procedure that is mandatory for all other religious organizations who wish to ob-tain a legal status and benefit from the advantages thereof.

Canada

there are certain forms of legal recognition of the specific char-acter of religious communities distinct from other types of pub-lic or private organizations, as well as some types of indirect support for religious communities.

Croatia

the criteria that religious communities must meet to be able to sign an accord with the government are:

- the respective community must have been active on croatian territory on 6 april 1941 and to have continued its ac-tivity with regularity and in conformity with the laws, and the number of believers must exceed 6,000, according to the latest population census;

-the religious community must be part of the european cul-tural patrimony (catholic church, orthodox church, evangelical church of croatia, reformed christian church of croatia, islamic communities of croatia, or Jewish communities of croatia).

according to family law, the State will also recognize the civil nature of religious marriages only of thos.

Czech Republic

religious organizations have two levels of legal recognition: the level of churches with “special rights” (the right to offer classes in schools, religious assistance in penitentiaries, the army, and hospitals, legal recognition of religious marriages, etc.), and reli-gious societies that do not have these rights.

for a religious organization to be recognized it must receive approval based on several criteria, including a number of 10,000 signatures of believers in the case of churches, and 300 signatures in the case of religious societies.

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Denmark

the overwhelming majority of places of worship belong to the evangelical lutheran church, which is the national church.

Public assistance for this church is considered a compen-satory measure for the secularization of church properties at two different times, namely in the 16th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. furthermore, the evangelical lutheran church is exempt from paying property and church building taxes.

Public subsidies also cover specific expenses for the maintenance and restoration of historic churches and monu-ments, of their endowments, and for the upkeep of cemeter-ies, etc., although the greater share of financing for places of worship comes from fees paid by believers, through the State collection system. Powers relating to the investment budget on buildings rests with local church councils.

the evangelical lutheran church is likewise respon-sible for the administration of most of the country’s public cemeteries, although there are also civil cemeteries in the larger cities. other religious communities may obtain ap-proval to establish cemeteries, as is the case for the Jewish, Muslim, catholic, and reformed communities (Law on Burials of 16/06/2010).

Finland

State church religious staff (lutheran and orthodox) is sala-ried by the finnish government. Both churches had extended powers in terms of civil registration until 2003. Due to budget cuts as a result of the merger of several parishes, the number of state-salaried religious staff positions has dropped.

the two State churches participate in official ceremonies (such as, National Day) and are customarily invited to public cer-emonies. the other religious organizations do not receive any remuneration from the finnish government, although they have been present on finnish territory for a long time.

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France

the separation of church and state, officially stated in the law of 1905, consecrates the worship/religious associations (asso-ciations cultuelles), private law entity as the legal form of or-ganization for religious communities. the law prohibits the financing of religious associations from public funds.

in addition to the general legal regimen of associations, religious associations must meet a series of specific obliga-tions: their single, exclusive objective being operating as a religious organization, and to obtain their own income from church taxes and donations, etc.

as of 1923, the religious units of the catholic church en-joy a special status, that of diocesan association, whose objec-tive is to support the catholic faith, under the authority of the Bishop, in communion with the Holy See, and in conformity with the constitution of the catholic church. religious associ-ations benefit from several fiscal advantages.

the status of catholic congregations is distinctive from that of religious associations; they enjoy the same fiscal ad-vantages, but are under the umbrella of the Prefect for each patrimonial operation.

Greece

art. 3 of the constitution stipulates that the prevailing religion in greece is orthodox christian (95% of greek citizens declare themselves as being orthodox). the organization of the or-thodox church in greece is regulated by law no. 590/1977, giv-ing it a public legal entity status. the Jewish community and the three Muslim Muftiates of thrace have the same status.

the status of other religious communities is different. these may opt for the newly created religious entity status – applicable to private entities representing religious com-munities – or as non-governmental organizations. the organi-zation of religious communities, other than orthodox, Muslim, or Jewish, is regulated by law no. 4301/2014. a community

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with at least five persons may apply for legal recognition as a religious community which comes in the form of a license from the greek State, according to the regulations in law no. 4301/2014.

two rabbis carry out activities in the Jewish community in greece, in athens and thessaloniki. churches, mosques, and synagogues are exempt from property taxes.

Hungary

in order to obtain registered church status, a religious organi-zation must apply to the Ministry of Human resources, which has 60 days to evaluate whether or not the respective organi-zation meets all the administrative criteria.

Based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Human resources, Parliament takes a vote (requiring a qualified two-thirds majority) on the registration application by the religious organization to obtain registered church/faith status. With that status, a religious organization may benefit from govern-ment assistance and fiscal advantages.

Italy

the relationship of the State and the catholic church is regu-lated by a concordat signed in 1929, and revised in 1984, when the clause establishing the catholicism as the State religion was eliminated. the concordat stipulates that the State and the catholic church are independent and sovereign, with a re-lationship of collaboration.

the State recognizes that the catholic church has full freedom as concerns its pastoral, educational, and charitable mission, guaranteeing catholic associations and organizations complete freedom of expression and reunion. the appointment of ecclesiastical functions by church authorities is unrestricted and with no intervention on the part of the government.

the catholic church has the right to establish schools of every grade, to provide students the equivalent education re-ceived in State schools. the concordat states (art. 9) that “the

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italian republic, recognizing the value of the religious culture and considering that the principles of the catholic church are part of the historical heritage of the italian people, shall contin-ue to assure, within the framework of the scope of the schools, the teaching of catholic religion in the public...,” specifying that “with respect for the freedom of conscience and education-al responsibility of the parents, everyone shall be granted the right to choose whether or not to receive religious instruction.”

Based on art. 8 of the constitution, the italian State ad-opted a series of bilateral understandings with other religious organizations. these religious organizations benefit from: the possibility of providing pastoral support in institutions (armed forces, hospitals, prisons); the recognition of diplomas issued by the institutions of theological studies of these organiza-tions, and the right to establish confessional schools of every grade; the right to recover goods belonging to the historic and cultural patrimony of each religion or faith; the civil recogni-tion of religious marriages; the freedom to carry out liturgical services; the recognition of religious holy days of each religion or faith.

the Muslim community is not part of the religious orga-nizations that have signed an agreement with the italian State, because it does not have a unitary organization, and has not held talks with the State in connection with article 8 of the constitution.

Luxembourg

the relationship between the State and religious organiza-tions is regulated according to an agreement signed on 26 January 2015. each religious community receives annual fi-nancial support from the State.

the agreement is part of a broader reform of church-state separation, seriously impacting the catholic church, which is luxembourg’s most important church.

the reform also removes the public servant status from priests, and transfers the responsibility of financing places of worship and clergy to local communities.

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Malta

religions or faiths recognized by the Maltese State enjoy a series of rights and have the possibility of owning buildings, having private schools, officiating weddings, and carrying out any other religious act.

the government does not require religious groups to be registered in order to carry out their activities; if they wish to register they must meet certain conditions: it must be a vol-untary non-profit, and autonomous union.

registration of religious associations has certain advan-tages: they may receive sponsorship, may access government funding or european grants, and may raise funds without the approval of the authorities.

The Netherlands

the government recognizes religious groups and offers them tax exemptions provided they fulfil certain criteria, including contributing to the general well-being of Dutch society, carry out non-profit activities, and refrain from any violence.

the government allocates funds to religious institu-tions that are engaged in educational and medical activities provided they meet government educational and medical standards.

Norway

the Norwegian church was the State church from 1537 to 2012, when there was a separation of church and state.

one of the most important reforms of the Norwegian church took place in the 20th century. Parochial councils were formed in 1920, Diocesan councils in 1933, the National church council in 1969, the Diocesan and general Synods in 1984, and a Doctrinal commission of the Norwegian church in 1989. as of 1989, the Diocesan councils were empowered to appoint parochial pastors, who were previous appointed by the King.

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as of 1 January 2017, the Norwegian church has its own administration, separate from public administration, and may appoint its staff and self-administer without the involvement of the government.

it is no longer mandatory for most of the members of the Norwegian government or the Minister coordinator of ecclesiastical affairs to be a member of the Norwegian church, but the constitution stipulates that this person be of the evangelical lutheran faith.

Since the administrative reform, the Norwegian church re-ceives public funds according to the regulations that apply to all active churches and religious societies in Norway.

Poland

the 15 most important religious organizations enjoy direct rec-ognition, based on separate laws and accords with the State. the other religious groups, that do not have a distinct legal status, are able to be included in a registry administered by the Ministry of interior and administration based on an application submit-ted by at least 100 persons.

Slovakia

following the amendment of respective legislation, as of 1 March 2017, the minimum threshold needed to officially register as a religious organization rose from 20,000 to 50,000 persons residing in the country’s territory.

Slovakia is presently the european state with one of the strictest registration policies for religious groups. legislative change to impose stricter conditions for registering religious groups has often been interpreted as a way of blocking the offi-cial registration of islam (and implicitly the possible financing of this faith from the State budget).).

Spain

any organized, social group may obtain recognition from the State, which guarantees freedom of religion and association.

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religious groups may choose not to register or establish themselves as a civil association included in the National general registry of associations (Ministry of the interior) or in the registry for religious entities (Ministry of Justice).20

Sweden

the State may provide financial support through govern-ment subsidies to stable religious communities that contribute to the support and consolidation of fundamental, national values.

Switzerland

What legally distinguishes the national Swiss churches from other churches/religious communities in Switzerland is their formal recognition in cantonal constitutions or through other cantonal laws. this recognition confers on them a legal person-ality, autonomy based on public law, and certain advantages, especially fiscal ones. National churches annually receive a cer-tain budget from the State, benefitting from taxes that are col-lected for them from persons who declare their adherence to the respective religious community.

religious communities belonging to other church-es or faiths (other than the national churches), including the romanian orthodox church, are organized as private entities, based on freedom of association. as is the case with any oth-er association, these must respect the rules included in the federal civil code, namely to have their own statutes and ad-ministrative and control forums.

there is no direct State control over associative activities in Switzerland, and no formal recognition is given to religious communities constituted as civil law associations. these com-munities do not benefit from facilities or financial assistance given to national Swiss churches. in some cantons, such as 20 conditions necessary for a religious organization that is already included in the registry of religious entities to obtain the status known as Notorio arraigo (“deeply rooted” or permanent) are: a presence in the country for at least 30 years since its inclusion in the registry of religious entities (or 15 years in rre and 60 years abroad), have accredited activities in at least 10 autonomous communities, have at least 100 places of worship, show that it has a leadership structure and it actively participated in Spanish society.

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fribourg, in addition to public law recognition, there is a form of private law recognition: religious communities recognized on the basis of private law receive a formal confirmation of their existence, but they continue to have a legal status of asso-ciation. there are significant differences in the legislation that regulate the ways in which religions or faiths are recognized in the 26 Swiss cantons.

one particular case is the Jewish community. although it does not have the status of national faith under public law, it is nevertheless formally recognized in several cantons, in-cluding Bern and Zürich, although it has not received the tax concessions enjoyed by national churches. as of 2009, when a paragraph was added to the federal constitution prohibiting the construction of minarets, a debate was initiated concern-ing the status that should be enjoyed by religious communi-ties who have settled in Switzerland more recently, such as the Muslims.

How are religious organizations financed?

Austria

the State does not directly finance churches/religious societ-ies and does not impose a church tax. the catholic and Prot-estant churches solicit the payment of contributions from their own congregants based on information obtained from the population information collection services where every citi-zen may declare his/her adherence to a religious organization. these congregants, based on their own declarations concern-ing income, contribute an amount not to exceed 1% of annual income, which may be exempted from taxation.

the other churches/religious societies are financed through donations. contributions and donations to churches/religious societies may be deducted from income tax.

religious organizations benefit from tax exemptions and breaks. religious organizations may receive national, regional,

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or local budget allocations for social, charitable, or cultural activ-ities, as they are undertaking a part of the State’s responsibilities.

in principle, the financially autonomous budget of all catholic Diocese in austria, is allocated as follows: 60% for staff and religious assistance, 30% for material expenses, and 10% for building maintenance. the financing of places of worship gen-erally comes from the own income of each religious organiza-tion, while public budget subsidies may be offered for historical monuments.

Belgium

the constitution stipulates that the State must pay the salaries and retirement benefits for the clergy (ministres des cultes) and of the delegates of non-confessional philosophical organiza-tions.

Decentralization specific to Belgium is reflected in the lev-el of financing provided to religious institutions. a federal level budget is foreseen for all recognized religious organizations, to which are added sources of financing from municipalities, prov-inces, and regions. as concerns public financing, some 80% of funds go to the catholic church. financing for building mainte-nance and repair comes from regions and communities.

in some cases, other States may support certain commu-nities on Belgian territory, such as the Muslim communities. as such, in 2014, 77 mosques were officially recognized by the pub-lic authorities, and only 70 imams (of a total of 300) received State budget remuneration.

Bulgaria

religious organizations use both their own funds and State sub-sidies on the basis of article 21 of the law on religions (2002).

the State supports the activities of religious organizations registered to provide religious and social assistance, and these are assimilated non-profit entities. Subsidies may be offered for the construction or restoration of places of worship. Donations and buildings used for religious activities are exempted from taxes.

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Canada

Neither the federal or Provincial governments provide direct fi-nancing to religious communities. there is a type of indirect fi-nancing. church properties are generally administered by private trusts or foundations.

Salaries for religious organization employees are paid from own funds, which are exempt from income tax. charitable dona-tions (including those to religious organizations) are exempt from taxes, and inheritances left to religious organizations are exempt from estate taxes. Places of worship are, likewise, exempt from communal taxes.

Czech Republic

as of 1 January 2013, law no. 428/2012 went into effect pertain-ing to the restitution of properties and the payment of financial compensation to churches and religious groups whose proper-ties were confiscated by the communist regime (after 1948, some 2,500 buildings, 175,000 hectares of forest, and 25,000 hectares of arable land were confiscated from churches, with most of the confiscated properties belonging to the roman catholic church).

according to law no. 428/2012, 17 registered churches and religious groups will have 56% of confiscated properties returned to them, especially land, forests, and lakes, worth approximately eur 3 billion.

as for the rest of the confiscated properties, now belonging to municipalities, regions, or private persons, which cannot be res-tituted, the State commits itself to pay in instalments, over a peri-od of 30 years, the sum of cZK 59 billion, with the amount indexed for inflation (amounting to an estimated total of eur 3.8 billion), progressively withdrawing direct financing of religious organiza-tion activities.

Estonia

the only financial support offered by the State to religious or-ganizations is an annual grant worth some eur 600,000 to the

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estonian council of churches21; the institution uses these funds for interreligious dialogue and projects, as well as for sociological research on religious life (carried out every 5 years). according to legal provisions, churches and religious associations are exempt from income tax. other non-profit associations, such as the Hu-manists, may apply to receive this exemption. Places of worship belonging to religious organizations are exempt from property tax, while non-profit, secular associations do not have this exemp-tion.

France

according to art. 2 of the 1905 law of Separation, churches/reli-gious associations may not receive any public subsidy, direct or indirect. churches/religious associations may receive private fi-nancing (dues, collections, remuneration for religious ceremonies and services, etc.).

Places of worship are exempt from tax and property tax on buildings if they belong to a religious association. churches that are historical monuments may receive subsidies from the State.

Hungary

registered religious organizations have access to state financ-ing and are exempt from financial operational control of religious activities. registered religious organizations and institutions as-sociated with these, who offer public services, such as medical, educational, or other social services, are automatically eligible for state subsidies for all public service activities.

religious organizations may take over or establish public service institutions and have the right to receive state subsidies to cover the salaries of paid staff. registered churches and reli-gious organizations receive subsidies from the state for the em-ployees of schools belonging to the churches/organizations. only 21 the main dialogue partner of the government is the estonian council of churches, a legal entity which includes the lutheran church of estonia, the orthodox church of estonia, the estonian orthodox church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the roman catholic church, the union of evangelical christians of the Baptist churches, the estonian conference of Seventh-Day adventists, the estonian Methodist church, the christian Pentecostal church of estonia, the armenian church, and the charismatic episcopal church of estonia..

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registered churches automatically receive a supplementary sub-sidy for operational expenses.

Hungarian taxpayers may allocate 1% of their income tax to a registered church or a religious organization. if the registered churches or religious organizations cease to function (such as through dissolution), and have no legal successor, their assets be-come the property of the State and must be utilized to finance public services.

Norway

although the 2012 administrative reform provided for a clear delimitation between church and state, staff of the Norwegian church are considered public servants.

the government allocates financial assistance to all regis-tered religious organizations, proportional to the number of offi-cially registered members.

Poland

there is an annual church fund worth some PlN 160 million (roughly eur 40 million) available to all religious organizations in Poland and used specially to cover the contributions of priests to the retirement and health care budgets.

religious organizations may request public subsidies as well as european funding for the modernization and renovation of churches and monuments, and the installation of heating sys-tems, etc.

Non-economic activities of churches and religious asso-ciations (donations, dues paid by members, funds collected for religious services, etc.) are exempt from tax. income from com-mercial activities are likewise not taxed if they are used (in the year in which they were obtained or the following year) for religious, educational, scientific, cultural, charitable, and conservation ac-tivities or repair and rehabilitation of churches, monuments, and religious objects, etc. imported objects to be used for charitable, educational, cultural, or scientific purposes are exempt from cus-toms taxes, etc.

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citizens may direct 6% of their total income to religious organizations, and this will not be taxed. religious organiza-tions do not pay tax on properties used for religious purposes. Such exemptions are also applicable to the residences of cler-gy, schools, boarding schools, etc. religious organizations do pay property taxes on real estate assets that are used commer-cially (agricultural land, forests, etc.).

Slovakia

the Ministry of culture subsidizes the activities of churches/re-ligious associations, but not those of religious groups with less than 50,000 members.

the recognized religious organizations get similar tax breaks as those applied by the Slovak State for non-profit or-ganizations. religious organizations have the right to subsidies for activities carried out in their own headquarters, as well as government grants, and a series of tax breaks.

Spain

By way of the annual tax return, every taxpayer must expressly show his/her willingness to contribute 0.7% of his/her income tax for various civil society entities, including religious and non-religious organizations.

there is a difference in the legal status between non-catholic denominations who have a cooperation agreement with the State – the federation of evangelical religious entities in Spain, the federation of israelite communities in Spain, and the islamic commission in Spain – and the others, who, al-though listed in the registry of religious entities do not ben-efit from any agreement.

only the former receive various forms of direct financ-ing. cooperation agreements signed in 1992 with the two federations and the islamic commission of Spain do not men-tion any form of direct economic assistance from the State.

the accord with the islamic commission of Spain pro-vides for the payment of certain religious assistance expenses

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of Muslims housed in certain public centres. this payment is made based on an agreement between the respective admin-istrative and religious authorities.

Sweden

the legislation based on which the government grants finan-cial assistance was adopted in 2000, and the institution that allocates the financial assistance is the Swedish agency for Support to faith communities.

the agency allocates financing from the Swedish State to religious communities for specific projects, selected annually by the government; offers general support to religious communi-ties in the form of counselling, training and administrative sup-port; coordinates the involvement of religious communities in the planning for emergency situations, and encourages cooper-ation between these communities and the public sector.

furthermore, the agency is a forum for discussions and dialogue on values, such as respect and tolerance, matters relating to religious freedom, and the role of religious com-munities in a democratic society. Because of its expertise in the area of religious communities, the agency is consulted in cases of legal proposals that affect religious life.

the agency allocates government funds mostly to lo-cal projects, selected in principle based on the number of members which religious communities have declared and the number of those participating in community activities.

allocations may also be in the form of spiritual assis-tance in hospitals (but not in penitentiaries, the police, the army, or the educational system) or smaller allocations for theological colleges and seminaries.

allocations are available to support reconstruction, purchase, and refurbishing of places of worship of the reli-gious communities. furthermore, smaller allocations may be offered to religious community students who do not have their own theological education in Sweden and must go abroad for this.

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How are religious and theological education legislated?

Austria

as of 1949, religion is a compulsory subject in public schools for all students who belong to a recognized religious orga-nization. courses are provided, organized, and authorized by each religious organization in part, and are financed by the State. for students who are not members of a religious orga-nization this subject is optional. any student who belongs to a religious organization may apply in writing to be excused from attending these courses (until age 14 the application is signed by the parents) in the first five days of every school year. for groups of 3 to 10 students a 1-hour course is orga-nized weekly, while two hours a week are reserved for 10 stu-dents. religion may be opted for as a Baccalaureate subject, if the student has attended these classes without interruption since 9th grade.

religious organizations who organized religion classes in public schools in the 2016-2017 school year were: catholics (607,112 students and 7,165 professors), Muslims (69,573 stu-dents and 578 professors), Protestants (40,500 students and 600 professors), orthodox (12,000 students and 100 profes-sors), evangelicals (1,667 students and 100 professors), alevites (1,300 students and 51 teachers) and Buddhists (235 students and 13 professors).

there are a variety of theological schools and depart-ments in austrian public universities that offer christian re-ligious studies (catholic, Protestant, evangelical, orthodox), islamic and Jewish. there are higher education schools for re-ligious education for the training of primary school religion teachers. Some religious organizations also have private theo-logical schools and universities.

Belgium

the State finances schools within the optional confessional educational network (catholic) and organizes courses for vari-ous officially recognized religious organizations in the public school system.

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Bulgaria

Public schools offer an optional religious education course, which includes historic, philosophical, and cultural aspects of the christian and Muslim religions.

Canada

there is no religious instruction in public schools. religious edu-cation is not part of the regular core subjects.

Because english and french are the official languages in canada, schools in the public network financed by provin-cial governments are run by the french School inspectorate, the english School inspectorate, and the catholic School inspectorate. the latter administer catholic schools, in the sense that a share of financing for religious education comes from Diocese or archdiocese in which they operate. it is here that canadian students may study religion free of charge.

there are numerous private schools, financed by educa-tional fees paid by parents, of which some are catholic schools, where religion is the main subject of study.

Croatia

religious education is optional in state primary and high schools, and is mostly carried out in collaboration with the catholic church.

Czech Republic

the State fully finances the salaries of staff employed in schools belonging to the churches, and provides partial financing for private schools (including confessional schools). it does not cov-er investments made by church schools or private confessional schools. furthermore, local authorities can support officially rec-ognized religious organizations.

in public schools, religious organizations offer option-al religious education courses. With the approval of their par-ents, students may opt for religious education of any confession,

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regardless of the declared religious affiliation. the respective course is organized when there are at least 7 students regis-tered. there is no alternative subject.

in schools belonging to the religious organizations, stu-dents may opt for the specific confessional education or a non-confessional ethics course. Private schools may choose to offer religious courses of any confession. religion teachers must be approved by both the State and the respective religious confes-sion. five schools of theology are integrated in public universi-ties. religious organizations have higher education institutions, but their degrees are not equivalent to university degrees.

Estonia

religious education is based on the respecting of freedom of re-ligion and conscience. religion teachers are paid from the State or local budgets. religious organizations have the right to estab-lish private educational institutions.

Greece

in most public schools in greece religion classes are confession-al, and the subject is mandatory for all orthodox students (those of another faith may be exempted by request).

the curriculum is set by the State, not by the church, and teachers must be graduates of one of the four theological schools in greece (two each in athens and thessaloniki).

the greek State finances two Muslim high schools and the salaries of some 240 Muslim professors who have the right to teach Koranic studies in public schools in thrace. furthermore, the State also pays the salaries of 14 catholic professors who teach catholicism, mostly on the islands of Syros and tinos.

Hungary

registered churches and religious organizations have the right to establish their own schools. the law allows churches and re-ligious organizations to run public schools on the basis of an agreement they have with the Ministry for Human resources.

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Italy

the catholic faith is taught in public schools. teachers must be recognized by the catholic ecclesiastical authorities and ap-pointed by competition by the school authorities. Students, whose parents provide a written request that their children not participate in religion classes, are not obliged to attend, and may participate in alternative educational activities. Specific religious education of other religious organizations in italy is carried out mostly in their places of worship or in specially organized spaces

Latvia

religious education may be organized in schools if there are at least 10 students who wish to study the christian religion (one of the following denominations: evangelical lutheran, roman catholic, orthodox, or Baptist), on the basis of study programs approved by the Ministry of education and Science. religious education is financed by the State.

Luxembourg

as of 2018, religious classes in public schools have been replaced by “values education classes”.

Malta

Since over 98% of the population is affiliated with the catholic church, religious education is structured based on the confes-sional model, through study programs established by the Minis-try of education and the catholic archdiocese, and financed by the public authorities.

Norway

the Norwegian school curriculum for grades 1-10 includes chris-tian education classes and religious and ethical information. the course is mandatory and there is no exception for children of other religious or non-religious groups. as part of these courses they learn about the religions of the world and aspects of doc-trine and practices of different religious organizations, with the

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principal objective the promoting of tolerance and respect for other religions and faiths

Poland

the Ministry of education covers the costs for religious edu-cation in schools, with the number of religion teachers being some 24,000. Higher education religious institutions are spon-sored by the State budget.

the status of religious education courses in public schools is regulated by the constitution, the concordat between the Holy See and Poland (1993), the law on the education System (1991), the Ministry of National education regulation on con-ditions and methods to carry out religious classes in public schools (1992), and by an agreement concluded between the Ministry of National education and the conference of Polish Bishops on the qualification of religious education teachers (2000).

religious education classes (2 hours a week) are optional, but they become mandatory when requested by the parents of the students or the students themselves. grades are includ-ed in school records and count towards their final grade point average.

religious education teachers must have a degree in the-ology and be accredited educators; they must be delegated by the Bishop and recognized by the educational authorities, with their qualifications determined by an agreement between the Ministry of National education and the conference of Polish Bishops. analytical programs and manuals are submitted for approval to the church: at the national level by the President of the commission of catholic education of the conference of Polish Bishops, and at lower levels by the Bishop.

Private catholic schools may benefit from partial support from local authority budgets for employed educational staff. only in exceptional cases can the salaries of religious school teachers be fully supported by local authorities. there are con-fessional schools of theology at public universities, and a series of private theological universities and confessional universities.

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Slovakia

the Slovak State negotiated and signed two agreements in the 1990-2000 period with the catholic church on the way catho-lic schools would function, on the introduction of the catholic faith as an educational subject, and the employment of catholic priests as military chaplains.

Similar agreements were signed with 11 of the other 17 re-ligious organizations. all State elementary schools include man-datory religion or ethics courses, subject to parental preference.

Spain

at the beginning of the school year, parents and guardians of students may opt for their children to participate in religious studies in public schools.

What is the status of religious staff?

Belgium

the Ministry of Justice remunerates some 3,300 clerics (of which some 2,900 catholic clerics), about 330 delegates of the central council of non-religious philosophical organizations, as well as a number of chaplains. the local authorities offer housing or a stipend for rent from the federal budget for those serving reli-gious organizations as employees.22

Czech Republic

Law no. 428/2012 has led to a change in the religious organiza-tion financing system, which previously fully covered the sal-aries of clerics by the State. the law provides for the State to continue making a financial contribution to support the activi-ties of the 17 legally recognized religious organizations for a 17-year transition period. until 2015 (inclusive), the State continued 22 religious staff belonging to the Muslim faith and the orthodox church enjoy the same rights, but the financing is provincial rather than municipal.

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to pay the full salaries of religious staff and cover the administra-tive operational costs of religious organizations. the total contri-bution of the State is set at the amount for the year 2012, or eur 56,376,745. as of 2016, this amount dropped by 5% annually. at the end of these 17 years, the religious organizations will fully as-sume the financing of their activities. Salaries for chaplains hired by the army and in hospitals are paid in full by the State, while those serving penitentiaries are only partially covered by State funds.

France

the law of 1905 eliminated the payment of salaries of priests by the State. clerics whose functions are exclusively pastoral are not considered public authority employees. the relationship be-tween the priest and the religious authority is not subject to the labour law.

Greece

the greek State pays all salaries for priests and bishops of the orthodox church of greece and crete, as well as the salaries of three muftis.

Hungary

Prisoners are generally allowed to practice their religious faith in penitentiaries, and to have access to special foods (i.e. ko-sher). all registered churches and religious groups must re-quest permission to offer pastoral services in prisons.

Poland

the State budget covers the costs of military diocese of different religions and faiths in the armed forces. the police has 16 chap-lains, whose salaries, and those chaplains servings in hospitals (usually part-time staff) are paid from the State budget.

Slovakia

registered religions may receive State subsidies to pay the sala-ries of their own staff. the State has committed to pay the salaries

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of all chaplains belonging to officially recognized religions, regardless of where they carry out their activities. registered churches automatically receive permission to offer pastoral services in hospitals, while religious organizations must seek permission to carry out such activities

Spain

the 2398/1977 royal Decree regarding social security for clergy states that catholic religious staff is a beneficiary of the general Scheme for Social Security. a circular dated 11 January 1978, concerning the application of the aforemen-tioned Decree, states that this is intended for clerics who carry out pastoral activities under the aegis of the catholic Diocese, who will receive the necessary support for such ser-vices.

What is the status of places of worship in democratic countries?

one of the direct consequences of the international and eu-ropean principle of freedom of religion (art. 18 of the uni-versal Declaration of Human rights, art. 9 of the european convention on Human rights, and art. 10 of the eu charter of fundamental rights) is the right to practice a religion, in-cluded in almost all european State constitutions.

on the other hand, various models of relationships be-tween the State and religious organizations determine the different regulations and practices as concerns houses of worship.

generally, material support offered by the State is justi-fied as follows:

a) a State obligation, most often assumed at the constitu-tional level to guarantee citizens the freedom of religion, with an emphasis on the positive aspect (creation of conditions) and a community dimension (public manifestation) of this right;

b) secularization in the past by the State of a small or large portion of church properties. Subsidies offered at

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present by the State are equivalent to compensation for past expropriations;

c) the responsibility taken on by the State at the time of the nationalization of a church/religious building for its main-tenance, regardless of the current use (religious or secular) of the respective building;

d) recognition of the cultural and social role of religious organizations;

e) general responsibility of the State to protect, preserve, and promote the national heritage.

Support and protection provided to places of worship is apparent from both direct and indirect public authority financing.

Direct financing involves support for construction, res-toration, maintenance, and administration of places of wor-ship, as well as payment of salaries for religious staff.

indirect financing includes facilities and tax/fee breaks or exemptions by the State (such as on profit or property tax, the possibility of exempting donations to religious organiza-tions from the income tax of the donors, etc.). one form of State support can also be an offer of the use of (through con-cession/rental) or of the gifting of land needed for the con-struction of a place of worship (see the case of france).

it can also be seen that the State, religiously neutral, guarantees the right of religious organizations to build plac-es of worship, consecrate and “desacralize” these, and ad-minister them according to internal rules.

However, due to the public character of places of wor-ship, the edification and functioning thereof usually comes under the laws regulating construction and urban planning, all the while maintaining their distinctive characteristics.

Due to their cultural importance and the ranking of many places of worship in europe as historical monuments, modifications to religious edifices that are classified in this way may only be carried out with the approval of both par-ties (the respective religion and State).

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What is the status of places of worship in the different states of the European Union?23

Austria

according to legislation on urban planning and construction, recognized religious organizations have the right to build plac-es of worship. the regional urban planning right falls to the lands, while urban planning in local areas is the prerogative of municipalities. there is a preoccupation with the positioning of places of worship in the centre of the perimeter area with be-lievers, based on the model of local administrative buildings. a special case that directly involves the building of a Muslim place of worship is the approval in february 2008 by the gov-ernment of carinthia land of an amendment to the construc-tion law, according to which the raising of any building which differs architecturally or by size must be approved by a special commission, established by the land government, to ensure that community aesthetics are preserved.

Belgium

the 1836 Provincial law (art. 255, para. 9) states that places of worship of recognized religions on municipal territory must be maintained by the municipality, which also covers the costs of upkeep (heating, lighting, cleaning, maintenance, liturgical furnishing, etc.). this Provincial law also provides similar pro-visions for cathedrals, diocesan seminaries, and residences of bishops, with expenses covered by the provinces. the situation that is specific to Belgium is that since the 1801 concordat res-tituted places of worship belong to municipalities (churches) or provinces (cathedrals). churches built after 1801 belong either to the municipalities, or to the so-called fabriques d’église24, 23 See especially françoise curtit, „Sélection de dispositions nationales concernant les édifices du culte”, in vol. M. floreS-loNJou and f. MeSSNer (eds.), Les lieux de culte en France et en Europe. Statuts, Pratiques, Fonctions, Peeters, leuven, 2007, pp. 269-286.24 Parish priests are responsible for the spiritual administration of a roman catholic parish, while its material administration is handled by a fabrique d’église (a body tasked to administer the assets of the parish). the latter are made up of clerics and lay persons, with a chairman, Secretary, treasurer, and several members of the parish depending on the importance of the communities.

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with a semi-public status. the law states that the local authori-ties will cover the annual budget deficit registered by these es-tablishments.

recognized religions may request State subsidies for the construction or renovation of buildings belonging to them, and especially for the conservation and restoration of histor-ical buildings. the responsibility for this is shared by the re-gional governments, the linguistic communities (responsible in Belgium for cultural projects) and, to a lesser degree, the lo-cal councils. of no lesser importance is the fact that important religious sites receive material assistance also from the authori-ties responsible for promoting tourism in Belgium. a series of tax advantages are granted to recognized religions, including exemption from taxes on property (or parts of buildings) used for religious services.

France

the status of places of worship is defined in the 1905 law of Separation (applicable throughout france, except for alsace and Moselle). the common law is applicable for places of wor-ship built after 1905 in terms of construction, urban planning, public order, etc. the overwhelming number of places of wor-ship are roman catholic, and belong to the State following sev-eral waves of nationalization that took place at the end of the 18th century. there are some 32,000, and they are made avail-able to the roman catholic church free of charge. the State, departments, and municipalities also cover their upkeep and repairs (art. 13).

financing can be either central, through the Ministry of culture, or local. a law of 25 December 1942 states that any re-ligious association may receive public subsidies for repairs of places of worship, even if these are not historical buildings (art. 2). While the State no longer directly finances the construction of new places of worship since the law of 1905, it may offer land for construction at a pittance (i.e. eur 1). the law also pro-vides for the desacralization of places of worship under cer-tain conditions (art. 13), but the procedure is very tedious, even when a building has not been used for a very long time.

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Germany

Most places of worship belong to religious communities, but there are some cases where they belong to the State. their up-keep is generally financed by the State through a church tax, State, land, and municipal subsidies (different from those for the upkeep of historical monuments), and through donations from the members of the respective church. there are cases where the lands or municipalities participate directly in the upkeep of cer-tain churches, as a result of the secularization of church assets (at the beginning of the 19th century).

Greece

the Ministry of National education and religious affairs issues permits to “known religions” that allow ownership of places of worship. a separate permit is necessary for each place of worship, but a religious group with at least one valid permit is considered a known religion, and is protected under the law for religious freedom. Some religious groups, such as the Scientologists, the followers of Hare Krishna, or greek polytheistic religious groups, have applied for such permits, but their requests have been re-fused.

two cases judged by the european court for Human rights are relevant. in the 1996 case of Manoussakis and others v. greece, the plaintiff contested greek law 1363/1938, which states that the construction of any place of worship by any religion or faith requires the authorization of the Ministry and local recognized ecclesiastical authorities. ecHr sanctioned the Ministry’s discre-tionary powers in the exercise of religious freedom.

in Vergos v. greece, ecHr ruled in 2004 in the case of a mem-ber of the “true orthodox christians” (old church) who applied in 1991 for a permit to build a prayer-house on a piece of land he owned in a village near florina, in northern greece. the local au-thorities refused to grant him a permit, claiming that, according to urban planning (in effect since 1923), the respective area is res-idential. the decision was appealed in court, and the case was fi-nalized in 2000, when the State council rejected the last appeal. ecHr justified its decision to sustain the decision reached by the

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greek court by stating that while there was infringement of the plaintiff’s right to exercise his religious faith, the infringement was made in the interest of the public (to maintain reasonable ur-ban planning). the court further noted that the plaintiff was the single member of his religious community residing in the general area of the respective locality, while a prayer-house suited for the needs was close by.

Italy

the local authorities may provide financial subsidies for the con-struction of places of worship. there is a national fund for places of worship, administered by an office of the Ministry of the in-terior, which is responsible for the upkeep of over 700 heritage buildings, confiscated from the roman catholics by the italian State throughout the 19th century. all these buildings are today being used by the church. Places of worship are exempted from taxes. in the case of the roman catholic church and other rec-ognized religions that have agreements with the italian State, the building of a place of worship does not require any special approval.

the other religious organizations must apply to the Ministry of the interior to demonstrate that the respective con-struction is necessary based on the significant number of be-lievers in the area, and that these have the necessary means to cover the costs of maintaining such a building. in general, pri-or to the building of a place of worship in a certain region, the local roman catholic church authorities must be consulted beforehand.

as concerns the status of places of worship, the italian civil code states that buildings intended for catholic public worship, even those belonging to specific private individuals, may not be removed from their intended purpose, even if this has been made redundant, as long as the purpose itself has not ceased to exist. other provisions concerning the need for the building of new places of worship, as well as the occupation, requisition, expropriation or demolition of places of worship, and the pos-sibility of public authorities entering into a place of worship are stipulated in agreements between the italian State and the Holy See and other recognized religions.

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Spain

legislation provides for the right of churches, denominations, and religious communities to establish places of worship. the local ad-ministration establishes specific rules pertaining to religious free-dom and to the need to integrate places of worship in the public space.

Places of worship are defined as building that have a perma-nent purpose for collective religious worship, according to condi-tions set out by law. conditions for establishing places of worship are:

� places of worship must respect the legislation of autono-mous communities and the norms of city halls regarding the envi-ronment, the technical construction code (access of persons, fire protection, hygiene and sanitary requirements, as well as other specific norms);

� as concerns space, the norms stipulate that there must be 1 sqm of space per person.

the local administration indiscriminately determines loca-tions and incompatibilities of places of worship in municipal space based on urban plans. to build a new place of worship, churches or religious communities must establish their legal entity based on a certificate issued by the registry of religious entities which stipulates the place where this is due to be built. obtaining this certificate does not exclude obtaining an urban planning license.

according to the Spanish constitution, the right of churches or religious communities to establish places of worship is guaran-teed, but they must respect the legislation of autonomous com-munities and the norms of city halls regarding the environment, and the technical building code.

Provided all these conditions are met, no further permits are necessary, but rather only a notice to the city halls that it has been included in the registry of religious entities with the location of the religion’s place of worship. Places of worship are recognized as a social utility, protected by law. as such they are exempt-ed from taxes and receive public subsidies for construction and maintenance.

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United Kingdom

although there are significant differences in the regulations per-taining to church and state in the four countries of the Kingdom – england, Scotland, Wales, and Northern ireland – there are a series of general principles. Places of worship mostly belong to the religion or faith which is also responsible for their mainte-nance.

the norms according to which places of worship of the church of england are administered are an integral part of the public law system, while those governing places of worship of other religions and faiths are part of private law. the single ex-ception is the State providing direct assistance to religions and faiths for the fitting out of places of worship. religions and faiths enjoy a very advantageous tax regimen, like that applied to pub-lic utility civil society organizations.

the church of england, which is the established church, has legal recognition through the central church structures; in the case of other religions and faiths each community must ap-ply for legal recognition of buildings used as places of worship in conformity with the Places of Worship Registration Act of 1855. following this recognition, the community may submit another application for marriages to be officiated in the respective place of worship, whose value becomes both civil and religious. this recognition carries with it a series of tax benefits, especially ex-emption from property and commercial tax.

a reducant churches fund was established in 1969, which receives funds from the State budget and is used for the main-tenance and renovation of churches that are no longer used to-day for religious activities of the religions and faiths. Places of worship in use may also receive certain subsidies for upkeep and restoration, but funds may not exceed 10% of the total val-ue of the costs. another fund that can be accessed by religions or faiths for upkeep of places of worship is made available by the National lottery. a line of financing existed until april 2017 which was intended exclusively for such buildings, known as the grants for Places of Worship Scheme, and after that date these have been included in a larger category of objects of historical value, or Heritage fund.

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a construction permit for a new place of worship is issued in the united Kingdom by the local council. this takes into con-sideration not only technical criteria but also opportunity of the project. at the end of october 2015, there was wide media cov-erage of the British government’s decision to support a deci-sion by the local council of Newman (east london) not to issue a permit for construction of what was to be the country’s largest mosque (able to hold some 10,000 people). the decision of the council was taken in December 2012, arguing that the respec-tive project was not an optimal urban development option on this land (belonging to a former factory, but owned since 1996 by the Muslim community), with preference given to a mixed residential-commercial project, which would provide more jobs and housing. other arguments against this project were the lack of attention for transportation to the area and the risk of it be-coming an Muslim community enclave and ghetto. the promot-ers of the campaign against the project stressed repeatedly that they have nothing against the building of a mosque but are sim-ply concerned about the dimensions of such a complex. the project’s size was another reason this drew the attention of the British government.

Places of Worship in Europe: an overview

recent debates in europe about the construction and financing of places of worship have come up in the context of a rise in re-ligious pluralism, especially relating to the Muslim communities.

as part of discussions generated by a construction project of a mosque, for instance, one can identify a model which is val-id in most cases, and in the following way:

1) With numbers rising, and a foothold in the host society the Muslim community is usually ethnically delimited, and ac-quires (or receives for use) a parcel of land for which it requests an authorization to build a mosque, or, in larger cities, an islamic centre.

2) opposition to the project is initially something local, among the inhabitants in the area. oftentimes, the discontent is

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expressed by public petition. local opposition is speculated and amplified by one or several of the political parties, especially by those already known to promote a strong anti-immigration line.

3) arguments most often invoked are: a) architectural/aesthetic: a mosque cannot be integrat-

ed into the architectural economy of the area, and its appear-ance thus constitutes a violation of the targeted area. this is more of a contestation of form (especially the presence of mina-rets or a dome with a sickle) and the size of the construction it-self. often, this argument is based on another, secular argument, which translates to aversion to any sign of the presence of reli-gion in public life;

b) cultural argument: the presence of the mosque is considered inopportune, due to the long-time or more recent historic experience of the respective country/region;

c) Demographic argument: the appearance of a mosque considerably raises the number of Muslims who live in or will fre-quent the respective area;

d)Property argument: local infrastructure (parking lots, parks, other public spaces) will suffer and/or will be overrun. as such, the value of homes will drop significantly, possibly leading to a risk of the neighbourhood turning into a ghetto;

e) Diplomatic argument: this comes up when necessary funds come from governments, associations, or private individu-als from other countries;

f) reciprocity argument: the impossibility (or significant difficulty) for non-Muslim religions or faiths to build places of worship in majority Muslim states should lead to a similar atti-tude towards Muslims in european States;

g) Security argument: a stronger Muslim presence in the area could represent a factor in the rise of the level of infractions, and the risk of radicalization. this argument is especially strong when the complex includes a mosque and a Muslim educational centre.

4) the public debate takes place in parallel with the admin-istrative process. it is possible that this process includes changes, sometimes quite significant, of the original project (elimination or reduction in size of the minarets, reduction in the visibility of specifically Muslim architectural features, reduction in the size of the entire complex). if this meets with the refusal of the au-thorities to issue a construction permit the case can end up in court (decision of the authorities attacked through the court

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system.) less frequently the case may end up attracting the at-tention of the government (recent case in the united Kingdom) or may lead to the organization of a referendum (a single case in Switzerland, in 2009).

5) even when there is openness on the part of the State authorities for the construction of a mosque, dissension may arise among the various Muslim communities (of an ethnic or re-ligious nature), which may effectively block the construction of the place of worship.

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Publicly Debated Issues

5.1. Why and how does the Romanian state support religions and religious organizations financially?

all romanian political regimes, since the establishment of the modern state, have stipulated some form of financial support for the activities of religions.

this was felt to be especially important after the seculariza-tion of church assets, when the orthodox church was left with-out any financial means to support its activities. the romanian State undertook to partially compensate it for losses suffered by covering the costs of some of the activities of religions. the main principle guiding the State in its support of activities of religions continued, and was expanded throughout the following centu-ry and a half.

the current situation, where there is partial State sup-port of the activities of religions, is driven on the one hand by the romanian legal tradition and on the other by current social needs and existing european models. thus, according to provi-sions of the 1991 constitution, changed and amended in 2003, and Law no. 489/2006 on Freedom of Religion and the General Status of Religions, the romanian state guarantees the respect-ing of the autonomy of religions and accepts the need to co-operate with the various religions25 recognizing their spiritual, educational, socio-charitable, cultural, and social partnership roles, and their status as social peace-makers. 25 religions shall be free and organized in accordance with their own statutes, under the terms laid down by law (...) they shall be autonomous from the State and shall enjoy support from it...,” romanian constitution, art. 29, points 3 and 5.

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religions are equal before the law, and neither the pub-lic authorities nor the State promotes or favours privileges or discrimination against any religion, making the romanian state neutral from a religious point of view.26

respecting the principle of religious neutrality and of equality of religions before the law, the romanian state sup-ports religions in proportion to the number of their believers. considering the particularity of religions and their different needs, Law no. 489/2006 stipulates that financing depends not only on the number of their believers but also on the real needs of these faiths, estimated annually in collaboration with them.

Table 9. Definitive budget appropriations (in current prices) allocated by the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs, 2010-2018

Year Total amounts

allocated in RON Percentage of

the State budget Percentage

of GDP

2010 325,925,000 0.31 0.061

2011 326,440,000 0.30 0.058

2012 318,324,000 0.30 0.053

2013 350,556,000 0.31 0.054

2014 434,845,000 0.37 0.065

2015 472,909,000 0.37 0.066

2016 487,137,000 0.37 0.063

2017 575,180,900 0.39 0.069

2018 823,979,000 0.47 0.087

of the total budget of the State Secretariat for religious affairs for 2018, 0.50% was allocated to financially support the institution, 73.12% was used to cover salaries for religious and non-religious staff in the country and abroad, 26.32% was used for repairs and construction of places of worship, and 0.06% was allocated for other activities.

26 “there is no state religion in romania; the state is neutral towards any religious faith or atheistic ideology,” Law no. 489/2006, art. 9, point (1).

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according to legal principles and provisions mentioned, and based on availability, the romanian State provides contri-butions worth roN 588,746,441 for the salaries of 16,656 em-ployees of religions (priests, pastors, imams, rabbis, deacons, etc., and management staff).27

Graph 1.Total budget of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs in 2018

Due to the fact that support for salaries is provided based on the principle of proportionality, each religion receives an amount that is directly proportional to the number of believers in accordance with the latest census.

as such, for example, in 2018, romanian orthodox church staff received roN 485,205,171 or 82.41% of the total, while the greek catholic church was allocated roN 20,621,435, or 3.50% of the total amount.

27 although all 18 recognized religions may request assistance for the salaries of their clerical staff, the Baptist church, the Seventh-Day adventist church, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not request financial assistance.

0.50%0.06%

26.32%

73.12%

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Table 10. Distribution of funds for salaries, by religions in 2018 28

Religious Affiliation Amount (RON) Percentage

Romanian Orthodox 485,205,171 82.41

Reformed 28,623,827 4.86

Roman Catholic 29,306,831 4.97

Greek-Catholic 20,621,435 3.50

Pentecostal 6,814,184 1.15

Unitarian 4,380,054 0.74

Old-Rite 2,539,249 0.43

Christians of the Gospel 2,251,303 0.42

Islam 2,153,510 0.36

Evangelical Lutheran Church 1,933,995 0.32

Evangelical C.A. 1,828,455 0.31

Serbian Orthodox Bishopric 1,487,043 0.26

Evangelical 285,660 0.05

Armenian 680,495 0.12

Judaism 635,229 0.10

Total 588,746,441 100

as can be seen in the table above, based on the propor-tion of believers reported in the census of 2011, namely 86.45% orthodox, 4.62% roman catholic, 3.19% reformed, 1.92% Pentecostal, 0.8% greek catholic, etc., the level of funds allocat-ed to several religions is comparatively higher than their share of the population (reformed, greek catholic, unitarian, etc.), while the level for others (orthodox and Pentecostal) is lower than their share of the population.

this differentiated distribution of funds is an expression of the State Secretariat for religious affairs practicing a positive discrimination policy for religions with a small number of mem-bers. in 2018, the total amount of funds allocated for salaries of religious staff was RON 588,746,441, and based on Framework Law no. 153/2017 regarding salaries paid for staff of religions from public funds, the salaries for religious staff are equivalent to those of pre-university state education academic staff.

28 a comparative situation for the 2010-2018 period is shown in annex 2.

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the main religious management positions (heads of reli-gions up to the rank of assistant Bishop) are considered equiva-lent to public dignitary positions, and they (92) receive a fixed monthly stipend, depending on their rank, of between RON 13,050 and RON 16,675. the state’s contribution to the salaries of religious staff (15,272 positions)29 is partial, covering 65% of the quantum of salaries for most positions (11,321 positions), and 80% for units with low income (3,951 positions or 30% of the to-tal thereof). as can be seen in the table below, the distribution of positions by religion for which these contributions are allocat-ed follows a doubling of the criteria of proportionality and real needs of the religions.

Table 11. Distribution of the number of religious positions for which budget funds are allocated for salaries, total positions and percentages

– 2018 –

Religious Affiliation Number of positions %

Romanian Orthodox 13,885 83.36

Reformed 790 4.74

Roman-Catholic 772 4.63

Greek-Catholic 535 3.21

Pentecostal 204 1.22

Unitarian 117 0.70

Islam 62 0.37

Christians of the Gospel 62 0.37

Old Believer 61 0.37

Evangelical Lutheran 48 0.29

Evangelical Church – Augustan Confession 47 0.28

Serbian Orthodox Church 44 0.26

Evangelical Church 10 0.06

Armenian Church 11 0.07

Judaism 8 0.05

Total 16,656 100

29 the number of positions has not been increased since 2009. for an evolution in the number of positions for which contributions of 65% and 80% of salaries were made, by religion, in the 2006-2018 period, see annexes 3 and 4.

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the state provides full salaries for the upper management of religions, other than those that are equivalent to public digni-tary positions, from Vice President of the union to abbot (1,293 positions). Depending on the number of years in employment, level of education, and the position held, financial support of-fered for religious staff amounts to roN 1,734-4,738 a month, increasing to roN 5,922 per month for upper management.

the religions make up the difference in religious staff sal-aries from their own funds and make payments for income tax, health insurance, and social security to the State. the salaries of religious staff hired in special units (army, Protection and guard Service [SPP], romanian intelligence Service [Sri], prisons, hos-pitals, etc.) are covered by the respective institutions for which they work.

additional positions created by religions are financed with own funds. furthermore, the romanian State provides subsi-dies for the construction and repair of places of worship in the country and in romanian communities abroad, for the restora-tion of historical monuments, and for socio-charitable activities carried out by the 17 religions.30

Graph 2. Evolution of State support for the construction and repair of places of worship, 2009-2018

30 the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization does not request financial assistance.

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84 85

64 69,2

148,15

176,87

119,95

70,3

214

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

milli

on RON

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6

261 227 225 238

262 264 274

341

476

588

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

milli

on RO

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these funds are mainly offered from the annual budget of the State Secretariat for religious affairs. By way of a govern-ment ordinance, the government may supplement these funds, when it considers this to be necessary. in order to maintain a romanian presence at Mount athos, an annual eur 250,000 is assigned to the romanian “Prodromos” Skete, based on Law no. 114/2007.

regarding the salaries of non-religious staff, in conformity with government Ordinance 82/2001, as of 2002, these were fund-ed by local budgets. there are presently 19,899 non-religious staff positions for which financial assistance is offered by local budgets. local authorities may supplement this number by local council ordinance.

for salaries of staff in theological education units not in-tegrated in the public system and belonging to the roman catholic church, the reformed church, the Pentecostal union, the Seventh-Day adventists, the christian church of the gospel 216 quantum contributions were made of roN 1,813/month/contribution, with the monthly amount allocated in 2018 at roN 400,419.

Graph 3. Evolution of the distribution of funds for salaries for all religions in the 2009-2018 period 31

31 See annex 2 for the evolution of the distribution of funds for 2009-2018 salaries

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financial assistance is offered to religions according to european practices and constitutional provisions contained in Law no. 489/2006 on Freedom of Religion and the General Status of Religions, in Framework Law no. 153/2017, in government Ordinance no. 82/2001, and in the Tax Code. State assistance is provided by request to recognized religions on the basis of the number of believers and their real needs.

in the information presented above concerning financial assistance offered to religions, romania is no exception. in most european countries religions or faiths receive direct state finan-cial assistance (Belgium, the czech republic, Denmark, greece, Slovakia, Sweden, etc.) and indirect financial assistance (by de-duction from taxes or a church tax – germany, italy, Spain – or by funds for maintenance and repair of places of worship that be-long to the public authorities - france, italy).

5.2. Do religions pay taxes?

Yes, religions pay taxes. What is not understood by the public is that the church does not pay taxes as an economic entity, be-cause the purpose of the church is not to make a profit or social assistance. the church pays taxes just like any other civil society organization and benefits from the same tax reliefs.

in any democracy the fiscal status of major civil society or-ganizations, namely those that associate freely with the citizens for the greater good of society, are protected by the State. the State understands that by carrying out its activities civil society relieves it of a series of responsibilities that the State either could not do, would do poorly, or would do at very high costs.

Major civil society organizations in any democracy have a privileged relationship with the State by virtue of their decisive contribution to the greater good of society. as a result, these major organizations (churches, political parties, unions, universi-ties, Ngos) are given tax relief by the State in the form of funds, assets, buildings, etc. to carry out their missions.

the circulation of funds inside civil society organizations is subject to a fiscal regimen destined to protect the access of citizens to rights and freedoms. Specifically, student loans,

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school fees, donations to political parties, unions, or universi-ties, monthly dues paid by members of unions or political par-ties, etc. are not subject to taxation because these are funds for which the State is not an intermediary.

the budget surplus obtained by the church from econom-ic activities that are not redirected to religious, social, and phil-anthropic works, etc. is subject to taxation. But the circulation of funds within the church, whether this be from donations, sales of religious objects (candles, religious books, icons, church liter-ature) or even contributions for certain religious services (as stat-ed in art. 10 of the Law on Religious Freedom), may not be taxed because this produces social effects in and of itself, without the involvement of the State.

the income generated by religions is used for the upkeep of places of worship, payment of utilities needed for liturgical activities, salaries of religious staff, as well as supporting edu-cational, social, and philanthropic activities. in other words, this income of the church is used by the church, through the church and for the church.

the church may not have the same tax scheme as com-panies that sell goods or services for profit. Both romanian and european legislation recognize the non-economic nature of religions and faiths delivering religious goods and services. consequently, income of religions is not taxed if they are used to support educational, cultural, and social activities, and religious activities.

therefore, circulation of funds within the religious com-munities is tax exempt because these funds are used for their purpose without the involvement of the State, and all economic dealings by religions with the outside are taxed, unless these are reinvested.

Partial financing by the State of the activities of religions, as well as tax breaks these receive are a direct result of their histor-ic role and their present social role, both of which the romanian State recognizes, understands, and supports. this is, likewise, a european solution, which respects religious freedom, neutrali-ty of the state, and autonomy of religions and faiths, and is in

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keeping with european treaties and international obligations to which romania has committed.

5.3. Why does the Romanian state support the construction of the Patriarchal Cathedral?

the financing of the construction of the Patriarchal cathedral in Bucharest is an obligation assumed by the romanian State more than one century ago, which was not honoured for a long time. thus, after the proclamation of romania as a Kingdom (1881), King carol i proposed a draft law to the assembly of Deputies regarding the construction of an orthodox cathedral in Bucharest. in 1884 the State budget allocated roN 5,000,000 in gold, or the equivalent of 5% of the State budget, for the construction of the cathedral. funds initially destined for the cathedral were redirected until 1900 for the construction of public schools, especially in villages.

Steps were taken again to raise a cathedral after 1920 by the Metropolitan Primate Miron cristea and by King ferdinand, who decided to raise a monumental church in honour of the victorious romanian armies during the first World War. Work halted at the stage of design and selection of a location for the future cathedral due to the economic crisis and the World War ii.

the project was suspended during the communist peri-od, to be restarted after 1990, when Patriarch teoctist brought it back to the table. after lengthy discussions on the choice of location for the future cathedral, it was decided by emergency government ordinance no. 19/2005 regarding the construction of the architectural complex of the National Salvation cathedral that this important building would be built on Dealul arsenalului in Bucharest. romania’s Parliament approved the emergency government ordinance, which stipulates that a portion of the necessary funds for the construction will be provided by the State budget, through the State Secretariat for religious affairs, and by any local public authorities.

the reasons for the financial support being provided by the romanian state for the construction of the new cathedral in-clude not only the historical importance of this enterprise, but are also symbolic and practical. first, it must be remembered

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that Bucharest is the only european capital that does not have a representative cathedral.32

32 for example: Berlin – Berliner Dom; Brussels – St. Michel and St. gudula cathedral; Belgrade – St. Sava cathedral; Budapest – St. Steven’s Basilica; lisbon – St. Mary Major cathedral; london - Westminster abbey; Madrid – almudena cathedral (finalized in 1993); Moscow – cathedral of christ the Savior, the cathedral destroyed by Stalin in 1931 was rebuilt between 1994–2000; Paris – Notre Dame cathedral; Prague – St. Vitus cathedral; rome – St. Peter’s Basilica; Sofia – alexander Nevski cathedral; Warsaw – St. John’s archcathedral; Vienna – Stephansdom, et al.

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Graph 4. Evolution of the allocation of funds for the construction of the Patriarchal Cathedral in 2009-2019

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it should also be noted that Bucharest is the only metro-politan centre in romania that does not have a cathedral befit-ting its local, regional, and national importance. furthermore, the orthodox church does not have a place of worship in the capital offering sufficient space to properly carry out religious services.

the support by the State of the construction of a Patriarchal cathedral is in accordance with current romanian legislation, which authorizes the partial financing by the State of the con-struction or repair of places of worship when such work is con-sidered necessary for the proper functioning of religious life in our country. as concerns funds allocated by the State for the construction of the cathedral, we must stress that this is mere-ly partial financing of its costs, awarded within annual budget limits allowed for the construction and repair of places of wor-ship. the construction of the cathedral started in august 2011. to date the romanian government has allocated RON 372 million through the State Secretariat for religious affairs for the con-struction of the Patriarchal cathedral. the construction of the cathedral was finalized, without finishings, and it was blessed at the end of 2018. Work continues on the interior and ancillary buildings.

5.4. How and why is religion studied in public schools?

the romanian State ensures freedom of religious education based on the requirements of each of the 18 recognized reli-gions. the curriculum of primary, middle school, high school, and professional school education include religion as part of the common core of subjects. Pupils and students belonging to re-ligions recognized by the state, regardless of their number, have the constitutional right to participate in religion classes, based on their own faith.

at the written request of a student over 14 years of age, or the parents or legal guardian of a child under the age of 14, the student or pupil may attend religion classes. if no request is made there will be no religion as part of the curriculum. according to the law, religious education in public schools takes the form of denominational education, and for students belonging to each recognized religion there is an analytical program and specific

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textbooks. the program, the approval of manuals, the recruiting and the status of religion teachers are decided in collaboration between religious authorities and the Ministry of education. this approach aims to balance the specific requirements for religious education with the need for a coherent integration of religious education in the national educational system.

the option for denominational religious education has its origin in the romanian legal and institutional traditions, and in the need for redeveloping a personal identity of individuals and religious communities after half a century of communism. thus, after a long period in which religious identity was forced into the private sphere, and religious education in schools was eliminat-ed, the formula of denominational education was intended to ensure the redevelopment and consolidation of powerful iden-tities, in turn destined to promote strong solidarity and to pro-mote participation in the consolidation of societal level social ties. at the beginning of the ‘90s, there were discussions on ways of reintroducing religious education into public schools, with the choice of denominational education eventually agreed upon by most of the debate participants. the romanian State tries to en-sure that all pupils and students have the right to a religious edu-cation, but leaves parents and/or students free to choose if they wish the pupils and students to attend religion classes in the faith of their choice, according to international legal norms, or that they have the right not to attend religion classes.

the availability of religious education in public schools is not unique to the romanian educational system. in europe, of the 47-member countries of the council of europe, only three countries (albania, Macedonia and france – excepting alsace and Moselle) offer no form of religious education in public schools. in 25 of these countries religion classes are mandatory, while in the remaining 18 countries religion classes are elective. as a result, the romanian system of teaching religion in the form of denominational education, as part of the common core of subjects, with attendance based on individual request, was de-veloped in its current form to meet the many criteria and needs.

thus, from the perspective of the State Secretariat for religious affairs, the current system has many advantages. first, it continues to be part of a judicial-institutional tradition

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temporarily interrupted for the duration of the communist re-gime. its choice then constituted a response to the needs for moral and identity reconstruction of romanian society after the fall of communism, and was one agreed upon by the main play-ers involved in the debate. furthermore, this model appears to be a rational choice for a country with a very high level of reli-giosity, denominational adherence, and a relatively high rate of religious practices, compared to other european countries. and finally, this system is coherent and legally compatible with other european models in this domain, with an obligation to respect all forms of religious freedom assumed by romania in its own legislation and through international treaties.

5.5. What is the status of restitution of church properties confiscated by the communist regime from Romania’s religions?

the right to agricultural and forestry lands began being re-es-tablished for religions as of 1991. as concerns the restitution of other real estate that was wrongfully expropriated from re-ligions, namely any that were not specifically mentioned in the Land Fund Law: the issuance of Emergency government Ordinance no. 94/2000 concerning the retrocession of certain real estate which had belonged to religions in Romania, which stated that a limited amount of real estate was to be returned to these religions (up to ten buildings to each Diocesan centre or religion).

following the adoption of Law no. 10/2001, that establish-es a policy for certain real estate wrongfully expropriated in the 6 March 1945 – 22 December 1989 period, a normative act which constitutes the framework law for restitution in kind or by equiv-alent, premises were established for the adoption of special regulations to fully restitute real estate that was wrongfully ex-propriated from religions, except for places of worship. in this context the evolution of the legal framework in the area of prop-erty restitution of properties wrongfully expropriated is marked by three phases, as follows:

� Law no. 10/2001, which sets the premises for the restitu-tion of real estate (urban property), goes into effect;

� Passage of Law no. 247/2005, on reforms in the area of properties and justice, including several additional measures that modified or amended the entire legal framework on the restitution of goods wrongfully expropriated;

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� Law no. 165/2013, which specifies measures to finalize the process of restitution in kind or equivalent of buildings wrong-fully expropriated during the communist period in romania, goes into effect.

5.5.1. Evolution of the normative framework applicable to the re-stitution of properties that belonged to religions in Romania

until the passage of Law no. 10/2001, the general legal regimen for restitution of real estate belonging to religions in romania was regulated by Emergency government Ordinance no. 94/2000.

as stated previously, the initial form of that law treated the issue of restitution of real estate belonging to religions in a limited way, namely that it permitted the restitution of only ten buildings to each diocese or religion.

With the passage of Law no. 10/2001, a provision was set and adopted for a new special normative act in this area to allow for the speedier and proper resolution of the problem of restitution of real estate belonging to religions in romania. consequently, Law no. 501/2002 to approve Emergency government Ordinance no. 94/2000 on the restitution of some real estate belonging to reli-gions in Romania, brought about substantial amendments of this latter normative act, creating a general framework for the resti-tution of real estate belonging to religions in romania.

the most important amendment was the extension of the real estate sphere that could be restituted to religions. other im-portant amendments coming into effect with this law were:

� the elimination of initial limitations that stipulated that only ten buildings could be restituted to each diocese or religion;

� the possibility of restituting reclaimed buildings even if these were assigned for public interest activities (hospitals, school, museums, the headquarters of public institutions);

� the possibility of restituting some non-real estate prop-erty intended for the functioning of a religion.

later, with the adoption of Law no. 247/2005 on reform in the area of properties and justice, including several additional mea-sures, substantial amendments were made to the legal framework

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which regulates the restitution of real estate that belonged to re-ligions in romania.

Subsequent legislative changes and amendments intro-duced measures intended to accelerate the restitution process, and the most important are listed below:

� the expansion of the objective of the law regarding real estate to be restituted, namely unoccupied land in incorporat-ed localities or the offering of damages for lands occupied by constructions;

� the restitution of some buildings belonging to commer-cial companies for which the State still has capital available;

� the according of just and equitable damages, accord-ing to values in effect in conformity with international evaluation standards, for cases where restitution in kind is no longer possible;

� the facilitating of dossier materials needed for proof; � the according of a new 6-month deadline for filing resti-

tution claims; � the according of a new 6-month deadline to file an appeal

against the sale of a building that is the object of this ordinance; � the removal of initial limitations, namely the restitution of

all non-real estate assets confiscated with the real estate, if these still exist, and not only those needed for the functioning of the religion;

� the application of sanctions in the case of non-respecting of administrative procedures stipulated by law.

on 17 april 2013, the romanian government assumed re-sponsibility before Parliament for the Draft law on measures to fi-nalize the process of restitution, in kind or equivalent, of buildings wrongfully expropriated in the period of the communist regime in romania. unlike all other legal acts regulating property restitu-tion, Law no. 165/2013 on measures to finalize the process of resti-tution, in kind or equivalent, of buildings wrongfully expropriated in the communist period in romania integrates into a single le-gal framework the applicable principles and categories of repara-tion measures for buildings taken over in an arbitrary manner, that were previously contained in a variety of laws.

New elements introduced by this legal act principally set forth the following:

� to establish several principles that will govern the new

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legal framework, namely: � principle of the prevalence of restitution in kind; � principle of equity; � principle of transparency of the process to set repara-

tion measures; � principle to promote a proper balance between the

particular interest of former owners and the general interest of society;

� there is no provision in the new normative act for the limiting of or a ceiling for damages, and this means that these will have to be calculated according to a chart provided by no-tary publics (valid at the time that Law no. 165/2013 went into effect).

this provision represents a legislative first in terms of old regulations, intended to accelerate the administrative analysis procedures for drawing up the evaluation reports by the autho-rized evaluators, which very much delays the process of dam-ages and gives way to suspicion about the objectivity of the setting of such damages:

� the granting of damages in the form of points, each point having a nominal value of roN 1. thus, a true mixed sys-tem of damages is instituted, with the entitled person allowed to choose between redeeming the points offered by ordinance of the National commission for the acquisition at auction of build-ings that are part of the National fund for agricultural lands and other buildings, created to provide reparation to former owners or transform points into cash damages, as of 1 January 2014, at an annual limit of 14%, with the last instalment at 16%.

� the introduction of a 90-day deadline of administrative forfeiture by which to file a claim with supporting documents, in order to accelerate the process for bringing the case to a conclu-sion. this forfeiture deadline was subsequently set at 120 days, with the introduction of law no. 368/2013, which changes and amends law no. 165/2013.

� the obligation to retain those public interest buildings, used as educational, health, or cultural institutions, for a period of 10 years, that are due to be restituted to their former owners.

thereafter, some of the changes made to law no. 165/2013 regarding measures to finalize the process of restitution, in kind or equivalent, of real estate wrongfully expropriated during the

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communist period in romania, by Law no. 111/2017 provides for the following:

� extending from 5 to 10 years the period in which buildings can continue to be used for public interest educational or health care activities, regardless of whether these are financed or co-fi-nanced by State or local budgets;

� extends the possibility of also maintaining for public inter-est use buildings occupied by public, cultural institutions;

� the institution of an administrative grace period during which faiths may file their claims with legal entities for restitution.

By Law no. 103/2016, which approves emergency govern-ment Ordinance no. 21/2015 that modifies and supplements law no. 165/2013 on measures for finalizing the process of restitution, in kind or equivalent, of real estate wrongfully expropriated during the romanian communist period, and art. 1 and 3 of Emergency government Ordinance no. 94/2000 on restitution of real estate as-sets which belonged to religious organizations in romania, as well as art. 1 of Emergency government Ordinance no. 83/1999 on resti-tution of real estate assets that belonged to religions in romania, pertaining to restitution of real estate assets that belonged to com-munities of national minority citizens in romania, the presumption was established that real estate was wrongfully expropriated by the romanian State in the communist period with documents al-leging donation by religions.

later, some of the changes to Law no. 165/2013, which es-tablishes measures to finalize the process of restitution, in kind or equivalent, of buildings wrongfully expropriated during the com-munist period in romania, contained in Law no. 111/2017, drew at-tention to the following:

� the extension of the strict deadline in the administra-tive procedure to 240 days (from the original 120-day deadline) to supplement the documents in cases submitted to the Special restitution commission, as well as its further extension by 120 days (the original deadline was 60 days). this change will allow religious and national minority communities to submit documents needed to solve the requests for restitution in a reasonable time frame;

� the priority solving of files in which decisions have been issued concerning the proposal to offer compensation/com-pensatory measures by the Special restitution commission; the respective change allows the National commission for

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compensation of Buildings to resolve the cases submitted by re-ligions and national minorities as a priority.

5.5.2. Current settlement status of applications from religions for restitution in Romania

the following religions have made 16,390 claims for restitution to the Special commission for restitution for buildings wrong-fully expropriated from them: orthodox church, romanian orthodox church fund of Bucovina, roman catholic church, romanian church united with rome (greek catholic), reformed church, Judaism (caritatea foundation), unitarian church, evan-gelical church of the augsburg confession in romania, evan-gelical lutheran church of romania, islam, archdiocese of the armenian church, Seventh-Day adventist christian church of romania, union of christian Baptist churches of romania, Pen-tecostal union – the apostolic church of god of romania, and the Nazarene religious association.

in this context, it needs to be mentioned that a part of the claims made by the same religion have the same objective, so that when the time comes for their resolution these will be com-bined, and the number of claims will thereby drop significantly.

By “resolution of a restitution claim” is understood the res-titution in kind of a building, the refusal of restitution of a build-ing, the proposal for the granting of damages/compensation measures for a building that can no longer be restituted in kind, the redirecting of a claim for restitution to the entity legally re-sponsible for its resolution, or the acknowledgement of a deci-sion to forego a claim for restitution.

the settlement status of applications from religions for restitution as of 1 January 2019 is as follows:

� the orthodox church submitted 2,215 claims for restitu-tion, of which 1,500 claims have been resolved, leaving 715 resti-tution claims to be settled.

� the romanian orthodox church fund of Bucovina sub-mitted 1,576 claims for restitution, of which 1,550 claims have been resolved, leaving 26 restitution claims to be settled.

� the catholic church submitted 1,203 claims for

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restitution, of which 920 claims have been resolved, leaving 283 restitution claims to be settled.

� the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic submitted 6,723 claims for restitution, of which 3,889 claims have been resolved, leaving 2,834 restitution claims to be settled.

� the reformed church of romania submitted 1,208 claims for restitution, of which 921 claims have been resolved, leaving 287 restitution claims to be settled.

� the Jewish faith (caritatea foundation) submitted 1,918 claims for restitution, of which 1,312 claims have been resolved, leaving 606 restitution claims to be settled.

� the unitarian church submitted 82 claims for restitu-tion, of which 76 claims have been resolved, leaving 6 restitution claims to be settled.

� the evangelical church of the augsburg confession in romania submitted 1,133 claims for restitution, of which 808 claims have been resolved, leaving 325 restitution claims to be settled.

� the evangelical lutheran church of romania submitted 29 claims for restitution, of which 26 claims have been resolved, leaving 3 restitution claims to be settled.

� the Muslim faith, the archbishopric of the armenian church, the Seventh-Day adventist christian church of romania, the union of christian Baptist churches of romania, the Pentecostal union – the apostolic church of god of romania, and the Nazarene religious association submitted 303 claims for restitution, of which 163 claims have been resolved, leaving 140 claims to be settled.

5.5.3. How is the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs involved in the restitution of properties having belonged to the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek Catholic?

after the establishment of communism, the greek catholic church in romania was disbanded by Decree no. 358/1948, and most of its properties were expropriated by the romanian State. Many of its believers were forced to either convert to ortho-doxy or the catholic latin rite. the Decree stipulated that places of worship and diocesan homes were to be turned over to the orthodox church. after the toppling of the communist regime the first decision relating to religious life taken by the State au-thorities was to return the romanian church united with rome,

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greek catholic to legality by Decree no. 9/31.12.1989 of the coun-cil of the National Salvation front. Subsequently the State took it upon itself, by art. 4 of Decree-Law no. 126/1990, to support the construction of new places of worship (including the necessary land and financial contributions), wherever the number of places of worship was insufficient.

the greek catholic church - greek catholic rebuilt its in-stitutional and educational structures, becoming one of the 18

Graph 5. Current situation of the applications for restitution by religion

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recognized religions in romania, according to its number of be-lievers, based on figures in successive censuses. there are two types of confiscated former greek catholic properties, subject to a variety of legal treatments: the first are buildings and prop-erties that became part of the State patrimony, and the second are places of worship taken over by the State and used by the orthodox church. this takeover of the patrimony of the greek-catholic church, and the fact that it wants buildings that were turned over to the orthodox church to be restituted in kind, is the principal problem for identifying an equitable solution agreeable to both churches. the first type of properties that became part of the State patrimony were restituted gradually. Because the communist state confiscated not only a great deal of real estate belonging to religions, but also rather extensive landed properties, the restitution process has proven to be dif-ficult and is ongoing.

a series of laws were adopted as far back as 1990. Decree-Law no. 126/1990 legislating several measures relating to the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic included the following two means for restitution of former greek catholic properties, depending on the current owner of the building:

� goods taken over by the State by Decree no. 358/1948, and in the possession of the State, excepting estates, will be restitut-ed to the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic. a government ordinance-appointed commission, made up of representatives of the State and the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic, will be responsible for identifying, inventorying and turning over these properties;

� the legal status of places of worship and parochial homes belonging to the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic that were taken over by the communist state and were turned over to the romanian orthodox church was to be determined by a mixed commission, made up of clerical rep-resentatives of the two churches, and taking into account the numbers of believers of each religious community.

With the establishment of this mixed commission, legisla-tors called on both churches to use wisdom and mutual agree-ment in resolving this problem.

in many rural and urban localities in transylvania,

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Decree-Law no. 126/1990 produced no visible results, as local representatives of both churches were unable to arrive at a con-sensus during their dialogue. in some localities discussions led to tension and even conflict between the orthodox and greek catholic believers.

Because of the failed attempts to resolve the disputes through analysis, dialogue, and understanding, the romanian Senate called on the leadership of the romanian orthodox church and the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic through a Declaration-appeal on 29 December 1994 to resolve all existing tensions between the two churches in an ec-umenical spirit.

according to Land Law no. 18/1991, lands that were the ob-ject of this law were restituted to the various religions, includ-ing the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic. By government Ordinance no. 466/1992, concerning the approval of proposals by the central commission for the inventorying of State properties and their restitution to the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic, issued based on article 2 of Decree-Law no. 126/1990, 80 buildings included in the annex of the above-mentioned ordinance were restituted.

Government Ordinance no. 64/2004, approved by Law no. 182/2005, and supplementing Decree-Law no. 126/1990 on measures relating to the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic, stipulates that if the clerical representatives of both churches are unable to reach an agreement in the mixed commission for places of worship and diocesan homes (that were transferred to the ownership of the romanian orthodox church), the interested party may resort to common law action.

reasons that are slowing down the process for resolving the claims by the greek catholic church for restitution include:

- the particularity of the takeover of the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic patrimony, specif-ically buildings that are presently being administered by the romanian orthodox church, according to Decree no. 358/1948. We estimate that this refers to some 80% of the total number of claims made by the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic, according to Emergency Ordinance no. 94/2000,

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republished with subsequent changes and amendments;- Emergency government Ordinance no. 94/2000, repub-

lished with subsequent changes and amendments, does not allow for the restitution in kind or the awarding of damages in the case of buildings that belonged to the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic, that are presently owned by the orthodox church. the process for restitution of church buildings (except for churches) is presently being carried out through the National authority for restitution of Properties.

the romanian state is also committed to the reparations of injustices committed by the communist regime with respect to places of worship. However, we believe that any simplistic so-lutions could cause further wrongs. Most of the former mem-bers of the greek catholic church, who converted to orthodoxy in 1948, as well as their descendent, continued to be part of the orthodox church after 1990. these believers continued the uninterrupted use of the former local greek-catholic dioc-esan churches, and they consider these to be “their own.” any block restitution of churches, which does not consider the pop-ulation’s current denominational structure and local sensitivities risks generating social and inter-denominational unrest, as has unfortunately happened several times in the past.

the State Secretariat for religious affairs has therefore re-peatedly called for the resolution of these matters through di-alogue between the two churches, and has tried to serve as mediator to defuse any tensions. likewise, the restitution of for-mer greek-catholic churches is also one that relates to the right of property ownership. thus, from the point of view of the greek catholic church, the churches belong by right to the church as an institution. on the other hand, the orthodox church maintains that the churches belong to the community, and as such should consider the current will of the communities when determining the transfer of a place of worship to another denomination.

Not wanting to prejudice the right of parties to resort to legal action and respecting the authority of judicial sentenc-ing, the State Secretariat for religious affairs has pleaded for the identification of amicable solutions concerning the status of for-mer greek catholic places of worship, in the interest of maintain-ing social order. thus, the State Secretariat for religious affairs

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has encouraged and become actively involved in the promo-tion, both centrally and locally, of bilateral dialogue involving the orthodox and greek catholic churches.

the two churches created bilateral dialogue commissions in order to resolve each case separately. the orthodox church believes that each case should be treated separately only if there are local community sensitivities and exclusively through dialogue. the greek catholic church believes that restitution should be complete, and in order to make this happen in the shortest time possible, it has found it more expedient to resort to legal action in some cases.

as a result of bilateral dialogue, numerous churches were restituted or amiable solutions (alternating services, et al) were found in several communities. Nevertheless, due to misun-derstandings regarding the purpose and means for bilateral dialogue, these talks were interrupted in 2003. there was an ex-change of letters between the leaders of both churches in 2011 for the purpose of starting up the dialogue again, but this did not happen. the romanian orthodox church has restituted 242 churches, including four of the five diocesan cathedrals (Blaj, cluj, lugoj, and oradea) to the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic through bilateral agreements, through di-alogue commissions in some cases, but also more often by other means (local agreements, legal action, etc.).

the State Secretariat has been actively involved in mediat-ing the dialogue between the two parties. thus, our institution’s mediation led to the restitution to the greek catholic communi-ty of the “Sfântul Nicolae” cathedral in oradea (November 2005) and of the “Sfântul Vasile” church on Polonă Street in Bucharest (December 2006).

in order to resolve problems on the ground, the State Secretariat for religious affairs used funds available to it to fi-nance the construction of new places of worship, to ensure that both orthodox and greek catholic believers have good condi-tions for worship activities.

thus, the State Secretariat for religious affairs spent a total of RON 34,665,500 (amount not indexed for inflation)

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in the period between 1990-2018 for the construction of new places of worship. in this period, the greek catholic church built and is building over 310 new places of worship. in 2014, at the suggestion of the State Secretariat for religious affairs, the romanian government approved government Ordinance no. 747/2014 concerning the transfer of a building, Sfântul Vasile cel Mare in Bucharest from the private domain of the State and from the “administration of State Patrimony Protocol” autonomous administration [regia autonomă administraţia Patrimoniului si Protocolului de Stat] into the public domain of the State and into the administration of the State Secretariat for religious affairs for the romanian church united with rome – greek catholic. the building is located at Strada alexandru Xenopol no. 14, Sector 1, Bucharest, and serves as the Bucharest administrative centre of the greek catholic Sfântul Vasile cel Mare Diocese.

We believe that, by promoting dialogue and an analysis of situations on site, our institution will help ensure that the best solutions are found to equitably resolve these issues, affording each community its own church, and each believer his/her full rights and religious freedoms. the State Secretariat for religious affairs also believes it is necessary to continue to accelerate the dialogue between the parties involved, in order to prevent and/or resolve any tensions and denominational conflicts and to pro-mote social order.

5.6. What is the role of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs in supporting Romanian citizens abroad?

the romanian communities in the Balkans were the first whose existence and destiny required the concern of romanian au-thorities as far back as the beginnings of the process of national emancipation in the middle of the 19th century. the leaders of the 1848 revolution were the first to invoke the need for ensur-ing that groups of ethnic romanians south of the Danube have access to religious and educational endowments.

the creation of the modern romanian State allowed for the post-1860 intensification of efforts before the ottoman empire, suzerain over the Balkan romanians. the first official claim of this kind was made by costache Negri, in his capacity as diplomatic agent of the romanian Principalities in constantinople, in which

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he invoked the danger of the denationalization of romanians in Macedonia, thessalia, epirus, and albania.

the establishment and support of romanian churches in the Balkan Peninsula rapidly became a priority of the Bucharest government. in 1863, the chairman of the romanian council of Ministers, Mihail Kogălniceanu, decided to establish a special fund as part of the State budget to support romanian schools and churches in the ottoman empire.

Shortly thereafter, at the beginning of the 20th centu-ry, the romanian State began offering financial assistance for the activities of over 40 romanian priests who were active in the romanian churches in the districts of albania, Bitola, and epirus in the ottoman empire. Subsequently, during the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars, all newly-formed States in the region, except for Serbia, permitted the autonomy of romanian schools and churches, and their subvention by the romanian State, under the supervision of local governments. However, the outbreak of World War i, with its massive mobilizations and destruction led to a powerful phenomenon of emigration towards romania, aided by the Bucharest Peace conference in 1913, according to which all Balkan romanians received romanian citizenship, re-gardless of where they chose to live.

the interwar period was to lead to an even more pow-erful involvement of the romanian State in the supporting of spiritual identities in the romanian communities of the Balkans. for example, romanian priests in the romanian churches in greece continued to be remunerated by the romanian State un-til 1949, and the latter allocated some roN 3 million annually to the romanian diocese in the Serbian Banat. even during the communist period, despite the reticence of the authorities, the romanian Patriarchate made significant efforts to support the romanian community on Mount athos.

the development over the past two decades of a romanian diaspora is a complex phenomenon, without precedent in mod-ern romanian history. this is the first time in the history of the romanian State that a community in the order of millions of romanians leaves its native land and chooses to live outside its borders.

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in this context, the consolidation of ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and spiritual communities of romanians abroad is a constant preoccupation of all romanian society, and a major objective of romanian State policies, contained in the govern-ing program priorities. therefore, active connections of the dias-pora with the spiritual and religious spaces is encouraged as an important element for preserving a national identity and config-uring an identity profile of romanian communities around the world.

romanian public authorities represented principally in these countries by their embassies, cultural centres, and insti-tutes, make efforts to ensure that romanians outside its bor-der have these rights and maintain their romanian identity. However, in most cases, what these institutions can do, from a material and logistical standpoint, and in terms of acting in the territories of other countries, is limited.

religious organizations, on the other hand, have built and developed an extended network of communities over time, that also functions as a catalyst for romanian solidarity, and consti-tutes the only active and dynamic connection with the country.

the romanian orthodox church and other religions, de-veloping their church communities to meet the religious needs of romanians outside the country’s borders, also meet certain identity needs, and these function not only as community cen-tres and romanian solidarity networks, but also, and increas-ingly, as true centres for information and mutual assistance for a large number of romanians abroad.

in order to meet the growing needs of these communities, the romanian orthodox church, for example, has built several deaneries, a few hundred diocesan communities, and several monasteries throughout the world. in addition to the christian orthodox diocese, there are also catholic communities under the jurisdiction of local diocese, as well as evangelical commu-nities with similar religious and social roles. the romanian State, conscious of the importance of religious communities in the life of romanians abroad, and convinced of the need to support such efforts, allocates a fixed amount of eur 261,200 per month through the State Secretariat for religious affairs to support the

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salaries of over 669 priests who serve romanian dioceses abroad (180 in italy, 150 in the republic of Moldova, 109 in Spain, 54 in germany, 39 in france, 20 in great Britain, 15 in Hungary, 13 in Belgium, 8 in Serbia, 6 in israel, etc.).

in addition to salary assistance offered to priests who serve romanian church communities abroad, the State Secretariat for religious affairs may also allocate annual funds from the budget destined for the construction and repair of religious places of worship and the building and/or acquisition of churches for the romanian communities outside its borders.

Some 4-5% of the State Secretariat for religious affairs budget is directed annually to the units of romanian churches outside the country’s borders. for years, financial subsidies have been allocated for the construction of important places of wor-ship, such as: the orthodox cathedral of Madrid, the St. Nicholas Diocese in Brussels, the St. george Diocese in tokyo, the St. george Diocese in Barcelona, the Diocesan centre in Munich, the romanian foundation in Jerusalem, and the St. Matthew Diocese in ottawa.

the State Secretariat for religious affairs also supports and promotes the rights of romanians abroad to retain and affirm their national identity and enjoy religious freedom.

thus, at mixed inter-governmental commission meetings for national minority issues, the State Secretariat for religious affairs has continually supported the idea that, on the ba-sis of the principle of reciprocity, the hundreds of thousands of romanians in timoc Valley (Serbia), northern Bukovina, and southern Bessarabia should have the right to religious services in their mother tongue and to build their own places of worship.

the State Secretariat for religious affairs specifically claims that, because of the recognition by the romanian state of the jurisdiction of the Serbian orthodox Diocese, part of the Serbian orthodox church, over the Serbian orthodox believ-ers in romania, in keeping with the principle of reciprocity, the Bishop appointed by the romanian orthodox church for the romanians in Serbia (the Dacia felix Diocese) should have juris-diction over the romanian orthodox believers in Serbia and a

right to visit not only the romanian dioceses in Voivodina, but also those in timoc Valley.

in support of these efforts, the State Secretariat for religious affairs organized and hosted, among others, an inter-institutional working meeting on 30 May 2013, dedicated to the problems of romanian citizens outside the country’s borders, attended by representatives of the romanian Presidency, the Prime Minister’s chancellery, the Ministry of foreign affairs, the romanian Parliament, the romanian Patriarchate, and former State Secretaries for religious affairs, familiar with the evolution of the situation of romanian communities abroad.

furthermore, the State Secretariat for religious affairs has made a significant contribution in the past two years to the debates that take place periodically within the framework of the inter-institutional consultative council for problems of romanians abroad, an informal cooperative body between all romanian institutions that are involved in this issue, organized under the aegis of the Ministry for foreign affairs, with the ap-proval of the romanian government.

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Religious organizations

according to Law no. 489/2006, any person has the right to be-long to or adopt a religion, to manifest, individually or collective-ly, in public or private, by specific practices or rituals, including religious education, and has the freedom to keep or change his/her faith.

as in most european States, freedom of religion is limit-ed only by an obligation to respect necessary legal measures to maintain public safety, public order, health and morals, and the protection of fundamental human rights.

any person has the right to be part of a legal entity reli-gious organization (religion, religious association, or association and foundation that also carry out religious activities) or a non-legal entity (religious group). Joint exercise of freedom of reli-gion is not conditional upon belonging to a legal entity.

legal entity religious organizations are:

� religions � religious associations � associations and foundations with religious objectives,

registered according to government Ordinance no. 26/2000 on as-sociations and foundations.

these are usually cultural, social, and/or charitable organi-zations that belong to recognized religions or autonomous or-ganizations of persons who share a common religious belief.

6.1. Religions

the romanian State treats recognized religions as private law and public utility entities. they are equal before the law and public authorities, handle their own organization, and function autonomously according to their statutes, canonical code, and regulations, abiding by the constitution and the laws of the country. the romanian state affirms its neutrality in terms of

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religion, in the sense that it does not favour one over another, but has a relationship of cooperation and social partnership with recognized religions. religious associations do not automatically receive the public utility status but may enjoy certain facilities or tax exemptions. Below we include a brief presentation of essential data regarding the history, current organization, and functioning of legally recognized religions in romania.33

6.1.1. Romanian Orthodox Church

orthodox christianity has a bimillenial tradition and history in romania, developing under the canonical jurisdiction of the ec-umenical Patriarchy of constantinople. in modern times, as of 1872, the romanian orthodox church organized as a unitary church in its own right, by separating from the canonical juris-diction of the ecumenical Patriarchy of constantinople, the uni-fication of the Metropoles of ungrovlahia and Moldavia, and the raising of the Metropolis of ungrovlahia to the rank of the pri-macy Metropolis of romania. the romanian orthodox church became autocephalous in 1885 and was raised to the rank of Pa-triarchy in 1925.

there has been a succession of patriarchal dignitaries of the romanian orthodox church: Miron cristea (1925-1939), Nicodim Munteanu (1939-1948), Justinian Marina (1948-1977), Justin Moisescu (1977-1986), and teoctist arăpaşu (1986-2007). as of 30 September 2007, the romanian orthodox church is un-der the guidance of Patriarch Daniel ciobotea, who holds the ti-tle of archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrogea, locum tenens of the throne of caesarea cappadociae, and Patriarch of the romanian orthodox church. the romanian orthodox church is run by the Holy Synod, which is presided over by the Patriarch, and made up of all acting bishops. the central deliberative body of the romanian orthodox church for all administrative, social, cultural, economic, and patrimonial is-sues is the National church assembly, with three representatives of each diocese (a clergyman and two lay persons), appointed by the diocesan assemblies for a period of four years. the cen-tral executive body of the National church assembly is made up 33 the order in which the 18 recognized religions are presented is based on the list of recognized religions in romania from the annex of Law 489/2006 on Freedom of Religion and the General Status of Religions

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of twelve members of the National church assembly (one cler-gyman and one lay person representing each of the country’s dioceses, appointed for a period of four years). the members of the Holy Synod may participate by deliberative vote in the meet-ings of the National church assembly and the National church council.

the romanian orthodox church has brotherly and ecumen-ical ties with almost all christian churches in the world, especial-ly other orthodox churches. it has had high-level visit exchanges and bilateral contacts with its sister orthodox churches,34 the oriental orthodox churches,35 the roman catholic church, the Protestant churches in europe, and with churches in america, asia, and other parts of the world. furthermore, the romanian orthodox church is active as part of european and international church organizations – as a member of the World (ecumenical) council of churches, the european conference of churches, and of other christian organizations involved in different activities (youth, women, etc.) – as well as in international bilateral dia-logue between the orthodox church and other great christian families (oriental orthodox, roman catholic, old catholic, anglican, lutheran, reformed, etc.).

in the 16-26 June 2016 period, a romanian orthodox church delegation, headed by Patriarch Daniel, participated in the Holy and great Synod of the orthodox church on the greek island of crete, one of the most important inter-orthodox events in the last century. During the working sessions, many official documents were approved concerning six major subjects on the agenda of the orthodox church:

� the mission of the orthodox church in the contempo-rary world;

� orthodox diaspora; � autonomy and its proclamation means;

34 the ecumenical Patriarchate of constantinople, the orthodox Patriarchate of alexandria, the orthodox Patriarchate of antioch, the orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the russian orthodox church, the Serbian orthodox church, the Bulgarian orthodox church, the georgian orthodox church, the orthodox church of cyprus, the greek orthodox church, the orthodox church of Poland, the orthodox church of albania, and the orthodox church of the czech lands and Slovakia.35 the armenian apostolic church, the coptic Patriarchate of alexandria, the Syrian orthodox Patriarchate of antioch, the ethiopian orthodox church, and the eritrean orthodox church.

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� holy matrimony and obstacles thereto; � the meaning of fasting in the contemporary world; � orthodox church relations with the entire christian

world.

units making up the romanian orthodox church are par-ishes, monasteries, deaneries, vicarages, dioceses (episcopate and archepiscopate) and metropolis. romania’s Patriarchate has 10 metropolises (of which 6 are in the country and 4 are abroad), made up of 40 dioceses (episcopates and archepiscopates) with 14,633 religious units, of which 11,327 parishes.

according to data from the 2011 census, 86.45% of to-tal population declared that they belong to the romanian orthodox church, most of them ethnic romanians (96.46%), fol-lowed by ethnic roma (2.92%), ethnic ukrainians (0.24%), eth-nic Hungarians (0.16%), and other nationalities. there are 12,783 priests and deacons employed by and active in the romanian orthodox church, who receive part of their salary from the State budget, while the number of clerics whose salaries are paid from own funds is over 1,500.

in 2017, orthodox romanians abroad continued to orga-nize themselves and develop. there are currently 14 dioceses, with 1,303 parishes and branches, served by 1,098 clerics. in 2018, 26,008 baptisms, 5,132 marriages, and 3,504 funerals were held in the orthodox parochial communities in the diaspora.

there are 194 units part of the romanian Patriarchy with activities in the area of moveable church patrimony, of which 13 museums and museum collections, and 63 centres for the pro-tection of the patrimony.

in 2018 the romanian orthodox church carried out char-itable activities through 815 socio-philanthropic foundations: 146 soup kitchens and bakeries, 43 institutions that offer med-ical and pharmaceutical services, 104 children’s daycare cen-tres, 20 daycare centres for the elderly, 47 residential centres for the elderly, 31 social services offices and community centres, 48 family centres, 98 information, counselling, and resource cen-tres, 15 shelters (for the homeless, victims of domestic violence, and trafficked persons), 16 camps, 48 educational centres, and

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another 87 institutions/services, 61 social kindergartens and af-terschools, 14 protected housing units, 106 information, coun-selling, and resource centres, 2 adult education institutions, 18 emergency centres (for homeless persons, victims of violence and trafficked persons), 26 camp campuses, 48 educational cen-tres, and another 101 institutions/services involved in a variety of activities. Social foundations provided assistance to 104,957 beneficiaries, as follows:

� 36,216 children in social foundations of the church, es-pecially from poor and limited means families, and children with parents abroad;

� 4,718 persons with disabilities, speaking, sight, and hear-ing disabilities, drug addicts, persons with other types of addic-tions, and persons infected with HiV/aiDS;

� 34,329 elderly persons from church social protection foundations, social transit centres, and night-time shelters, el-derly persons on their own or who cannot leave their homes, those abandoned by their families, and those with very serious health problems;

� 24,329 unemployed persons, adults in difficulty, victims of trafficking, victims of family violence, freed prisoners, and vic-tims of natural disasters;

� 4,718 persons in other categories.

expenses incurred to support all social assistance and phil-anthropic activities of the romanian orthodox church in 2018, at the level of the romanian Patriarchate, amounted to roN 114,142,717. there are 513 priests who provide pastoral services in military units, penitentiaries, hospitals, and social protection foundations.

the “Donate Blood! Save a life!” national campaign of the romanian Patriarchy, which is intended to inform and bring to the attention the real need for blood for transfusions in romanian hospitals, received the support of 3,500 donors in 2018, to collect over 16 tons of blood.

the romanian orthodox church has 28 theological semi-naries, with a variety of specializations: pastoral theology, cul-tural patrimony theology, religious tourism guides, Philology, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences; 7 orthodox theological high schools; one pedagogical high school, and one technological high school, with theology classes. the romanian orthodox

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church also has 11 theological university schools (Bucharest, iași, Sibiu, craiova, cluj, constanţa, târgoviște, Pitești, alba iulia, arad, and oradea) and 4 theological departments in other universities (timișoara, galaţi, Baia Mare, and reșiţa). the most important media institutions of the romanian Patriarchate are trinitas tV, trinitas radio, lumina newspaper, and the Basilica news agency.

Ukrainian Orthodox Vicarage

the ukrainian orthodox Vicarage integrates ukrainian orthodox believers in romania and has a special canonical regimen; it is under the jurisdiction of the romanian Patriarchy, but also en-joys administrative self-rule. according to the 2011 census there are some 40,000 ukrainian orthodox believers in romania, mak-ing up 0.24% of total orthodox believers.

the Vicarage has 30 priests serving 32 parishes and 2 mon-asteries grouped in 2 deaneries (Sighetu Marmaţiei, Maramureș county, and lugoj, and timiș county). in 2017 a diocese of the ukrainian orthodox Vicarage was established in Bucharest Municipality.

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes a 65% contribu-tion of base salary for 21 priests, and an 80% contribution of base salary for 9 priests. The Ukrainian Orthodox Vicarage receives salary contributions for one diocesan administrative vicar, one diocesan counsellor, and one dean.

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 13,885 contribu-tions to clerical staff salaries for: 1 patriarch, 8 metropolitans, 10 archbishops, 19 bishops, 3 assistant bishop to the Patriarch, 16 as-sistant bishops, 1 administrative patriarchal assistant, 32 patriar-chal counsellors, 5 patriarchal secretaries, 2 ecclesiastical general inspectors, 21 administrative diocesan vicars, 13 patriarchal chan-cellery secretaries, 193 diocesan counsellors, 27 diocesan secretar-ies, 121 diocesan inspectors, 28 exarchs, 154 deans, 444 abbots, 3 hegumens, 9,483 clerical positions requiring 65% of the base sala-ry and 3,300 clerical posts requiring 80% of the base salary.

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The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 44 clerical sal-ary contributions for one diocesan administrative vicar, one di-ocesan inspector, 30 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 12 positions (80% contribution of base salary).

6.1.2. Serbian Orthodox Diocese

the Serbian orthodox Diocese of timişoara includes the ortho-dox Serbians in romania, who are under the canonical jurisdic-tion of the Serbian orthodox church. as such it functions as an autonomous recognized denomination.

according to the 2011 census, there are 18,076 eth-nic Serbians living in romania, of which 94.8% are christian orthodox, and most of these (11,112 persons) having declared that they belong to the Serbian orthodox Diocese of timişoara, while the rest (some 6,000 persons) stated that they are mem-bers of the romanian orthodox church.

the three deaneries of the diocese in timișoara, arad and Socol (caraș-Severin county) oversee 55 parishes and 5 monas-teries served by 46 priests and deacons. Written records on the existence of the diocesan monasteries (Baziaş, cusici, Zlatiţa in caraş-Severin county, Bezdin in arad county, and the “Sfântul gheorghe” Monastery in timiş county), included in the list of historical monuments in romania, date back to the 16-18th centuries.

the Serbian orthodox Diocese of timişoara uses the Julian calendar (“old style”), is led by His Holiness luchian Pantelici, Serbian orthodox Bishop of Buda (Hungary), and has a Bishop’s locum tenens, Marinco Marcov, since 2010.

Catholic Church

the catholic church is the world community of christian be-lievers around the world, united by faith and sacraments, under the leadership and canonical dependence of the Pope in rome. in countries with which the Holy See has diplomatic relations, the Sovereign Pontiff periodically appoints a Papal ambassador who has the title of apostolic Nuncio.

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the catholic church is present in romania with its latin rite (roman catholic church), Byzantine rite (romanian church united with rome), and armenian rite (armenian-catholic ordinariate), as well as small communities of Maronite and chaldean catholics.

the episcopal conference provides the leadership for all catholic believers in romania, bringing together the country’s roman catholic and greek catholic Bishops. the plenary meet-ing of the conference takes place twice a year (in spring and fall) and there is an option to call an extraordinary session. the romanian episcopal conference has two sections: the latin sec-tion and the council of greek catholic Hierarchs. Presidents and Vice Presidents of the episcopal conference are elected alter-natively from each of the two churches present in the catholic church in romania. the roman catholic Bishop of chișinău (republic of Moldova) has the status of permanent invitee at the romanian episcopal conference.

the catholic church has several monastic orders and con-gregations on romanian territory, including the Society of Jesus, the augustinian assumptionist Monastic order, the St. francis de Sales Society, the carmelite order, the order of friars Minor conventual, the Piarist order, the congregation of Missionaries of charity, the congregation of the oblates of the assumption (Missionary Sisters), the congregation of the immaculate Heart, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the franciscan Missionary Sisters of assisi, the congregation of Jesus, the Daughters of Saint Mary of Divine Providence, the order of St. Basil the great, the Daughters of Saint Paul, the order of canons regular of Prémontré (Premonstratensians), the congregation of the Daughters of charity Saint Vincent de Paul, and the Sisters of the congregation of the Mother of god.

6.1.3. Roman Catholic Church

the latin church has been present in romania for over a thou-sand years. the latin rite had a powerful presence in transylva-nia during the Middle ages, as well as in other historic romanian provinces. the oldest catholic episcopate of those currently active on romanian territory is that of alba iulia, established in the 11th century. the roman catholic church of romania is

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The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 772 clerical salary contributions for one metropolitan, one archbishop, 5 bishops, 3 assistant bishops, 4 vicar generals, 5 diocesan admin-istrative vicars, 17 diocesan counsellors, one diocesan inspector, 4 diocesan secretaries, 35 deans, one exarch, 5 abbots, one sec-retary general, 488 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 201 positions (80% contribution of base salary).

organized based on the code of canon law, recognized officially by the romanian State by government ordinance no. 1218/2008.

there are 6 roman catholic dioceses in romania: two archdioceses (in Bucharest and alba iulia) and 4 dioceses (in iași, timișoara, oradea, and Satu Mare), with a total of 690 parishes.

according to the 2011 census, there were 870,774 mem-bers of the roman catholic church, of which 57.47% are ethnic Hungarians, 34.16% ethnic romanians, 2.43% ethnic germans, etc. these are served by 9 bishops and approximately 900 priests.

the roman catholic church is engaged in a wealth of char-itable activities. the church has established kindergartens, or-phanages, homes for the elderly, soup kitchens, and medical clinics and centres through its “caritas” associations, other asso-ciations, and directly through parishes and monastic organiza-tions. training of religious staff takes place at the roman catholic theological institutes in iași, alba iulia, and roman, as well as at the School of catholic theology at the universities of iași and Bucharest, and the university of Babeș-Bolyai in cluj-Napoca.

6.1.4. The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek Catholic

the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic, was es-tablished in transylvania at the end of the 17th century, a union of some romanian orthodox christians and the catholic church. the greek catholic church has functioned as one of the two ro-manian churches in transylvania for two and a half centuries. With the establishment of the communist regime in 1948, the greek catholic church was abolished by the romanian State by Decree no. 358/1948, and believers were forced to convert to or-thodoxy or the latin catholic rite. according to this same decree,

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all its properties were taken over by the State, except its church-es and diocesan houses, which were transferred to the roma-nian orthodox church. after the December 1989 revolution, one of the first measures taken by the romanian State was the passage of Decree-Law no. 9 of 31 December 1989, which abro-gated Decree no. 358/1948, and officially recognized the roma-nian church united with rome, greek catholic. the romanian church united with rome, greek catholic, is organized accord-ing to the code of canons of the eastern churches, recognized officially by government Ordinance no. 1218/2008. according to the code of canons, the romanian church united with rome is a sui juris church; it has the rank of a major archdiocese (immedi-ately below that of the Patriarchy), and is run by the Holy Synod, whose President is His eminence lucian Mureșan, ordained as a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVi in 2012.

the 2011 census showed there are 150,593 greek catholic believers, representing 0.8% of the population that declared their religious affiliation; of these, 82.71% are ethnic romanians, 10.72% ethnic Hungarians, 4.32% ethnic roma, 0.8% ethnic ukrainians, and 0.57% ethnic germans.

the greek catholic church has 6 dioceses whose canoni-cal jurisdiction includes 5 vicarages, 75 deaneries, 939 parishes, some 560 places of worship, about 900 priests, and over 25 mo-nastic orders and congregations. the 6 dioceses that make up the Holy Synod of the romanian church united with rome are:

1) the archdiocese of alba iulia and făgăraş, with head-quarters in Blaj, whose canonical jurisdiction includes alba (par-tial), Braşov, cluj (partial), covasna, Harghita, Mureş, and Sibiu counties.

2) the Diocese of oradea has canonical jurisdiction over arad (partial), Bihor, Satu Mare (partial), and Sălaj (partial) counties.

3) the Diocese of cluj-gherla, with headquarters in cluj-Napoca, has canonical jurisdiction over alba (partial), Bistriţa-Năsăud, cluj (partial), Maramureş (partial), and Sălaj (partial) counties.

4) the Diocese of lugoj has canonical jurisdiction over alba (partial), arad (partial), caraş-Severin, Hunedoara and timiş counties, and includes two vicarages in timișoara and Hațeg.

5) the Diocese of Maramureş, with headquarters in

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Baia-Mare, has jurisdiction over Maramureş, Satu-Mare (partial), Sălaj (partial), and Suceava counties, and includes a vicarage in Baia Mare for ukrainian greek catholic believers.

6) the “Sfântul Vasile cel Mare” Diocese in Bucharest has ju-risdiction over oltenia, Muntenia, and Dobrogea.

the Holy Synod of the romanian church united with rome has jurisdiction over the romanian greek catholic Diocese of canton-ohio in the united States.

training of clerical staff takes place at the greek catholic university of theology in cluj-Napoca, in three departments (Blaj, cluj, oradea), and at the greek catholic university of theology in Baia Mare. the greek catholic church also has 8 theological high schools, included in the State education network.

there are numerous associations that operate under the au-thority of the greek catholic church, including: asociaţia generală a românilor uniţi (agru), with headquarters in cluj-Napoca, and branches in cities in transylvania, Banat, and Bucharest, asociaţia tineretului român unit (aStru), cercetașii creștini români, asociaţia culturală ion căianu, and reuniunea Mariană. the greek catholic Dioceses are involved in helping the poor, persons with handicaps, and the sick, and offering other types of social services through “caritas” type associations and several monastic orders.

Armenian Catholic Ordinariate

at the end of the 17th century, the armenians of transylvania joined the catholic church, maintaining their traditional rite to officiate in the armenian language. a diocese was organized with a seat in the city of gherla. By the concordat with the

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 535 clerical sal-ary contributions for one major archbishop, 5 bishops, 3 assistant bishops, 5 vicars general, 2 diocesan administrative vicars, 16 di-ocesan counsellors, one diocesan inspector, 4 diocesan secretaries, 45 deans, one exarch, 12 abbots, 309 clerical positions (65% contri-bution of base salary), and 134 clerical positions (80% contribution of base salary).

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Vatican in 1927-1929, the armenian catholic ecclesiastical unit was recognized on 5 June 1930 as a self-governing diocese.

after 1948 the armenian catholic diocese came de facto (but not de jure) under the administration of the roman catholic Diocese of alba iulia. in 1991 the roman catholic archbishop of alba iulia was appointed apostolic administrator ad nu-tum Sanctae Sedis (i.e. ad interim). in this way, the armenian catholic ordinariate became part of a sort of pastoral union with the romanian catholic Diocese of alba iulia, which current-ly has 4 catholic armenian rite parishes: gherla, gheorghieni, Dumbrăveni and frumoasa.

6.1.5. Armenian Church Diocese

the armenians settled in romania as far back as the 11th and 12th centuries, and the ruler, Prince alexander the good, estab-lished the Suceava diocese for them in 1401.

the armenian denomination was recognized in romania by the 1928 Law on Religions, followed by the 1931 Law for the Establishment and Functioning of the Armenian Diocese. in 1949 the organic and administrative statute of the armenian church Diocese of romania was approved, which mentions the fact that it is under the dogmatic and canonical authority of catholicos of all armenians in ejmiatsin, but it regulates, runs, and administers all religious, cultural, foundational, and trustee matters in con-formity with romanian legislation.

the armenian church Diocese is under the jurisdiction of the armenian apostolic church, whose spiritual centre is in ejmiatsin (in armenia), residential seat of catholicos, Supreme head of all armenians. the armenian Diocese is run by an archbishop or a bishop, assisted by two diocesan vicars: a vicar general and an ad-ministrative vicar. the central body of the diocese is the diocesan congress, and the higher executive body is the Diocesan council. the latter has three committees: the spiritual church committee, the cultural committee, and the economic committee. the paro-chial leadership bodies are made up of the Parochial assembly, the Parochial council (curator), and Parochial committees. there are 10 parishes in the armenian Diocese of romania, served by 4 priests, 3 deacons, and 2 cantors, with 16 churches and 6 denominational

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cemeteries. the most important communities are in Bucharest and constanţa. the other communities in this country are made up of 12-20 families. there are two armenian monasteries in Suceava county, registered as historical monuments, in Zamca and Hagigadar, and these are the only armenian monasteries in europe.

the 2011 census registered 393 armenian believers, of which 212 are ethnic armenians, 115 are ethnic Hungarians, and 55 are eth-nic romanians.

6.1.6. Old-Rite Orthodox Church of Romania

the old-rite orthodox church of romania was established by the old Believers (russian Starovers) in the first part of the 18th century. they refused the liturgical reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow (1652-1658); state persecutions to which they were sub-jected led some Starovers to take refuge in the romanian coun-tries, where they formed the lipovenean community.

the first lipovenean communities in romania were docu-mented in the Suceava villages of lipoveni (1724) and Manolea (1743). in 1846, the old-rite Metropolis of fântâna albă was es-tablished in northern Bukovina, led by Metropolitan ambrozie. the event marked the aggregation of old-rite christian com-munities in an autonomous church, which included all old-rite believers in europe, america, and australia. ambrozie’s succes-sors (Kirill, arkadi, etc.) also held the title of Metropolitans, and were recognized as spiritual leaders of all old-rite christian be-lievers in the world, a status and recognition they still have to-day. at present, the Primate of the old-rite orthodox church of romania is father lavrentie izot.

on 28 June 1940, following the occupation of northern Bukovina by the Soviet union, the old-rite christian Metropolis

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 11 clerical sala-ry contributions for one archbishop, one vicar general, one dioc-esan administrative vicar, 2 diocesan counsellors, one diocesan secretary, one dean, 3 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and one clerical position (80% contribution of base salary).

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moved from fântâna albă to Brăila, where it is still located today, with prerogatives of spiritual leadership over all co-religionists throughout the world. old-rite russian christians follow the tra-ditional orthodox ordinances, celebrate services in the Slavonic language according to pre-Nikonian liturgical practices, and fol-low the unrevised Julian calendar.

according to the 2011 census, the old-rite christian church of romania has 32,558 believers, of which 17,268 (53.03%) are ethnic russian lipovans, and 13,667 (42%) ethnic romanians, organized in 43 parishes with 59 places of worship. the ad-ministrative organization of the old-rite orthodox church of romania includes the following dioceses: the old-rite orthodox archdiocese, with its seat in Brăila county, the tulcea Diocese, with its seat in tulcea Municipality, the Slava Diocese, with its seat in the town of Slava rusă, tulcea county, and the Moldova Diocese, with its seat in târgu-frumos, iași county.

the canonical jurisdiction of the 4 dioceses is divided as follows:

� the fântâna albă Diocese, with its seat in Brăila, includes the russian old-rite orthodox parishes in Brăila and galaţi counties, Bucharest Municipality, Borduşani (ialomiţa county), and the town of fântâna albă (in ukraine).

� the Slava Diocese includes the russian old-rite orthodox parishes in the villages of Slava rusă, tulcea county, Slava cercheză, carcaliu, ghindăreşti, Jurilovca, and 2 Mai, the towns of cernavodă and Năvodari, the Municipality of constanţa, and parishes in Bulgaria.

� the Diocese of Bukovina and Moldavia includes the russian old-rite parishes in iaşi, Vaslui, Neamţ, Suceava, and Botoşani counties.

� the tulcea Diocese includes the russian old-rite par-ishes in tulcea Municipality, the towns of Sulina and Mahmudia, and the villages of Sarichioi, Periprava, chilia Veche, Mila 23, and Sfiştovca.

the russian old-rite christian orthodox faith does not have its own theological education system, and priests are cho-sen from among believers considered apt to officiate religious services, familiar with the Slavonic language, the specific as-pects of the church, and its canons. as of 2003, with the approval

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The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 61 clerical salary contributions for one metropolitan, one assistant bish-op, 2 vicar bishops, 3 diocesan counsellors, 2 abbots, 36 cleri-cal positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 16 clerical positions (80% contribution of base salary).

of the romanian orthodox church leadership, a class has been established at the orthodox theological Seminary of iași for the students of the russian old-rite christian orthodox church.

6.1.7. Reformed Church of Romania

the christian reformed denomination, based on the theology of John calvin, came to transylvania very rapidly, as early as the 16th century, organized and institutionally recognized in the 1564-1580 period, with the establishment of the reformed Diocese of ardeal.

after the great union of 1918, the reformed parish-es in Banat, crișana, and Maramureș left the jurisdiction of the Hungarian diocese, to form a new diocese, with its seat in oradea.

according to the 2011 census, the reformed church of romania has 600,932 members, of which (93.78%) are ethnic Hungarians, 3.3% ethnic romanians, and 2.74% ethnic roma, united in two dioceses with 709 preaching stations and 887 ministers:6

the reformed Diocese of ardeal, with its seat in cluj-Napoca, includes the reformed believers in the transylvanian counties. the diocese is divided into 15 deaneries: aiud, Brașov, călata (Huedin), cluj, Dej, gurghiu (reghin), Hunedoara, Mureş, Mureş-câmpie, odorheiu Secuiesc, Sfântu gheorghe, târnava, târgu Secuiesc, turda, and Ținutul Pădurii.

the reformed Diocese near Piatra craiului, with its seat in oradea, includes the believers in Banat, crişana, and Maramureş. the parishes of the diocese are organized in 9 deaneries: Bihor, Baia Mare, Satu Mare, carei, eriu (Marghita), arad, timişoara, Şimleul Silvaniei, and Zalău.

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the denomination’s governing bodies are: the Synod (for the church in its entirety, responsible for church legislation and essential truths of faith); the Diocesan general assembly (for each diocese); the Deanery general assembly (for each dean-ery); the Parish assembly (for each parish). the executive bodies are the conductor council - at the diocesan level; the Deanery council – at the deanery level; the Parish council – at the par-ish level. reformed clerical staff are trained in Hungarian at the Protestant theological institute in cluj-Napoca.

6.1.8. Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania

the evangelical church of the augsburg confession is founded on the teachings of Martin luther (1483-1546), initiator of the Protestant reformation. lutheran reform spread among the Saxon population of transylvania in the middle of the 16th cen-tury, following contacts with religious life in western europe and with universities in germany.

the church’s organizer was Johannes Honterus (1498-1549), an inhabitant of Brașov. the 1572 Mediaș Synod made the “augustan” (augsburg) confession the official doctrine of this church, with a document drawn up in 1530 in augsburg, as a ba-sis for propagation and church life.

after the establishment of austro-Hungarian dualism and the annexation of transylvania to Hungary (1867), the church also took on a socio-cultural function, especially involved in the organization of educational-denominational life, in order to maintain a national identity. it continued this function even after the establishment of greater romania (1918). the diocesan seat was in Biertan as of 1572 and was moved to Sibiu in 1867.

Since December 1989, the evangelical church a.c. very actively restarted its socio-cultural activities to preserve and

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 790 clerical sala-ry contributions for one bishop head of worship, 2 vicar bishops, 8 counsellors, 23 deans, 529 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 227 clerical positions (80% contribution of base salary).

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capitalize on the very valuable cultural church patrimony. the organic statute of the evangelical church a.c. in romania dates back to 1861, subject to a series of changes over time.

the organizational structure of the church includes the lo-cal church, the district church, and the general church. the local church (community, parish) is a legal entity, and is governed by a general assembly of representatives of church communities and a Parish council (presbyterium).

there are currently 247 communities, organized in 30 in-dependent parishes and 217 branch communities. the denom-ination has 262 places of worship, and is served by 32 parish priests and 7 priests with other responsibilities. the general church includes five church districts (deaneries) in Sibiu, Braşov, Sighişoara, Mediaş, and Sebeş. the district governing bodies are the District church congress and the District consistory. the dis-trict is led by a deacon.

the parishes together form the general church. the gov-erning bodies are the general church congress and the great consistory. the 50-person general church congress is made up of members of the great consistory, deacons, church district cu-rators, and clerical and lay delegates. this body deals with the most important issues of the church, including the choice of bishop, general curator, and members of the great consistory. the bishop is the head of the general church.

Prior to 1940, the total number of evangelical believers was 250,000, organized in over 250 parishes. following World War ii and subsequent political developments, especially the succes-sive waves of emigration in the last few decades, the number of believers dropped significantly, and the 2011 census recorded 5,399 believers (of which 53.6% are ethnic germans, 27.8% eth-nic romanians, and 14.4% ethnic Hungarians).

evangelical church a.c. priests receive their training in german at the “lucian Blaga” university, School of theology, in Sibiu.

as of 1961 the evangelical church a.c. has become a mem-ber of the World council of churches, and joined the lutheran

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World federation in 1963, also collaborating as a member in the conference of european churches. it currently has strong ties to the evangelical church of germany, especially the “gustav adolf-Werk” and the “Martin-luther-Bund,” as well as a series of mem-ber churches (Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, renania, Westfalia, etc.). the evangelical church a.c. edits the monthly Kirchliche Blätter magazine.

6.1.9. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Romania

the evangelical lutheran church has the same doctrine and his-tory as the evangelical church of the augsburg confession. af-ter the great union in 1918, the Hungarian and Slovak lutheran parishes in greater romania formed a church distinct from that of the transylvanian Saxons, and has remained as such until this day.

according to the 2011 census, the evangelical lutheran church of romania has 20,168 members (some 62% ethnic Hungarians, 16% ethnic germans, 12% ethnic Slovaks, and some 9.8% ethnic romanians). the evangelical lutheran church is or-ganized on the basis of a synodal-Presbyterian system, with a bishop as its head, elected by the general assembly of parishes. its supreme representative body is the Synod.

Synod members ex officio with voting rights are the dio-cese and deanery Presidia, the supreme general notary, the ju-nior curator, and the legal counsellor of the parish. a further 30 persons are elected from the three deaneries (Brașov, cluj-Napoca, and Nădlac), both clergy and lay persons. the church’s supreme representative body is the Synod, which usually meets every three years. Between Synod sessions, executive authori-ty is vested in the Presbyterian diocese, made up of the bishop, the senior curator-general, the deputy bishop, the internal mis-sion referent, the principal diocesan counsellor, deans, the presi-dent of the theological commission, the catechetical referent,

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 47 clerical salary contributions for one bishop head of worship, one secretary gen-eral, 3 diocesan counsellors, and 42 clerical positions (65% con-tribution of base salary).

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The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 48 clerical sal-ary contributions for one bishop head of worship, one diocesan administrative vicar, 2 diocesan counsellors, 30 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 14 clerical positions (80% contribution of base salary).

the diaconal referent, and the media officer. the Presbyterian di-ocese usually meets annually.

6.1.10. Hungarian Unitarian Church

the unitarian faith was established in transylvania through the efforts of francis Dávid (1520-1579), a reformer from cluj, who taught anti-trinitarianism. the church was established in 1568, the year the edict of turda for freedom of conscience and reli-gion at the Diet of turda (6-13 January 1568) was proclaimed. the name “unitarian” comes from latin, whose noun unus relates to the indivisible entity of god. unitarian spirituality encourages the propagation and practice of religious tolerance, an openness to the knowledge of religious diversity, the respecting of freedom of conscience, a commitment to social and civic responsibility, and the primacy of reason and consciousness.

in 2012, the unitarian church of transylvania and the unitarian church of Hungary merged under the name of Hungarian unitarian church. the church has 137 parishes, grouped in 6 dean-eries in romania and one diocese in Hungary. the organization of this church is based on the synodal-Presbyterian principle, which means that lay persons have an important role, that leadership is collective, and that basic church units are autonomous. the high-er authority, the diocesan bureau, the church associations, and most church institutions have their seat in cluj.

there are two unitarian church high school-level theo-logical institutions that offer more than just theological educa-tion, with real specialization and the humanities: liceul teoretic unitarian “János Zsigmond” in cluj-Napoca and liceul teoretic unitarian “Berde Mózes” in cristuru-Secuiesc. Since 1948, unitarian priests have been trained at institutul teologic Protestant in cluj, which was established through the unification of the romanian theological academies of Protestant churches.

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in order to carry out their mission in various areas, the church established several associations (i.e. asociaţia “Dávid ferenc,” asociaţia literară unitariană, asociaţia femeilor unitariene, asociaţia Naţională de tineret “Dávid ferenc,” uniunea Preoţilor unitarieni, and asociaţia caritativă “Providenţa.” the church’s so-cial and charitable activities can also be seen in the activity of its 85 diocesan branches of the asociaţia femeilor unitariene, but es-pecially that of the charitable “Providenţa” association.

according to the 2011 census, the Hungarian unitarian church has 57,686 members, of which 96.7% are ethnic Hungarians, 1.8%ethnic romanians, and 1.4% ethnic roma.

6.1.11. The Union of Christian Baptist Churches in Romania

Baptist christians claim the faith traditions of the 15-16th centu-ry anabaptist movements, especially the efforts of John Smith, who founded the first Baptist church in amsterdam in 1609. the first Baptist church in romania was established in 1856 in Bucharest, and Baptist believers organized under the name of the union of christian Baptist communities in 1920. it is a recog-nized religion by Decree no. 553/1944.

at present, the christian Baptist denomination in romania has some 1,800 churches in all regions of the country and about 700 pastors. according to the 2011 census, there were 112,850 Baptists, of which 80% are ethnic romanians, 11% eth-nic Hungarians, and 7.8% ethnic roma. the church’s governing bodies are the general assembly, the church committee, and the church pastor, who serves as Presbyter (elder), also called a bish-op (supervisor).

the union of christian Baptist churches of romania (Baptist union) is the national representative body of the christian Baptist denomination in romania. the Baptist union

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 117 clerical sal-ary contributions for: one bishop head of worship, one diocesan vicar, 4 diocesan counsellors, 6 deans, 74 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 31 clerical positions (80% con-tribution of base salary).

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The Baptist Christian Church does not request State funding for clerical salaries, but only support for the construction and repair of places of worship.

expresses the spiritual and doctrinal unity of Baptist believers in romania, and represents the general interests of Baptist church-es and of the other component parts of the Baptist church in romania. at the territorial level the Baptist union is structured as several regional communities: arad, Bacău, Brăila, Bucharest, caraș-Severin, cluj, constanţa, Hunedoara, oltenia, oradea, Sibiu, Suceava, timișoara, Valea crișului alb, and the Hungarian convention, made up of Hungarian believers.

the supreme leadership body is the congress, which meets once every 4 years, and between congress sessions, it is the National conference, which meets yearly. Between National conference sessions, the leadership is carried out by an executive committee, which is elected by the congress, and is made up of a chairman, 4 Vice chairmen, a Secretary general, and an assistant Secretary general. the Baptist church has the follow-ing educational institutions: the School of Baptist theology within the university of Bucharest, not integrated into state ed-ucation, the “emanuel” university in oradea Municipality with 4 schools, 7 high school-level theological schools, and 5 second-ary schools.

6.1.12. Christian Church of the Gospel in Romania – Union of Chris-tian Churches of the Gospel in Romania

the institutional organization of the christian community of the gospel began in Bucharest in 1899. recognized by the state in 1933 as a religion, the christians of the gospel were constrained by King carol ii’s regime to merge with the christians of the Scrip-ture, forming the christian church of the gospel, with two branch-es: branch 1 (the actual christians of the gospel), and branch 2 (the current romanian evangelical church). later, in 1946, the christian church of the gospel was recognized as a religion, and the two branches split again after 1989.

as a result of the split of the two branches and the drop in the population, the 1992 census registered 49,393 members,

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while the 2011 census recorded 42,495 members (of which 86.6% ethnic romanians, 7% ethnic roma, and 4.6% ethnic Hungarians).

the organizational structure of the christian church of the gospel is local, in communities with at least 15 members. there are 671 such communities functioning throughout the coun-try and these are led by 176 presbyters (elder brothers). the su-preme body of the union of christian churches of the gospel is the National conference, which meets once every 4 years, and which elects the members of the executive committee from among the National council members. the National conference and the National council are made up of delegates of the area, with the level of representation larger within the National conference. the National council meets twice a year and rep-resents the church’s leadership structure between National conference sessions. the executive committee represents the executive leadership structure and is made up of a chairman, a vice chairman, and a secretary general. the university level “timotheus” theological institute in Bucharest, not integrated in the state education system, a secondary school, a high school in-tegrated in the state education system, and five biblical schools are run by the christian church of the gospel.

6.1.13. The Romanian Evangelical Church

the romanian evangelical church was established by theolo-gians Dumitru cornilescu and teodor Popescu in the 1920s. in 1926, under their guidance, several hundred believers built the first church in Bucharest. at the request of the authorities, in or-der that they might be distinguished from other religious orga-nizations, they took the name of christians of the Scripture in 1927, organized officially as an association.

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 62 clerical sal-ary contributions for one president, one union vice president, one secretary general, one general church inspector, one ad-ministrative diocesan vicar, one diocesan secretary, one dioc-esan counsellor, 38 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 17 clerical positions (80% contribution of base salary).

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churches were established in a very short time in Ploieşti, câmpulung, târgovişte, rucăr, Buzău, Piteşti, Bârlad, and Braşov. as a result of pressure from the political authori-ties, the christians of the Scripture united temporarily in 1939 with the christians of the gospel. after 1990, the romanian evangelical believers split from the christians of the gospel, forming the romanian evangelical church.

the leadership for the denomination is provided by the National Brotherhood council (maximum 21 members), the executive Bureau (3 members), and the general assembly of representatives. the National Brotherhood council car-ries out missionary activities, and coordinates the activities of the denomination, including administration and finances.

the executive Bureau of the denomination, directly subordinate to the National Brotherhood council, takes care of the day-to-day issues of the church, and represents it with the public authorities as well as with other institutions in the country and abroad.

the general assembly of representatives is the su-preme forum that guides and controls the activities of the romanian evangelical church and is its main deliberative and representative (one representative for each 50 believers) body.

according to the 2011 census, the number of per-sons who declared that they belonged to the romanian evangelical church was 15,514 (0.08% of the population who declared themselves as belonging to a religion), most-ly ethnic romanians (67.65%), ethnic germans (15%), ethnic Hungarians (9.62%), and ethnic roma (5.61%). the romanian evangelical church has 140 preaching stations.

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 10 clerical salary contributions for one union vice president, 7 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 2 clerical po-sitions (80% contribution of base salary

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6.1.14. Pentecostal Union – The Apostolic Church of God of Romania

the christian Pentecostals claim their name from one of their most heartfelt beliefs, according to which the believers are bap-tized by the Holy Spirit, in the same way as the apostles on the Pentecost. Pentecostals first appeared in the united States at the beginning of the 20th century, and the first romanian commu-nity was recorded in 1922 in the village of Păuliş, in arad county.

according to the 2011 census, 362,314 persons indicat-ed they are members of Pentecostal union – apostolic church of god, or 1.92% of the total population that declared them-selves as belonging to a religion. Most Pentecostals are ethnic romanians (76.36%), followed by ethnic roma (19.66%), ethnic Hungarians (1.77%), and ethnic ukrainians (1.76%). the christian Pentecostal denomination has 3,078 preaching stations (church-es and branches) and 756 pastors, of which 2,895 preaching stations and 686 pastors in romania, and 183 churches and 70 pastors in europe and israel. its organization is decentralized, re-specting local church autonomy. the denomination has a cen-tral, collective leadership, represented by a 33-member church council and an executive committee of 9 members, headed by a president.

these bodies are elected at a general elective assembly, the denomination’s highest governing body, which meets once every four years. there are several regional and territorial com-munities as intermediaries between the local churches and the central leadership: arad, Braşov, Bucharest, cluj, constanța, Maramureș-Sătmar, oltenia-argeș, oradea, Suceava, the ethnic Hungarian Pentecostal community, the italian territorial community, and the Spanish territorial community. the christian Pentecostal church also has authorized Pentecostal churches in other european union states and in israel. one or several pastors head a local church, depending on the number of believers, with a committee elected by each church, whose members also include presbyters and deacons, subordinate to the pastor.

Pastoral training takes place at the university level at the institutul teologic Penticostal in Bucharest, not integrated into the state education system, as well as at the seminary school

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The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 204 clerical sala-ry contributions for: one president, one union vice president, one secretary general, 9 diocesan counsellors, 138 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 54 clerical positions (80% contribution of base salary).

at “aurel Vlaicu” university in arad municipality, arad county. the christian Pentecostal denomination has 9 high school- level schools (2 integrated in public education, and 4 private) and bi-ble seminaries in the regional and territorial communities.

the christian Pentecostal church has a magazine called “cuvântul adevărului,” its main media tool, and is associated with radio Vocea evangheliei. its social assistance activities are organized by the denomination in hospitals, homes for the el-derly, placement centres for children, and penitentiaries through its local churches and the specialized institutions, such as: casa elim and centrul Social Samariteanul, which belong to the “elim” Pentecostal church of Piatra-Neamţ; and centrul Social al Bisericii Penticostale “filadelfia” in Suceava municipality. there are tens of charitable associations and foundations established by members of the Pentecostal churches, that do not belong to these churches.

6.1.15. Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Romania

the name “adventist” is originally english and refers to the await-ing of the Second advent (the Second coming of Jesus christ) or Parusia (greek), and the mention of the “Seventh Day” expresses the specific belief of adventists: Saturday, the seventh day of the week being reserved as the Day of god and the day of rest. in the historic sense, the name “adventists” refers to all beliefs coming directly or indirectly from the interdenominational movement initiated by William Miller (1782-1849), which gathered together the Sabbatarian and non-Sabbatarian faiths; at present its name is often shortened to “Seventh-Day adventists.”

organized originally in the romanian countries in the 1870-1919 period, the adventists appeared as a result of interna-tional missions of the adventist church. Seventh-Day adventism

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was brought to romania by the Polish missionary Michał Belina czechowski (1818-1876), a franciscan friar, later converted to the Baptist faith in london. He converted to adventism (1856) and became a missionary in europe (1864), establishing an adventist community in Switzerland. in 1869 he preached in transylvania, and in 1870 arrived in Pitești where he converted the sons of garabet Hagi aslan.

in 1920 the approximately 2,000 adventists organized as the romanian union of evangelical communities of Seventh-Day adventists and established a publishing house and print shop named “cuvântul evangheliei,” as well as the institutul Biblic [Biblical institute] (1923). the Seventh-Day adventist church be-came officially recognized as a religion in 1925 – sometimes tol-erated, other times persecuted, as were other similar religious communities. During ion antonescu’s dictatorship, the adventist association was declared illegal, but became a recognized reli-gion again in 1946 by Decree-law no. 407/1946.

in romania there are six adventist conferences (federa-tions): Muntenia (with its seat in Bucharest), Moldova (Bacău), northern transylvania (cluj-Napoca), southern transylvania (târgu-Mureș), Banat (arad), and oltenia (craiova). these form the union of conferences, with its seat in Voluntari (ilfov county), which supervises and promotes the adventist church mission in the entire country.

the adventist church has an accredited university with a variety of specializations (cernica, ilfov); four high school-level schools (in Bucharest – Ştefan Demetrescu” and “Mihai ionescu;” and in cluj-Napoca and craiova); a post-secondary nursing school (in Brăila), several elementary and secondary schools, and kindergartens.

there is also the asociaţia conștiinţa și libertate, asociaţia studenţească aMicuS, editura Viaţa și Sănătate (Pantelimon, ilfov) and other publishing houses, the institutul de Studii Biblice prin corespondenţă (Sola Scriptura, Şcoala de Sabat by age groups - Primii paşi, grădiniţă, Primară, Juniori, companioni, Majori) and the biblical vacation school, 3 special health centres, one charitable hospital (Viziru, Brăila), a clinic (Bucharest), homes for the elderly and children; an association for persons with

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The Adventist Church does not request financial support from the State for clerical salaries, but only for the building and repair of places of worship.

disabilities, a humanitarian agency (aDra românia), a human-itarian service for penitentiaries; a media centre that adminis-ters the Speranţa tV television station and tens of radio stations of radio Vocea Speranţei throughout the country, an associa-tion for support and initiative (aSi), centres for youth (“respiro,” Moieciu, Brașov; Sătic, argeș), asociaţia Sănătate şi temperanţă with a variety of activities, such as expo-sănătate, “adio, ţigări!;” and asociaţia pentru Sănătate, educaţie şi familie (aSef).

at present the adventist church has 1,095 places of wor-ship; the pastoral body of the church is made up of some 400 pastors. according to the results of the 2011 census, the num-ber of persons who declared themselves as belonging to the adventist community was 80,944, mostly ethnic romanians (79.6%), ethnic Hungarians (9.86%), ethnic roma (8.39%), and ethnic ukrainians (1.6%).

6.1.16. Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania – Jewish Faith

although the presence of Jews was registered much earlier in various documents, the first Jewish communities are document-ed as having settled in the romanian space in the 16th and 17th centuries, under the protection of the romanian Princes, who offered them freedom of belief, and recognition of rabbinical courts and specific educational institutions. Prince constantin Brâncoveanu treated the Jewish communities of the romanian countries as a sort of guild. the position of chief rabbi, Haham-bashia, was established in Moldavia in 1719.

the political emancipation of the Jews became a reality with the constitution of 1923, and in 1928 the Jewish commu-nities became unified under the name of the united federation of Jewish communities. Nevertheless, the end of the period be-tween the two Wars and the years of the Second World War were marked by restrictions of citizen and religious rights and freedoms of the Jews, culminating in the Holocaust.

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according to the statute of organization and functioning of the Jewish faith, the denominational activity of the Jewish mi-nority in romania is administered by the federation of Jewish communities, which includes all communities and municipali-ties in the country, with its seat in Bucharest. of the 39 communi-ties and 21 municipalities, the most important were in Bucharest, oradea, timişoara, cluj, arad, iaşi, târgu Mureş, Bacău, Brăila, Satu Mare, Piatra Neamţ, focșani, Sighetu Marmaţiei, galaţi, Botoşani, Brașov, and Deva.

the governing bodies of local communities are the gen-eral assembly, the governing committee, and the commission of censors. the following are clerical positions of the Jewish faith: chief rabbi (religious leader of the faith; grand rabbi; rabbi; Hakham (ensures that ritual meat meets Jewish standards); chazzan (cantor), who participates in the officiating of religious services; Melamed (leads talmud and torah courses); Sofer (tran-scribes holy texts on special parchments); Dayan (rabbinical judge); Mashgiach (supervises food preparation and certifies the food is kosher); and Baal Koreh (chanter of the torah).

there are 87 Jewish temples and synagogues on romanian territory. Many of these have been declared historic or archi-tectural monuments, and are protected by law (such as the coral temple and the great Synagogue of Bucharest, the great Synagogue of iaşi, the orthodox Zion Synagogue of oradea, the Synagogue of the timișoara citadel, the temple of the Deported in cluj, the Baal Shem tov Synagogue in Piatra Neamţ, the temple in târgu Mureș, and the great Synagogue of Botoșani).the Jewish community also has 832 cemeteries in 738 towns, ad-ministered by the Jewish religious communities of those areas.

according to the 2011 census, the number of ethnic Jews in romania was 3,271, and 3,519 persons declared that they belong to the Jewish faith.

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 8 clerical salary contributions for one president, one vice president, one secretary general, one director, one assistant director, 3 religious counsel-lors , 1 clerical position (65% contribution of base salary).

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6.1.17. Islam

the beginning of islam in romania is linked to the arrival of the Pechenegs and cumans in the 11th and 12th centuries, and es-pecially with the turco-tatar conquest of the Khanate of the golden Horde in the 13th century. However, it is only in the 14th and 15th centuries that the first stable Muslim communities ap-peared, as a result of the instauration of ottoman suzerainty over the romanian countries. With the takeover of Dobrogea by the romanian State in 1877-1878, Muslim believers were orga-nized into four muftiates.

there was a single muftiate in 1943, with its seat in constanța. Muslim believers were ethnic turks, tatars, and romanians, and their status as an officially recognized religion dates back to 1928, by Law no. 54/1928 on the general Status of religious faiths.

the religious activities of the Muslim faith are led by the Mufti, elected by secret ballot from among the imams. a syn-odal body, known as the Sura islam, which meets periodically to resolve any administrative and organizational problems of the religion, assists the Mufti. the community is the basic unit of the Muslim faith, which includes all Muslim believers in a town, and is governed by a committee of 5, 7, or 9 members elected for a period of four years.

at present there are 50 active Muslim communities and 20 branches, with 55 imams, scattered throughout constanţa (63 units), tulcea (4 units), one unit each in Brăila and galaţi counties, and in Bucharest. there are two types of Muslim places of wor-ship (a total of 81) in romania: Jamia (mosque) and Masjid. the Muslim faith has the concessions to 124 cemeteries.

according to the 2011 census, there are 64,337 Muslims in romania, making up 0.34% of the population who have de-clared their religious affiliation; most of these are ethnic turks (41.81%), ethnic tatars (31.18%), ethnic romanians (9.76%), and a significant number of persons belonging to various ethnic groups not separately registered in the census (6,906 believ-ers, or 10.76% of the Muslim population), of which 67.27% live in constanța county, 14.04% in Bucharest Municipality, 5.11%

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in tulcea county, and the remainder in different urban centres, such as Brăila, cluj-Napoca, călărași, galați, giurgiu, Drobeta-turnu Severin, and ilfov county.

the only educational institution for the training of imams is the colegiu Naţional Kemal ataturk in Medgidia, which has a theological class.

6.1.18. Jehovah’s Witnesses Religious Organization

the first christians belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith who appeared in romania were attested in 1911. in 1920 they established the first central seat in cluj-Napoca. on 21 april 1937, the Ministry of religious affairs issued an order, pub-lished in romania’s official gazette, Monitorul oficial, and in newspapers, which prohibited the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in romania. although this order was contested in court, another order was issued against the Jehovah’s Witness-es in June 1938. on 2 august 1938, the central seat of the Jeho-vah’s Witnesses in Bucharest was closed. after World War ii, on 11 July 1945, the Jehovah’s Witnesses had their status as recog-nized religion restored. When the communists took power, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were once again declared illegal by Jus-tice Minister Decision no. 86.310 of 8 august 1949.

from 1949 to 1989 the Jehovah’s Witnesses were perse-cuted by the totalitarian regime. Persecutions were in the form of humiliations, arrests, imprisonment for various periods, in-cluding for life, sentencing to hard labour on the canal or in Danube Delta work camps.

after the 1989 fall of communism the Jehovah’s Witnesses regained their legal standing on 9 april 1990 by civil Sentence no. 1.148/1990, pronounced by Bucharest Sector 1 court in record no. 1.174.1990, which makes it a legal entity.

The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs makes 62 clerical sala-ry contributions for one mufti, 6 administrative heads, 45 clerical positions (65% contribution of base salary), and 10 clerical posi-tions (80% contribution of base salary).

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on 22 May 2003, the Ministry of culture and religious affairs in romania granted the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization recognized religion status, and the romanian gov-ernment subsequently issued government ordinance H.g. no. 658/2008 which confers state recognition on the organization and functioning of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization. for the first time, the 2011 census recorded officially the mem-bers of the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization, at 49,280 believers, or 0.26% of the population, of which most are eth-nic romanians (71.21%), 22.72% ethnic Hungarians, 3.65% eth-nic roma, and 1.7% ethnic ukrainians. the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith is based on norms and principles of the Sacred Scripture. Jehovah’s Witnesses are organized in congregations, and regu-larly hold meetings for Bible study. Some 20 congregations make up a constituency. the general congregations are made up of Jehovah’s Witnesses from a certain area or town. Several congre-gations make up a parish.

the activities of the congregations are overseen by a group of congregation elders. the congregations are visited periodically by traveling overseers, or congregation elders, who serve as su-pervisors of the parish. the elders are assisted by deputy minis-terial servants. all of these are servants of the denomination and serve without remuneration. a parish is made up of some 20 congregations, while several parishes make up a circuit. the ad-ministrative structure includes 541 congregations, 29 parishes, and 2 circuits. in romania the activity of all congregations is su-pervised by a group of “elders,” appointed by a governing Body, which serves at the central seat at Str. teleajen no. 84, Sector 2, Bucharest. the organization carries out its activities in some 350 places of worship, called Kingdom Halls, as well as in rented spac-es. the official site of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is www.jw.org and it is translated into some 750 languages. the site contains publica-tions in about 930 languages, and it is the site with the most lan-guages in the world. the magazines published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses are called Watchtower and awake! Jehovah’s Witnesses also provide services to the community.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses Religious Organization does not request State funding for clerical salaries

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6.2. Religious Associations

What is a religious association?

a religious association is a legal entity made up of at least 300 members, romanian citizens or residents in romania, that form an association in order to express a religious belief.

How is the religious association status obtained?

the procedure for obtaining this legal status involves the reg-istration of the religious association in the registry of religious associations, established at the court registry in the territorial constituency where the association has its seat. to become es-tablished as a religious association it is necessary to obtain the advisory opinion of the State Secretariat for religious affairs.

to obtain this advisory opinion, the respective association submits a request to the State Secretariat for religious affairs, accompanied by the documentation set out in art. 41, point (2), letters a-c, of Law no. 489/2006 and Order no. 15/12.03.2012, published in the official gazette, Monitorul oficial, no. 222 of 03.04.2012.

associations established on the basis of government Ordinance O.G. no. 26/2000 on associations and foundations and newly-established associations may obtain this advisory opinion.

What documents are needed to obtain the religious association sta-tus?

� articles of association (original), which must contain the name of the faith, that may not be the same or similar to any other recognized religious faith or religious association, the in-formation and signatures of the associates, seat, initial patrimo-ny, at least two gross salaries on the economy, composed of the contribution in kind or money of the associates, as well as the main leadership bodies.

� confession of faith and statutes of the faith, which must include central and local organization structures, leader-ship, administration, and control methods, establishment and

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dissolution methods, rights and obligations of members, main activities which the faith knows how to carry out to attain its spiritual aims, other specific provisions of the respective faith;

� documents proving location of seat and initial patrimony; � advisory opinion from the State Secretariat for religious

affairs; � proof of the availability of the name, issued by the

Ministry of Justice

three days from the submission of the application and documents required by art. 41, point (2), the judge appointed by the court President, will verify the legality of all documents, and will determine by decision that the faith may be registered in the registry for religious associations. once it has been duly registered, the decision which stipulates its registration is com-municated ex officio to the local financial bodies of the area in which the seat of the newly-recognized religious association is located, for tax purposes.

according to the law, religious associations may be exempt-ed from taxation for their religious activities, according to fiscal code law no. 227/2015, with its subsequent changes and amend-ments. religious associations may establish legal entity subsidiar-ies, in accordance with their statutes.

Do recognized religious associations receive tax breaks?

according to provisions in art. 44, para. (1) of law no. 489/2006 on religious freedom and the general Status of religions and art. 456 d), and 464, para. (1)d of law no. 227/2015 on the fis-cal code, religious associations are exempt from paying taxes on places of worship and the land on which these stand.

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What organizations have received an advisory opinion from the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs for their establishment as/transformation to religious associations?

By 1 May 2019, the following associations received an ad-visory opinion:

No. Religious associations Headquarters Advisory opinion

1Societatea Creștinilor Nouapostolici — România (S.C.N.A.R.)

str. Romulus nr. 67, sector 3, București

no. 1/30.03.2007; Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

2Asociația Religioasă „Nazarineană”

Arad, str. Andrei Șaguna, nr. 71, jud. Arad

no. 2/23.04.2007; Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

3Asociația „Adunările lui Dumnezeu din România”

str. Răsăritului nr. 59, sector 6, București

no. 3/17.09.2007;Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

4Asociația „Biserica Ortodoxă de Stil Vechi din România”

Mănăstirea Slătioara, com. Râșca, jud. Suceava

no. 4/19.11.2007;Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

5Asociația Adventiștilor de Ziua a Șaptea— Mișcarea de Reformă

str. Negoiu nr. 24, Făgăraș, jud. Brașov

no. 5/19.11.2007; Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

6Asociația „Centrul Creștin Aletheia”

Timișoara, b-dul Liviu Rebreanu, nr. 121, jud. Timiș

no. 6/04.12.2007;Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairsr

7Asociația „Centrul Creștin Metanoia”

str. Munteniei nr. 30, Timișoara, județul Timiș

no. 7/04.12.2007; Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

8 Asociația Religioasă Biserica Credinței din România

str. Azurului, nr. 4, Târgu Mureș, județul Mureș

no. 8/19.12.2007; Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

9Asociația Creștină a Romilor Betesda

str. Oltului nr. 2, Târgu Mureș, jud. Mureș

no. 9/21.05.2008;Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

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No. Religious associations Headquarters Advisory opinion

10Asociația Religioasă Apostolică Filadelfia

str. Soarelui, nr. 47, Pâncota, jud. Arad

no. 10/16.06.2008; Ministry of Culture and Religious

Affairs

11Asociația Religioasă „Centrul Creștin Speranța Vieții România"

str. Poet Grigore Alexandrescu nr.23, Târgoviște, jud.

Dâmbovița

no. 11/30.10.2009; Ministry of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Heritage

12Asociația Religioasa Apostolică „Templul Lui Dumnezeu”

str. Victoriei, nr.51, Târnăveni, jud. Mureș

no. 12/29.01.2010;State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

13Asociația Religioasă Creștină „Emanuel”

com. Deda, nr. 352, jud. Mureșno. 13/06.04.2010;

State Secretariat for Religious Affairs

14Asociația Comunităților Baha'i din România

bd. Magheru nr. 27, ap. 24, et. 3, sector 1, București

no. 13b/20.05.2010; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

15Asociația Religioasă „Centrul Creștin Timișoara”

str. Calea Aradului, nr. 15A, Timișoara, jud. Timiș

No advisory opinion; by Timișoara Court Decision no.

174/20.04.2007

16Asociația Religioasă Biserica Creștină Penticostală „Evanghelia”

str. Comșești, nr. 5, sector 5, București

no. 15/16.09.2010; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

17 Asociația Creștin Ecumenicăbd.Muncii, nr. 1, Scornicești,

jud. Olt

no. 16/10.12.2010;State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

18Asociația Religioasă Apostolică „Cetatea Sionului”

str. Piața Gării, nr. 1, ap. 3, Târgu Mureș, jud. Mureș

no. 17/10.05.2011; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

19Asociația Biserica Apostolică a Credinței în Isus Hristos IAFCJ

str. Marcus Aurelius nr. 70, etaj 1, Alba Iulia, jud. Alba

no. 18/05.03.2013;State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

20Asociația Religioasă Uniunea Creștină Penticostală a Biserici-lor Botezate cu Duhul Sfânt

str. Victoriei nr. 75, Negrești Oaș, jud. Satu Mare

no. 19/05.06.2013; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

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No. Religious associations Headquarters Advisory opinion

21Asociația Religioasă Uniunea Internațională a Bisericilor Penticostale a Romilor

str. Ioan Flueraș, nr. 54, Arad, jud. Arad

no. 20/10.01.2014; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

22Asociația Religioasă „Locașul Duhului Sfânt”

șos. Fundeni, biroul nr. 2, sector 2, București

no. 21/21.10.2014;State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

23Asociația Religioasă Apostolică Miracolul Creștin

str. Liviu Rebreanu nr. 1, Alba Iulia, jud. Alba

no. 22/03.12.2014; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

24 Asociația Religioasă Harveststr. Sinaia, nr. 17, Arad, jud. Arad

no. 23/01.09.2016; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

25Asociația Religioasă „Centrul Creștin Exodus”

str. Bucovinei, nr. 65, Timișoara, jud. Timiș

No. 24/11.10.2016;State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

26 Asociația Umanitară Religioasăstr. Laguna Albastră, nr. 56

A, satul Corbeanca, com. Corbeanca, jud. Ilfov

no. 25/24.11.2016; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

27„Asociația Religioasă Râul

Vieții”aleea Gura Câlnăului, nr. 12-

22, sector 3, București

no. 26/27.12.2016; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

28„Asociația Religioasă a Bisericii

Lumina”str. Tudor Arghezi, nr. 8,

Timișoara, jud. Timiș

No. 27/02.05.2017; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

29Asociația Religioasă„Credința Străbună”

str. Alexandru cel Bun, bl. nr. 6, ap. 44, etaj. 3, sc .D,

Roman, jud. Neamț

No. 28/09.06.2017; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

30Uniunea Bisericilor Penticostale

Holiness- Filiala din Româniastr. Doina nr.19,

Oradea, jud. Bihor

no. 29/25.07.2017; State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

31 Asociația Creștină Renovatiostr. Izbiceni, nr. 5, sectorul 1,

București

no. 30/23.11.2017State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

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No. Religious associations Headquarters Advisory opinion

32Asociaţia „Comunitatea

Creștină Evanghelică Harul”jud. Sălaj, Str. Sărmaș, nr.1

mun. Zalău

no. 31/12.12.2017State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

33Asociaţia Biserica Creștină

Ortodoxă Valahăcom. Fundata, str. Principală

nr. 119, jud. Brașov

no. 32/14.12.2017State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs, based on the provision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice in file no. 2150/62/2015 by Decision no.3965/11.12.2017

34Asociația Uniunea Adunărilor

Penticostale a Romilor ‚Philadelphia”

str. Bolnog, nr. 48, Săcele, jud. Brașov

no. 33/12.03.2018State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

35Asociația Religioasă Uniunea Bisericilor Penticostale a lui

Dumnezeu

str. Laminoriștilor, nr. 31, ap.3, Câmpia Turzii, jud. Cluj

no. 34/02.05.2018, State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

36Asociaţia Creștină ”Neemia”-

Brăteiu

Str. Principală, nr. 15, comuna Brăteiu, satul Brăteiu, jud.

Sibiu

no. 35/09.01.2019, State Secretariat for Religious

Affairs

6.3. Associations and foundations with religious activities

associations and foundations that carry out religious activi-ties, established on the basis of government ordinance o.g. no. 26/2000 are not required, but may request to be registered by the State Secretariat for religious affairs.

By 1 May 2019, there were 829 registered associations and foundations, of which approximately a third carry out activities on behalf of recognized religions, while the rest are made up of members who share different religious faiths.

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Legislation Relating to Religious Life

Law no. 489 of 28 December 2006 on Religious Freedom and the Ge-neral Status of Religions

CHAPTER I

General Provisions

Art. 1 (1) The Romanian State observes and guarantees the fun-damental right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion for any individual on Romanian territory, in conformity with the Romanian Constitution and international treaties to which Romania is a party.

No one shall be prevented from or coerced into adopting an opinion or religious belief contrary to his/her persuasion, and no one shall be subjected to any discrimination, pursued, or placed in a posi-tion of inferiority on account of his/her religion or faith, his/her mem-bership or non-membership in a religious group, association, or faith, or for the exercise, according to the law, of his/her religious freedom.

Art. 2 (1) Religious freedom includes the right of every individu-al to have or embrace a religion or faith, to manifest it individually or collectively, in public or in private, through practices and rituals spe-cific to that religion, including through religious education, as well as the freedom to preserve or change one’s religious beliefs.

The freedom to manifest one’s religion or faith cannot be sub-ject to any restrictions other than those required by law, and which are necessary in a democratic society for the protection of public safe-ty, public order, health or morals, or for the protection of fundamental human rights and liberties.

Art. 3 (1) Parents or guardians have the exclusive right to opt for

ChapteR 7

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the religious education of their under-age wards, in accordance with their own convictions.

The religion of a child who has turned 14 years of age cannot be changed without his/her consent; a child who has turned 16 years of age shall have the right to choose his/her own religion or faith.

Art. 4 Any person, religion, religious association, or religious group in Romania shall be free to establish and maintain ecumenical and brotherly relations with other individuals, religions, or religious groups, and with inter-Christian and inter-religious organizations, at both national and international levels.

Art. 5 (1) Any person shall have the right to manifest his/her re-ligious beliefs collectively, in accordance with his/her own convictions and the provisions of this Law, both within religious structures with legal entity status and within religious structures without legal entity status.

The religious structures with a distinct legal entity status as reg-ulated by this Law are religions and religious associations, and the re-ligious structures without a distinct legal entity status are religious groups.

Religious communities shall be free to choose the associative structure within which they wish to manifest their religious beliefs: religion, religious association, or religious group, in observance of this Law.

In their activities, religions, religious associations, and religious groups are under an obligation to abide by the Romanian Constitution and laws, and to not be a threat to public safety, order, health, morals, and fundamental human rights and freedoms.

The processing of personal data concerning religious beliefs or membership in religions is hereby forbidden, except in the organiza-tion of a national census sanctioned by law, or in a situation where the concerned individual has given his/her explicit consent to this effect.

It is forbidden to compel an individual to declare his/her religion in any relation with public authorities or private-law legal entities.

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Art. 6 (1) A religious group is a form of association of individuals, with no legal entity status, who, without any preliminary procedure, freely adopt, share and practice the same religion.

(2) A religious association is a private law legal entity, estab-lished according to this Law, and made up of individuals who adopt, share, and practice the same religious beliefs.

(3) Under this Law, a religious association may become a recog-nized religion.

CHAPTER II

Religions

Section I Relationship between the State and Religions

Art. 7 (1) The Romanian State recognizes the spiritual, educa-tional, social-charitable, cultural and social partnership role of reli-gions, as well as their status as factors of social peace.

(2) The Romanian State recognizes the important role of the Romanian Orthodox Church and that of other churches and faiths in Romania’s national history and in the life of Romanian society.

Art. 8 (1) Recognized religions are public-utility legal entities. They shall be organized and shall operate autonomously, according to the Constitution and this Law, and based on their own by-laws or canonical codes.

(2) Furthermore, components parts of recognized religions are legal entities, as mentioned in their own by-laws or canonical codes, provided they meet the conditions set forth therein.

(3) Religions shall operate in accordance with the laws and their own by-laws and canonical codes, whose provisions are applicable to their own followers.

(4) The name of a religion may not be identical to that of anoth-er recognized religion in Romania.

Art. 9 (1) There is no State religion in Romania; the State is

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neutral towards any religious persuasion or atheistic ideology.

(2) Religions are equal before the law and public authorities. The State, through its authorities, shall neither promote nor support the granting of privileges or the institution of discrimination towards any religion.

(3) Public authorities shall cooperate with religions in matters of common interest and shall support their activities.

(4) The Romanian State, through its apposite public authorities, shall support spiritual-cultural and social activities carried out in other countries by religions recognized in Romania.

(5) The central public authorities may conclude partnerships with recognized religions in areas of common interest, as well as agreements for regulating certain aspects specific to the tradition of religions, and which shall be subject to approval by law.

Art. 10 (1) Expenditures for maintaining religions and their activ-ities shall be financed primarily from their own incomes, as generated and managed according to their by-laws.

(2) Religions may institute contributions from their worshippers in order to support their activities.

(3) The State shall promote citizen support for religions through tax exemptions, and shall encourage sponsorship of religions, under the law.

(4) Upon request, the State shall support the salaries of clerical and non-clerical staff of recognized religions through contributions, based on the number of their worshippers who are Romanian citizens and based on their real needs of subsistence and activity. The State shall grant higher contributions for the salaries of the clerical person-nel of low-income religious units, under the rules established by law.

(5) No one may be coerced, through administrative means or other, to contribute to the funding of a religion.

(6) Upon request, recognized religions may receive material support from the State for expenditures relating to the operation of

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religious units, repairs, and new buildings, based on the number of worshippers as per the latest census and based on their real needs.

(7) The State shall also support the activity of recognized reli-gions in their capacity as providers of social services.

(8) Upon request, public authorities shall grant to any individual the right to receive counselling according to his/her religious beliefs, by facilitating their access to religious assistance.

Art. 11 State support also consists in tax exemptions, stipulated by law.

Art. 12 The use of funds received from the State or local bud-gets and the observance of the destination of assets received as prop-erty or in use from local or central public authorities shall be subject to State control.

Art. 13 (1) Relations between religions, as well as between reli-gious associations and groups shall be based on mutual understand-ing and respect.

(2) Any form, means, act or action of religious defamation and antagonism, as well as the public offense of religious symbols are for-bidden in Romania.

(3) Preventing or interfering with the freedom of exercise of a religious activity carried out in accordance to the law shall be pun-ished under the rules of criminal law.

Art. 14 (1) Every religion must have a national governing or rep-resentative body.

(2) Religious units, including subdivisions without legal entity status, shall be established and organized by religions according to their own by-laws, regulations and canonical codes.

(3) For administrative purposes, the creation of a new religious unit must be reported to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.

(4) By law, religious units recently established as legal entities may request and be granted financial support.

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Art. 15 The seals and stamps used by a religion or by a local reli-gious unit must include the official name by which the respective reli-gion was recognized, or the acronym thereof.

Art. 16 (1) Recognized religions may use any language in the exercise of their activities. Financial and accounting records must be kept in the Romanian language.

(2) In their official relations with the authorities of the State, re-ligions shall use the Romanian language.

Section II

Recognition of religion status

Art. 17 (1) State recognized religious status shall be awarded by government Decision, based on a proposal by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, to religious associations that, by their activities and number of worshippers, provide guarantees of sustainability, sta-bility, and public interest.

(2) Recognition of by-laws and canonical codes is granted pro-vided these do not, by their contents, threaten public safety, order, health, morals, or fundamental human rights and liberties.

Art. 18 A religious association requesting recognized religion status may apply to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, and will provide the following documents:

- proof that it is legally established and has been operating un-interruptedly on Romanian territory as a religious association for at least 12 years;

- the original membership lists containing a number of Romanian citizens resident in Romania equal to at least 0.1% of the population of Romania, according to the latest census;

- its own declaration of faith and statutes for organization and operation, that will include the following: name of the faith, its central and local organizational structure, its forms of governance, adminis-tration, and control, its representative bodies, its manner of establish-ing and dismantling religious units, the status of its employees, as well

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as provisions specific to the respective faith.

Art. 19 (1) The Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs shall sub-mit the recognition documentation to the government within 60 days of the date the application was filed, accompanied by its own consul-tative opinion based on the documentation on file.

(2) If the documentation is incomplete or the by-laws contain provisions that are contrary to the law, such documentation shall be sent back to the applicant, accompanied by relevant explanations, in order that this documentation may be amended or supplemented, and the completion deadline shall be extended accordingly.

Art. 20 (1) The government shall return a justified decision for the granting or denial of the application within 60 days of receiving the consultative opinion.

(2) That government decision shall be published in the Official Gazette, Part I, and the law provides that this may be challenged in court.

(3) In cases where the application is denied, a religious associa-tion may repeat the process for recognition of its status of recognized religion only if it is able to produce evidence that the grounds for de-nial have ceased to exist.

(4) The rights and duties pertaining to fully recognized religion status may be exercised as of the date the government decision to grant recognition goes into effect.

Art. 21 Based on a proposal by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the government may withdraw the recognized re-ligion status when that religion’s activities seriously threaten pub-lic safety, order, health, morals, or fundamental human rights and liberties.

Art. 22 (1) For the purpose of obtaining full recognition, amend-ments and supplements to the statutes on the organization and oper-ation or to canonical codes shall be reported to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.

(2) By law, administrative documents issued on the basis of this

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Section, as well as failure to issue such documents by their legal dead-line, may be challenged in court.

Section III

Personnel of recognized religions

Art. 23 (1) Religions elect, appoint, hire, or terminate personnel according to their own by-laws, canonical codes, or regulations.

(2) The personnel of religions may be disciplined for violating the religion’s doctrinal or moral principles, based on that religion’s by-laws, canonical codes, or regulations.

(3) Clerical and assimilated personnel of recognized religions may not be compelled to reveal facts entrusted to their knowledge or learned during the exercise of their functions.

(4) The exercise of a priestly function or any other function that may be presumed to include the exercise of a priestly office, without the explicit authorization or agreement from the religious structures, whether these be legal entities or not, is punishable under the provi-sions of criminal law.

Art. 24 (1) Employees and the insured personnel of recognized religions, whose pension trusts are part of the public social security system, shall be subject to the relevant public social security law.

(2) Employees and the insured personnel of recognized reli-gions, who have their own private pension trusts or pension funds shall be subject to regulations adopted by the leadership of their re-ligions, according to their by-laws and in agreement with the general principles of relevant public social security law.

Art. 25 Clerical and assimilated personnel of recognized reli-gions, as well as monastic personnel belonging to recognized reli-gions shall be exempt from military service.

Art. 26 (1) Recognized religions may have their own religious courts for internal disciplinary matters, according to their by-laws and internal regulations.

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(2) Internal disciplinary matters are subject exclusively to by-laws and canonical regulations.

(3) The existence of such internal jurisdictional organs does not preclude the applicability of Romanian law on infractions and crimi-nal violations.

Section IV

Assets of recognized religions

Art. 27 (1) Recognized religions and their units may own and ac-quire, as property or in administration, movable assets and real estate, of which they may dispose according to their own by-laws.

(2) Sacred assets, namely those devoted directly and exclusive-ly to religious rites, as established through a religion’s own by-laws based on its traditions and practices, may neither be seized nor are they subject to a statute of limitations, and may be disposed of only in accordance to by-laws specific to that religion.

(3) The provisions in paragraph (2) do not affect the recovery of sacred assets having been wrongfully expropriated and forfeited by the State in the years 1940-1989, or of those taken over by the State without any title.

Art. 28 (1) Local religious units may have and maintain, on their own or in association with other religions, denominational cemeteries for their worshippers. Denominational cemeteries shall be managed according to the regulations of the religion that owns these. The de-nominational identity of historic cemeteries is protected by law.

(2) In localities that do not have a local public cemetery and where certain religions do not have their own cemetery, deceased members of those religions may be buried according to that religion’s rites in the existing functional cemeteries.

(3) The stipulations in paragraph (2) do not apply to cemeteries belonging to the Jewish and Muslim Faiths.

Local public administration authorities are under obligation to establish local public cemeteries in every village and town.

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Village or town cemeteries shall be organized in such manner as to include appropriate sections for every recognized religion, if so requested by the religions that operate in the respective village or town.

Art. 29 (1) By law, religions have the exclusive right to produce and sell objects and goods needed for their religious activity.

(2) The use of musical works in the activity of recognized re-ligions shall be exempt from the dues normally owed to the copy-right authorities.

Art. 30 Churches or similar assets located in other countries and owned by the Romanian State or religions may be the object of bilateral agreements signed by the Romanian State, at the request of interested parties.

Art. 31 (1) The assets that a religion acquires in any manner – by contributions, donations, inheritance – as well as any other assets that become the legal property of a religion ,may not be subject to any subsequent claims.

(2) Individuals who leave a recognized religion may not lay claims to the assets of that religion.

(3) Asset-related disputes between recognized religions shall be settled amicably and, failing that, shall be subject to common law litigation.

(4) In the event that a religion is stripped of its recognized sta-tus, by this Law or following its dissolution, the destination of its as-sets shall be stipulated in its by-laws.

Section V

Education organized by recognized religions

Art. 32 (1) The teaching of religion in the public and private ed-ucation system is guaranteed by law for recognized religions.

(2) By law, the personnel teaching religion in public schools shall be appointed in agreement with the religion they represent.

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(3) In the event that a teacher commits serious violations of his religion’s doctrine or morals, that religion may withdraw its agree-ment that he/she teach religion, which will lead to the termination of that person’s working contract.

(4) Upon request, in a situation where the school cannot pro-vide teachers of religion who are members of the religion of which the students are members, such students may produce evidence of studies in their respective religion provided by the religion of which they are members.

Art. 33 (1) By law, religions have the right to establish and manage educational facilities for the training of their religious staff, of religion teachers, as well as of other specialists needed in their re-ligious activity.

(2) By law, every religion is free to establish the form, levels, numbers and curriculum for their own educational plans.

Art. 34 (1) Religions develop their own educational plans and curricula for undergraduate theological studies and the curricula for the teaching of religion. Such plans and curricula shall be submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs for review, and to the Ministry of Education and Research for approval.

(2) For higher education, educational plans and curricula shall be developed by the educational institutions, based on agreement with the respective religions, and shall be subject to approval by the University Senates.

Art. 35 (1) By law, the teaching personnel of theological edu-cation facilities integrated in the public education system shall be recognized by the Ministry of Education and Research, based on a preliminary agreement from the relevant bodies of the respective religions.

(2) The teaching personnel of theological education facili-ties not integrated in the public education system shall be appoint-ed by the relevant bodies of the religions concerned, according to their by-laws. The personnel teaching religion in schools must meet the requirements of Law no. 128/1997 on the Status of Teaching Personnel, with its subsequent amendments and changes.

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Art. 36 (1) In children’s institutions operated by public agen-cies, or by private entities or religions, religious education shall be provided to the children according to the religion to which they belong.

(2) In children’s institutions, irrespective of their financing en-tity, religious education for children whose religion is not known shall only be provided based on agreement of persons in whose charge they are, according to applicable law.

Art. 37 The salaries of teaching and administrative personnel in theological educational facilities that are not part of the public education system shall be provided by the religions. Upon the re-quest of religions, the State, through the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, may contribute to their salary, proportionally to the number of that religion’s worshippers.

art. 38 Diplomas and certificates of theological studies obtained in other countries shall be recognized according to applicable legal provisions.

art. 39 (1) By law, recognized religions have the right to establish and manage religious education facilities at all levels, and for all disciplines and specializations.

(2) Diplomas for the graduates of private educational fa-cilities of a religion shall be issued according to applicable le-gal provisions.

(3) By law, the State shall provide financial support for de-nominational education.

(4) Denominational educational facilities shall have or-ganizational and operational autonomy, according to their standards and canons, and in observance of legal provisions applicable to the national education system.

(5) Pupils or students may enrol in denominational edu-cation, irrespective of their religion or persuasion, and they are guaranteed freedom of religious education according to their own religion of persuasion.

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cHaPter iii

religious associations

art. 40 (1) religious freedom may also be exercised in reli-gious associations, which are legal entities comprised of at least 300 members, citizens of romania or residents in romania, who associate in order to manifest a religious belief.

(2) a religious association receives legal entity status by be-ing registered in the religious association registry, which will exist in the clerk’s office of every trial court in whose jurisdic-tion the association’s head office is located.

art. 41 (1) any one of the members, based on a power of attorney provided by the other members, may apply for the reg-istration of that association in the religious association registry.

(2) the registration application shall be accompanied by the following documents:

- notarized articles of incorporation, which shall include the name of the religious association – which cannot be identi-cal or similar to that of a recognized religion or religious associa-tion – identification and signature of the members, head office, starting assets worth the equivalent of at least two national gross monthly salaries, contributed in currency or in kind by the members, as well as the first governing structures;

- declaration of faith and statutes of the religious associ-ation, which must include: its central and local organizational structure for government, administration and supervision, man-ner of establishing and dismantling of local units, rights and ob-ligations of members, main activities the association intends to undertake in order to attain its spiritual goals; other stipulations specific to that particular religious association;

- evidence of existence of a head office and starting assets;

- consultative opinion from the Ministry of culture and religious affairs;

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- evidence from the Ministry of Justice that the chosen name is available.

art. 42 (1) Within 3 days of applying for registration and fil-ing the documents required under art. 41 (2), a judge, appoint-ed by the court’s chief Justice, shall verify their legal compliance and shall return a decision to list the association in the religious association registry.

(2) once the registration is complete, the judicial decision to that effect shall be automatically announced to the local fis-cal authority that has jurisdiction in the area of the association’s head office, for tax registration, and will include the registration number assigned in the religious association registry.

art. 43 religious associations may establish subsidiaries that have legal entity status, according to their by-laws, under the procedure stipulated in art. 41 and 42.

art. 44 (1) religious associations shall receive tax exemp-tions related to their religious activity, under law no. 571/2003 on the tax code, with its subsequent amendments and changes.

(2) religious associations shall also be subject to relevant provisions of article 10 (2), art. 15, art. 16 and art. 28 of this law.

art. 45 a jurisdictional court of law shall rule to dissolve a religious association when that association, through its activi-ties, poses a serious threat to public safety, order, health, morals, and the fundamental human rights and liberties, or when that religious association pursues a goal different from the one for which it was established.

art. 46 the provisions in this article shall be in effect in conjunction with those in government ordinance no. 26/2000 on associations and foundations, as approved with amend-ments and changes through law no. 246/2005.

art. 47 (1) existing associations, established in accordance with the laws on associations and foundations, whose main ob-jectives are the exercise of a religious belief, who desire to ob-tain the status of religious association, must apply to their local

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trial court for a transformation of said association, to be strick-en from the registry of associations and foundations, and for its registration in the registry of religious associations at the clerk’s office of the same trial court, accompanied by the rel-evant documentation stipulated in art. 41.

(2) the application must bear the signatures of the legal governing structures of the association, and must explicitly re-quest the transformation of the original association into a reli-gious association.

the delegate-judge shall rule both on the transformation of the association and on its registration, and shall establish for how long the association has had the exercise of a religious faith as its objective.

the duration of operation determined by the court shall be taken into consideration and added to the overall period of existence of the religious association with a view to the latter’s acquiring recognized religion status.

art. 48 (1) in all manner of motions and judicial action con-cerning the acquisition or loss of religious association status each session shall be conducted in the presence of a Prosecutor and a representative summoned from the Ministry of culture and religious affairs.

(2) Decisions or rulings returned by a court of law in cases concerning religious associations may be legally appealed with-in 15 days of pronouncement in court.

cHaPter iV

transitory and final stipulations

art. 49 (1) as of the date this law was enacted, there are 18 fully recognized religions in romania, as indicated in the appendix that constitutes an integral part of this law.

(2) Within 12 months of the enactment of this law, the recognized religions existing in romania and included in the appendix to this law, shall submit their by-laws and canonical

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codes to the Ministry of culture and religious affairs, in order to obtain full recognition.

(3) recognition shall be granted through the government decision mechanism, based on a proposal from the Ministry of culture and religious affairs, and shall be published in the official gazette of romania, Part i. the provisions of art. 17 (2) shall apply accordingly.

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*) law no. 489/2006 went into effect 3 days from the date of 8 January 2007, date of its publication in romania’s official ga-zette Monitorul oficial, Part i

art. 50 (1) any amendment or change to this law shall be made following preliminary consultation with recognized reli-gions, and in observance of the legal regulations on decision-making transparency.

(2) the representatives of religions have the right to take part, as guests, in debates in Parliament and in those of its committees discussing draft legislation pertaining to religious life, religious activities, denominational education, social assis-tance, and national heritage issues that involve religions.

art. 51 as of the date this law is enacted, Decree no. 177/1948 on the general Status of religions, published in the official gazette of romania, issue #178 of 4 august 1948, as sub-sequently amended and changed, as well as any other provi-sions contrary to this law, are herewith repealed.

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*) See footnote for art. 49 (1).

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Framework Law no. 153/2017 of 28 June 2017 concerning the pay scale of staff paid from public funds (extracts)

CHAPTER III

Religions

Base salaries for clerical staff working in budget units

Management Staff

No. PositionLevel ofStudies

Base SalariesIncentive Rate

1 Priest Year 2022

Grade I s 4,000 1.60

Grade II s 3,900 1.56

Permanent s 3,850 1.54

Beginner s 3,700 1.48

2 Priest

Grade I m 3,700 1.48

Permanent m 3,650 1.46

Beginner m 3,550 1.42

NOTE:

Conditions to occupy professional grades are determined by government ordinance. The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs is authorized to certify the assimilation of positions of other religions with that of a priest.

Base salaries are foreseen for pay grade 0. Base salaries for pay grades 1-5 are set according to an increase in pay grade 0 pay base ac-cording to provisions in Art. 10 of the present law.

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B. Compensation for management staff of recognized reli-gions and central religious units, assimilated with that of public digni-tary positions.

No. PositionMaximum number of positions

Positions with which they are

assimilated

1 Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church 1 Presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies

2 Major Archbishop, Romanian Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Metropolitans

11 Secretaries and Head of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies

3 Archbishop, Head of faith (metropolitan, bishop, mufti, head rabbi, president of the union, president)

22 Minister

4 Bishop, patriarchal bishop-vicar 34 Vice Presidents of Permanent Patriarchal Councils in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies

5 Bishop-vicar, bishop helper, auxiliary bishop, chief priest-vicar

26 Senators, Deputies

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C. Leadership staff positions of religions and religious units, other than those assimilated with public dignitary positions

No. PositionNumber of posts that receive

monthly salary supportEquivalent education

positions

1 union vice president, administrative patriarchal vicar, secretary-general, patriarchal counsellor, first rabbi

52 Higher education professor, educational grade I, with 40+ years teaching experience

2 patriarchal secretary, general church inspector, administrative diocesan vicar, episcopal vicar

41 Higher education professor, educational grade I, with 22-25 years teaching experience

3 secretary of the patriarchal chancellery, diocesan secretary, diocesan inspector, exarch, dean

732 Higher education professor, educational grade II, with 10-14 years teaching experience

4 staret, superior, father superior 466 Higher education professor, educational grade II, with 2-6 years teaching experience

**) According to Art. 61(2) of Law no. 2/2018 – State Budget Law for 2018 published in Romania’s Monitorul Oficial (official gazette), Part I, no. 4, of 3 January 2018, the number of positions for clerical staff hired in recognized religion units in Romania that receive monthly sal-ary support, according to provisions in Chapter III(C) in Annex I is in-creased by one position, or from 52 positions to 53 positions under no. 1 of the above Table – position “union vice president, administrative patriarchal vicar, secretary-general, patriarchal counsellor, first rabbi.”

**) According to Art. 61(2) of Law no. 2/2018 – State Budget Law for 2018 published in Romania’s Monitorul Oficial (official gazette), Part I, no. 4, of 3 January 2018, the number of positions for clerical staff hired in recognized religion units in Romania that receive monthly sal-ary support, according to provisions in Chapter III(C) in Annex I is in-creased by two positions, or from 732 positions to 734 positions under no. 3 of the above Table – position “secretary of the patriarchal chan-cellery, diocesan secretary, diocesan inspector, exarch, dean.”

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D. Clerical staff employed in units of tier-one faiths in Romania

No. Position

Number of posts that receive

monthly salary support

Equivalent education positions

1 Priest, deacon, pastor, preacher, imam, rabbi, cantor*, officiant

15,272

2 With higher education 10,991 Professor with higher education

3 Grade I 3,040 Educational grade I

4 Grade II 3,250 Educational grade II

5 Permanent 2,440 Permanent

6 Beginner 2,261 Beginner

7 With medium education 4,281 Teacher, educator, master instructor, with mid-level education

8 Grade I 664 Educational grade I

9 Grade II 783 Educational grade II

10 Permanent 1,690 Permanent

11 Beginner 1,140 Beginner

**) In Judaism

Regulations that are specific to clerical staff belonging to legally recognized religions that carry out activities in the country.

ART 1(1) The Romanian state supports those faith that are rec-ognized according to Law no. 489/2006 on religious freedom and the general status of religions, republished, at their request, for salaries of clerical staff.

(2) Clerical staff that benefit from provisions of the present law retain their status of employee of recognized religion.

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SECTION 1

State support for clerical staff salaries

ART. 2 (1) State salary support for clerical staff who carry out activities in the country on behalf of religions legally recognized in Romania is determined as follows:

- management staff of religions, whose work is considered equivalent to that of public dignitaries, receive a monthly allowance, the only form of remuneration for the respective staff. This serves as the basis for calculating and setting the rights and obligations in con-nection with salary income.

- management staff of religions, other than those in point a), re-ceive monthly salary support according to the positions they hold, at the level of base salaries set according to law for pre-university state education staff, based on equivalents.

- clerical staff that carry out their activities in religious units re-ceive monthly salary support worth 65% of base salary set by law for pre-university state education staff, according to level of studies, their professional grade, and length of time engaged in clerical activity for Romanian recognized religions, based on equivalents.

(2) By exception from provisions in para. (1)c), clerical staff that carry out activities in religious units with low income may receive monthly salary support amounting to 80% of base salary set by law for pre-university state education staff, according to level of studies, pro-fessional grade, and length of time engaged in clerical activities in reli-gious units, based on equivalents.

Criteria according to which religious units are considered low income, based on para. (2) are set by Secretary of State for Religious Affairs ordinance.

(4) Clerical staff may benefit from provisions in para. (2) up to 30% of the total for clerical positions for which support is offered for salaries from the state budget.

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(5) The number of positions set according to para. (4) will be dis-tributed among the recognized religions, according to the number of believers, the latest census, and real needs.

(6) The central religious units, based on the number of posi-tions communicated annually, will justify to the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs the proposals for the choice of religious units whose clerical staff are to receive monthly support according to provisions in para. (2), who meet conditions and criteria in para. (2) and (3).

(7) The lists of religious units whose clerical staff receive month-ly support according to para. (2), and the changes thereto, are pro-posed by the central religious units and approved yearly by the State Secretary for Religious Affairs.

(8) Clerical staff of religious units that obtain income from rent-als, leasing, and concessions of properties are not eligible for provi-sions in para. (2).

SECTION 2

Other rights of clerical staff

ART. 3 Conditions to fill religious unit clerical staff professional grades provided for in Art. 2 (1)c are approved by the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs, based on a proposal made by recognized religions.

ART. 4 Only those rights set according to provisions contained in Art. 2, including all contributions specified by law, are provided from the state budget through the budget of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs.

ART. 5(1) An amount, set by annual budget laws or by laws to rectify the state budget, not to be lower than the amount set by law for the year 2017 *), is allocated from the state budget through central religious units to support Romanian religious settlements outside the country’s borders, that carry out special activities to maintain linguis-tic, cultural, and religious identity of Romanians outside the country’s borders.

*) According to provisions in Art. 61, para. (4) of Law no. 2/2018 – State Budget Law for 2018 published in Romania’s official gazette,

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Monitorul Oficial, Part I, no. 4 of 3 January 2018, for the support of re-ligious settlements outside the country’s border that carry out special activities to maintain the linguistic, cultural, and religious identity of Romanians who live outside the country’s borders, according to provi-sions in Annex no. I, Chapter III – Religions, letter E, Art. 5 of Framework Law no. 153/2017, with subsequent changes and amendments, the monthly amount of EUR 249,000 will be allocated.

(2) The amount provided for in para. (1) is allocated to the central units of recognized religions by the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs, through the budget of the General Secretariat of the government.

(3) The purposes of the amount provided for in para. (1) is set by the central units of recognized religions outside Romania’s borders, with the management of those religious units, and will be used to sup-plement salaries of clerical staff of these respective units, including for the payment of all contributions provided for by law. The obligation to justify the manner in which this amount is used falls on the central re-ligious units in Romania, through submission of documents stipulated in laws in effect.

(4) The amount provided for in para. (1) may be modified annu-ally through the State Budget Law or laws to rectify the state budget.

ART. 6 Rights set per legal provisions in effect continue to be granted to staff employed by the recognized Romanian religions, ac-cording to the laws, for which the provisions of the present law are not applicable.

ART. 7 (1) The manner in which funds allocated from the state budget are used, according to the present law, is subject to the con-trol of the General Secretariat of the government, through the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs and other bodies entitled by law.

(2) The number of positions for clerical staff may be raised yearly by state budget law.

(3) As an exception to provisions in para. (2), the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs may modify the number of positions stipulated in letter D by transforming some positions with mid-level studies to high-er studies, depending on the needs, or reduce the number of positions

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in no. 2 and increase the number by the same in no. 1, with classifica-tion in the total number of positions approved.

SECTION 3

State support for non-clerical staff salaries of recognized religions

ART. 8 (1) Units belonging to the recognized religions in Romania, as well as legally authorized and accredited educational theology units and institutions under the control of the former and not integrated in State education, respectively clerical staff training units, receive support from the State and local budgets in the form of contributions, to supple-ment the salaries that cannot be covered by own funds of the central and local religious units.

(2) Units and contributions stipulated in para. (1) will be chosen by the management of religious centres, according to criteria set by them.

ART. 9 (1) Financial support for non-clerical staff employed by rec-ognized religions in Romania is provided, upon request, based on an-nual budget provisions, as follows:

a) from local budgets:

i) 19,899 contributions for non-clerical staff employed in the re-ligious units in the country listed in Art. 8 of the present annex. The monthly contribution is set by the annual budget laws or by laws to rec-tify the State budget, not to be lower than the amount set legally for the year 2017.

ii) Associated amounts needed to pay all contributions set by law;

b) from the state budget:

i) 300 contributions for non-clerical staff hired by educational theology units and institutions, respectively clerical staff training units, as per Art. 8 of the present annex. The monthly contribution is set by an-nual budget laws or by laws to rectify the state budget, not to be lower than the amount set legally for the year 2017;

ii) 42 contributions for non-clerical staff sent to serve in set-tlements of the Romanian Orthodox Church abroad. The monthly

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contribution represents the equivalent in RON of 50% of the net rights in foreign currency, as equivalent with positions of Romanian staff sent to carry out activities at diplomatic missions, of consular officers, and of other types of Romanian representatives abroad; *)

*) According to provisions in Art. 61, para. (3) of Law no. 2018 – State budget law for 2018 published in Romania’s official gazette Monitorul Oficial, Part I, no. 4 of 3 January 2018, the number of contribu-tions is raised to 57 for non-clerical staff serving in Romanian Orthodox Church settlements abroad, contained in Annex I, chapter iii – Religions, letter E, Art. 9, para. (1) letter b) point (ii) of Framework Law no. 153/2017, with subsequent changes and amendments.

iii) Associated amounts needed to pay all contributions set by law.

(2) The number of contributions according to para. (1) may be changed by annual budget laws or by laws to rectify the State budget.

(3) In setting the breakdown amounts from certain state budget incomes in order to balance local budgets, attention will be paid also to the allocation of funds to apply provisions in para. (1) letter a).

(4) The local public administration authorities will approve the supplementing of the number of positions for non-clerical staff em-ployed in units belonging to recognized religions in Romania, whose financial support is provided according to provisions in para. (1) letter a), and this will be communicated to the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs.

(5) The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs will approve the sup-plementing of the number of positions for non-clerical staff employed in units belonging to recognized religions in Romania, whose financial support is provided according to provisions in para. (1) letter b).

(6) Local public administration authorities may approve the sup-plementing of the number of positions for non-clerical staff employed in units belonging to recognized religions in Romania, bearing in mind the number of believers in each faith, with financial support being pro-vided from own local budget income.

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Law no. 227/2015 of 8 September 2015 concerning the Fiscal Code

Text in effect as of 20 May 2018

Text updated with the use of the LEX EXPERT legislative comput-er product on the basis of modifying laws, published in the Romanian official gazette Monitorul Oficial, Part I, by 17 May 2018.

ART. 15

Special taxation rules

(1) In the case of the following Romanian legal entities the types of non-taxable income below are considered for the calculation of taxes:

(a) for recognized religions income obtained from the produc-tion and sale of objects and products needed for religious activities, according to the law, income obtained from rents, income obtained from relinquishing/disposal of tangible assets, other income obtained from economic activities or those of a nature provided for in para. (2), income from damages in the form of cash, obtained as a result of rep-aration measures provided for by laws relating to reconstitution of right of property, provided the respective amounts are used in the current year and/or in the coming years for the maintenance and op-eration of religious units, for construction, for repairs and consolida-tion of places of worship and ecclesiastical building, for education, to supply of social services, in their own name or in partnership, accredit-ed in legal conditions, for specific actions or other non-profit activities of recognized religions, according to Law no. 489/2006 concerning re-ligious freedom and the general status of religions, republished;

ART. 154

Categories of individuals exempted from paying social health insurance

(1) The following categories of individuals are exempted from paying social health insurance:

o) monastic staff of recognized religions, on the lists of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs;

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ART. 456

Exemptions

(1) No taxes/fees are owed on buildings that:

d) are intended as places of worship, belonging to officially rec-ognized religions, religious associations and local branches thereof, and rectories, excepting rooms used for economic activities;

e) funeral buildings in cemeteries and crematoria

f) buildings used by state educational units and institutions, denominational or private, authorized to function temporarily or ac-credited, excepting rooms that are used for economic activities that generate income other than school fees, food service, and accommo-dation fees for pre-schoolers, pupils, and students, as well as build-ings used as daycare centers, as defined by and functioning according to Law no. 263/2007 on the establishment, organization, and opera-tion of daycare centers, with subsequent changes and amendments;

2) Local councils may decide to exempt or reduce taxes/fees for the following buildings:

d) buildings used solely by non-profit organizations for non-profit activities;

f) buildings restituted according to art. 1, para. (10) of govern-ment Emergency Ordinance no. 94/2000 on the restitution of im-movable assets that belonged to recognized religions in Romania, republished, with subsequent changes and and amendments, for a period during which the owner maintains its public interest use;

ART. 464

Exemptions

(1) Tax/fee exemptions for land for:

(d) land that belongs to officially recognized religions and reli-gious associations, as well as local branches thereof, excepting surfac-es that are used for economic activities;

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e) land belonging to cemeteries and crematoria;

f) land used by state education units and institutions, denom-inational or private, authorized or functioning temporarily or ac-credited, excepting spaces that are used for economic activities that generate income other than school fees, food service, and accommo-dation fees for pre-schoolers, pupils, and students, as well as build-ings used as daycare centers, as defined by and functioning according to Law no. 263/2007 on the establishment, organization, and opera-tion of daycare centers, with subsequent changes and amendments;

(2) Local councils may decide to exempt or reduce taxes/fees for the following buildings:

(b) buildings restituted according to art. 1, para. (10) of gov-ernment Emergency Ordinance no. 94/2000 on the restitution of im-movable assets that belonged to recognized religions in Romania, republished, with subsequent changes and amendments, for a period during which the owner maintains its public interest use;

f) land belonging to associations and foundations used exclu-sively for non-profit activities;

ART. 476

Exemptions

(1) The following are exempt from paying fees for certificates, notices, and authorizations:

c) Urban planning certificates and building permits for places of worship and annex constructions;

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Government Ordinance no. 82 of 30 August 2001 regarding the establi-shment of forms of financial support for religious units belonging to the recognized religion communities in Romania, republished

Art. 1. (1) Units belonging to recognized religions in Romania,

as well as authorized and legally accredited theological, educational institutions that are subordinate to the faith communities and are not integrated in the state educational system, receive support from the state and local budgets in the form of contributions, to supplement the salary rights that are not covered by own funds of the respective cen-tral and local religious units.

(2) The units and contributions mentioned in para. (1) will be chosen by the governing bodies of the religious centres, in conformity with criteria set by them.

Art. 2. (1) Financial support for non-clerical staff hired in the country’s religious units, mentioned in art. 1, is granted according to the limit of yearly budgetary provisions, as follows:

from the local budgets:

- 17,500 contributions for non-clerical staff hired in the coun-try’s religious units as per Art. 1. The monthly contribution is at the level of the gross national minimum wage, and may be indexed by govern-ment ordinance, based on a rise in consumer prices;*

- the correspondent amounts, necessary for the payment of contributions to the state social security budget, and the funds for un-employment benefits and social health insurance;

from the state budget:

- 300 contributions for non-clerical staff hired in the units and institutions of theological, educational institutions mentioned in Art. 1. The monthly contribution is at the level of the gross national minimum wage, and can be indexed by government ordinance, based on a rise in consumer prices;

- 30 contributions for non-clerical staff sent to serve abroad in the settlements of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The monthly

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contribution represents the equivalent in RON of 50% of the rights in foreign currency, set as a net quantum, as equivalent with positions for Romanians serving in diplomatic missions, consular offices, and other forms of Romanian representation abroad;**

- the related amounts, needed to pay the contributions to the State social security budget, and to the funds for unemployment ben-efits and social health insurance.

(2) The number of contributions mentioned in para. (1) may be modified by yearly budget laws or by State budget revision laws.

(3) In setting the breakdown amounts of some of the State budget income in order to balance local budgets the allocation of funds to meet provisions in para. (1) letter a) will also be considered.

(4) The approval for supplementary non-clerical positions em-ployed in units belonging to the recognized religions in Romania who receive financial support as per provisions in para. (1) letter a), comes from local, public administrative authorities, proportional to the num-ber of believers of each religious group, and is communicated to the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs.

(5) The approval of supplementary non-clerical positions em-ployed in units belonging to the recognized religions in Romania, whose financial support is provided as per provisions in para. (1) letter b), is granted by the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs.

(6) Local public administrative authorities may approve the sup-plementing of the number of positions for non-clerical positions hired by units belonging to the recognized religions in Romania, proportion-al to the number of believers of each religious group, with financial as-sistance to come from own funds of local budgets.

(7) Non-clerical staff that receive support in the form of state budget contributions and from local budgets are auxiliary staff of reli-gious groups that carry out activities that are ancillary to the religious activity needed to fulfill the latter.

(8) Included in the category of non-clerical staff according to para. (7) is the function of cantor or church singer, except in the case of the Jewish Faith, where the function is clerical.

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*) In conformity with provisions in Framework Law no. 153/2017 concerning uniform salaries for staff paid from public funds, published in the official gazette, Monitorul Oficial al României, Part 1, no. 492, of 28 June 2017, with subsequent changes, Annex 1. Occupational family of budgetary “education” functions, Chapter III, Religions, Art. 9, para. (1) letter a) pt. i), 19,899 financial contributions are made to support non-clerical staff in religious units belonging to recognized religions in Romania. The monthly contribution quantum is set by annual budget laws or state budget amendments, not to be lower than the quantum set for 2017, according to the law.

**) In conformity with provisions in Law no. 2/2018 State Budget Law for 2018, Art. 61, para. (3), published in the official gazette, Monitorul Oficial al României, Part 1, no. 4, of 3 January 2018, the num-ber of contributions for non-clerical positions sent to serve in Romanian Orthodox Church settlements abroad is increased, according to Annex no. I, Chapter III – Religions, letter E, Art. 9, letter b) pt. (ii) of Framework Law no. 153-2017, with subsequent changes and amendments.

Art. 3. (1) Funds for the restoration and preservation of plac-es of worship, considered historical monuments and national, cultur-al, and patrimonial assets belonging to officially recognized religions in Romania, are allocated from the State budget, based on estab-lished budget limits, and from the budget of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs. These funds will supplement own funds needed to maintain and operate religious units with low or no income, to fit out or maintain museums owned or administered by these, to build or repair administrative diocesan headquarters or religious centres, and theo-logical education units belonging to recognized religions, to construct and repair places of worship, to acquire buildings needed to carry out the activities of the religious units, including social and medical assis-tance activities, to build, fit out, and repair buildings for social assis-tance and medical services carried out by these units, and to support activities of an internal or international nature carried out by Romanian recognized religions.

(2) Work to preserve and restore places of worship that are considered historical monuments is carried out according to provisions in Law no. 422/2001 on the protection of historical monuments, repub-lished, with subsequent amendments.

(3) Funds may be allocated from local budgets to supplement

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own funds needed to maintain and operate religious units with low or no income, to fit out or maintain museums owned or administered by these, to build or repair administrative diocesan headquarters or re-ligious centres, and theological education units belonging to recog-nized religions, to construct and repair places of worship, to acquire buildings needed to carry out the activities of the religious units, in-cluding social and medical assistance activities, to build, fit out, and repair buildings for social assistance and medical services carried out by these units.

Art. 4. Oversight of the destination of allocated funds is sub-ject to the control of legally-assigned bodies.

Art. 5. The government will approve the methodological norms of application of the provisions of the present ordinance, at the proposal of the Ministry of Public Administration and the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs.

Art. 6. The present ordinance goes into effect as of 1 January 2002.

Art. 7. Concomitant with the present ordinance going into ef-fect is the abrogation of government Ordinance no. 72/2000 on the es-tablishment of certain forms of financial support for low or no income religious units belonging to approved religions in Romania, published in the official gazette, Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 407 of 29 August 2000, with subsequent amendments, approved and modi-fied by Law no. 244/2001, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 289 of 1 June 2001, as well as any other contrary provisions, with the exception of those provisions in Art. 1, para. (1) in govern-ment Ordinance no. 38/1994 on the establishment of some forms of financial support for low or no income religious units and the granting of indemnities for hierarchs and management staff of approved reli-gions, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 225 of 19 August 1994, approved by Law no. 130/1994, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 354 of 21 December 1994, and of gov-ernment Emergency Ordinance no. 203/1999 on the establishment of some forms of financial support for low or no income religious units in the Orthodox Diocese of Covasna and Harghita, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 649 of 30 December 1999, approved by Law no. 25/2001, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 116 of 7 March 2001.

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Emergency government Ordinance no. 19 of 17 March 2005 con-cerning the construction of the Architectural Complex of the People’s Salvation Cathedral with subsequent changes and amendments

in order to build the People’s Salvation cathedral, a symbol of two thousand years of christian faith on romanian territory,

considering the need to make available a suitable location for the construction of the architectural complex, to allow for its completion in the shortest possible time,

owing to the fact that these elements are in the public in-terest and constitute extraordinary circumstances,

according to art. 115, para. (4) of the romanian constitution, republished,

the government of romania adopts the present emergency ordinance.

Art. 1 (1) The Architectural Complex of the People’s Salvation Cathedral, a symbol of two thousand years of Christian faith on Romanian territory, will be built in Bucharest Municipality, on Calea 13 Septembrie, Sector 5, according to plans drawn up and legally approved.

(2) Funds for the construction of the Architectural Complex of the People’s Salvation Cathedral will be made available by the Patriarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church, by the Romanian gov-ernment, according to limits set for amounts allocated yearly for this purpose through the budget of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, as well as by local public administration authorities.

(3) The Romanian government and other central and local public authorities involved have the obligation to provide, at the re-quest of the Patriarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church, all neces-sary support, according to the provisions of the law.

Art. 2 (1) The land measuring 110,000 sqm, situated in Bucharest Municipality, at Calea 13 Septembrie, Sector 5, identified and bound-ed according to the annex that is part of this Emergency Ordinance, turns from a public state domain to a private state domain.

(2) The title for the land mentioned in para. (1) will be provid-ed free of charge to the Patriarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church,

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and is destined exclusively for the construction of the Architectural Complex of the People’s Salvation Cathedral.

(3) The transfer of the land mentioned in para. (1) will take place based on a protocol signed between the interested parties, within 30 days of the Emergency Ordinance going into effect.

ART. 3 The state public property land, located in Bucharest, at Calea 13 Septembrie, Sector 5, constitutes the difference between the acreage stipulated in Law no. 137/2000 on the legal status of the appertaining land at the Romanian Parliament Palace and the acreage mentioned in Art. 2, para. (1), and retains its legal status.

ART. 4 (1) Once the present Emergency Ordinance goes into effect, Law no. 137/2000 concerning the legal status of the appertain-ing land at the Romanian Parliament Palace, published in the official gazette, Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 348 of 26 July 2000, as well as government Decision no. 718/1991 on the approval of the techno-economic study of the “Casa Republicii” investment objec-tive, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 237 of 25 November 1991, is modified accordingly.

(2) On that same date, Law no. 441/2004, concerning the con-struction of the People’s Salvation Cathedral, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 1.004 of 1 November 2004, and gov-ernment Decision no. 468/2003 concerning the transfer of state pub-lic property to the administration of the Patriarchy of the Romanian Orthodox Church, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 289 of 25 April 2003, with subsequent amendments, and other contrary dispositions, are abrogated.

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Government Decision H.G. no. 44 of 13 February 2013

Concerning the Organization and Operation of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs

On the basis of art. 108 of the Romanian Constitution, repub-lished, and aArt. 26, para. (1) of Emergency government Ordinance no. 96/2012 concerning measures for the reorganization of central public administration and the amendment of certain normative acts,

the government of Romania adopts the following ordinance.

ART. 1 (1) The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs will be orga-nized and will operate as a specialized central public administration body, a legal entity, subordinate to the government and coordinat-ed by the Prime Minister through the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, financed entirely by the State budget through the budget of the Secretariat General of the government.

(2) The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs draws up and pro-vides for the implementation of a strategy and policies in the area of religious life.

(3) The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs has its headquar-ters in Bucharest Municipality, 40 Nicolae Filipescu Street, Sector 2.

ART. 2 As part of its activities, the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs ensures that fundamental rights and freedoms, enshrined in the republished Romanian Constitution and in Law no. 489/2006 on Religious Freedom and the General Status of Religions, as well as in-ternational treaties and conventions to which Romania is a party, and is governed by the fundamental principle that religions recognized by law are free, autonomous, and equal before the state authorities.

ART. 3 The general objective of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs is the development of a partnership between the central and local public administration authorities and religions recognized by law in social, cultural and educational areas, through the promotion of relations of respect and cooperation between religions recognized by law, for the benefit of the whole of society.

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ART. 4 The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs has the fol-lowing attributes:

1. administers the relations of the State with all recognized re-ligious groups and associations in Romania;

2. supports all religious groups and associations to ensure that they fully participate in the country’s social and spiritual life;

3. participates in the amicable resolution of conflicts between religions and between these and religious associations, in order to prevent or eliminate any forms, means, or acts of religious division.

4. monitors the application of internal and international nor-mative acts in the area of respect for religious freedoms;

5. provides a connection between religions recognized by law and the Ministries and other central and local administration bod-ies, in order to ensure that the freedoms and autonomy of these re-ligions are respected, and to prevent and eliminate any abuses, by the application of the Law;

6. reviews applications for the recognition of new religions, compiles the documentation required by law, and makes proposals to government for their recognition;

7. issues advisory opinions prior to the granting of religious as-sociation status;

8. advises the government on the recognition by the State of public utility status for non-governmental organizations in the area of religious life, in keeping with legal norms;

9. grants foreign missionaries the agreement notices re-quired for the issuing of long-stay visas for religious activities or for an extension of temporary stay rights for the purpose of religious activities;

10. keeps a record of and makes payments into the Unified National Health Social Insurance Fund for the monastic personnel of religions recognized by law who receive no income from work, pen-sions, or other sources;

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11. collaborates with the educational system, and records the educational plans and analytical programs for the teaching of religion drawn up by the legally recognized religions;

12. supports recognized religions in the organization and car-rying out of activities of religious and social assistance in the army, prisons, hospitals, homes for the elderly, orphanages, and other insti-tutions, as well as for special needs families;

13. supports recognized religions in their activities to record, maintain, preserve, restore, and put to good use real estate and other cultural assets and properties belonging to these religions and/or be-ing used by these, in keeping with applicable legislation;

14. records the election or appointment of persons due to take over leadership functions, and of the clerical and lay personnel of le-gally recognized religions, including those involved in theological ed-ucation, who are not integrated in the public education system, in order to allocate financial support from the state budget for the pay-ment of salaries of religious personnel, in accordance with the law;

15. keeps a record of the religious units of recognized religions that are requesting assistance for paying the salaries of their clerical staff;

16. initiates foreign affairs activities with similar state institu-tions in other countries and with international non-governmental or-ganizations that promote and guarantee the respecting of religious freedom and of other fundamental human rights, and participates in activities organized by these;

17. draws up studies and documentary syntheses on religious life in Romania, as well as on the activities of faith and religious com-munities in other countries; invites national and international experts for debates it organizes on the theory and secular and ecclesiastical practices in these domains;

18. manages public financial resources allocated for the supple-menting of funds needed for the salaries of clerical personnel, based on legal provisions;

19. provides financial assistance, according to the laws, for:

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� construction work, based on technical and economic approval in keeping with legislation in effect, and repairs of plac-es of worship belonging to recognized religions;

� the restoration and conservation of places of worship that have been designated as historic monuments belonging to recognized religions;

� the restoration and conservation of assets that are part of the national cultural heritage belonging to recognized religions;

� supplementing their funds, when required for the up-keep and operation of religious units with low or no income;

� the furnishing and upkeep of museums owned by or ad-ministered by religious units;

� the acquisition of buildings needed by religious units to carry out their activities, including social and medical assistance;

� supporting social and medical assistance activities orga-nized by legally recognized religions in hospitals, orphanages, homes for the elderly, and other forms of assistance;

� supporting national and international activities carried out by legally recognized religions;

� building, furnishing, and repairing buildings due to be-come establishments for social and medical assistance;

� construction and repair of administrative headquarters of diocese or religious centres;

� construction and repair of theological education institu-tional headquarters owned by recognized religions;

20. controls the way in which funds received by religions from the State budget are used, in accordance with specific appropriation and in keeping with legal provisions;

21. supports religions, upon request, in the organization of their accounting and statistics, in accordance with specialized legislation, ensuring their collaboration with competent institutions.

(2) The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs also carries out oth-er attributes stipulated by law, as well as tasks assigned by the Prime Minister.

ART. 5 The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs promotes the development and implementation of laws and governmental strat-egies relating to religious life; it approves proposed normative acts

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having a potential impact on religious life issued by other governmen-tal and administrative bodies.

ART. 6 (1) The direction of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs is provided by a Secretary of State, appointed by decision of the Prime Minister.

� the Secretary of State is a tertiary authorizing officer. � the Secretary of State runs the entire activity of the

State Secretariat for religious affairs, and represents it in rela-tion to other ministries, other public authorities and organiza-tions, and with other individuals and legal entities in the country and abroad.

� the Secretary of State may issue orders, opinions, and instructions, as part of his attributions.

art. 7 the staff needed to carry out the activities of the State Secretariat for religious affairs is made up of civil servants and contracted staff, appointed and/or hired according to legal provisions. the maximum number of staff is stipulated in art. 10, point (1).

ART. 8 Financing for the activities of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs comes from the State budget, through the budget of the Secretary General of the government.

ART. 9 The transfer of patrimonial responsibilities pertaining to the area of religious affairs will be accomplished based on a proto-col between the Secretary General of the government, the Ministry of Culture, and the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs within 15 days of the present decision going into effect.

ART. 10 (1) The maximum number of positions approved for its own apparatus is 29, excluding the dignitary and his cabinet.

(2) The organizational structure of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs is included in an annex which is an integral part of this decision.

(3) The means for functioning, the detailed organizational struc-ture, and its own organizational and operational regulations will be approved by order of the Secretary of State.

ART. 11 As per the maximum number of positions in the new organizational structure, the hiring of staff takes place in compliance with the legal regimen applicable to each category of staff, by order of the Secretary of State, within 45 days of this ordinance going into effect.

ART. 12 As of the date that this ordinance goes into effect, gov-ernment Decision no. 22/2010 on the organization and operation of the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs, published in the official ga-zette, Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, no. 17 of 11 January 2010, with subsequent changes and amendments, is abrogated.

What tYpeS OF ORGaNIZatIONS aRe ReCOGNIZed ReLIGIONS?

the 18 religions and 36 religious associations, as well as the over 800 associations and foundations that operate based on government ordinance No. 26/2000, are part of civil so-ciety. all religious organizations in our country are non-gov-ernmental associations, not part of public administration, and they operate based on private law.

hOW MaNY ReCOGNIZed ReLIGIONS aRe theRe IN ROMaNIa?

there are 18 recognized religions functioning in romania:1. romanian orthodox church2. Serbian orthodox Bishopric of timișoara3. roman catholic church4. romanian church united with rome, greek catholic5. archbishopric of the armenian church6. old-rite orthodox church of romania7. reformed church of romania8. evangelical church of the augsburg confession in romania9. evangelical lutheran church of romania10. Hungarian unitarian church11. union of christian Baptist churches of romania12. christian church of the gospel in romania – union ofchristian churches of the gospel in romania13. romanian evangelical church14. Pentecostal union – the apostolic church of god of romania15. Seventh Day adventist christian church of romania16. federation of Jewish communities of romania17. islam18. Jehovah’s Witnesses religious organization

FReQueNtLY aSKed QueStIONS

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hOW MaNY ReLIGIOuS aSSOCIatIONS aRe

FuNCtIONING IN ROMaNIa?

there are 36 religious associations organized according to Law no. 489/2006 on Freedom of Religion and the General Status of Religion, and over 800 associations and foundations orga-nized according to Ordinance no. 26/2000 on associations and foundations.

What aRe the MaIN SOuRCeS OF FINaNCING FOR the 18 ReCOGNIZed ReLIGIONS?

Own income

the 18 recognized religions finance themselves to a great extent through their own private revenues (contributions and donations from believers, production and sale of reli-gious objects, grants, european projects, revenues from the administration of their private properties, and others).

Central budget financing

the romanian State offers financial assistance to the recog-nized religions from the State budget, usually through the State Secretariat for religious affairs, for the payment of sal-aries (generally 65% and 80% for low-income communities), or remuneration for religious leadership. The State Secretariat for Religious Affairs also administers budget funds earmarked for the construction and repair of places of worship. religious per-sonnel posted to public institutions (army, police, penitentia-ries) are paid either by the specific ministries/institutions, by the recognized religions themselves, or by both (in the case of hospitals). educational personnel (religion teachers, theol-ogy education professors) are paid through the Ministry of education. for theology education institutions that are not part of the public system, the State offers a contribution to the salaries of teaching personnel, amounting to RON 1,812 per month, per person in 2018.

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Local budget financing

the local authorities may finance, by county/local council or-dinance, the construction or repair of places of worship and projects initiated by recognized religions.

Financing on the basis of partnerships

recognized religions may also collaborate with romanian State institutions on the basis of specific collaboration pro-tocols.

Accessing European funds

recognized religions, sub-divisions thereof, and connected institutions (associations, foundations, etc.) may participate in various project competitions as part of the national and european programs for financing activities and specific in-stitutions.

By redirecting 2% of income tax

citizens may redirect 2% of annual income tax from salaries and social security to religious units and non-governmental organizations by submitting a form annually to the financial administration.

dOeS the ROMaNIaN State FINaNCe ONLY the aCtIVItIeS OF the

ROMaNIaN ORthOdOX ChuRCh?

No, by law the romanian State finances the activities of all 18 recognized religions, provided they request such financing (some religions do not accept financing from the state for religious activities)

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hOW aRe theSe FuNdS aLLOCated, BY WhOM, aNd

BaSed ON What pRINCIpLeS?recognized religions determine how they spend their own income, in accordance with the law. income allocated by the State budget through the State Secretariat for religious affairs is distributed to the recognized religions according to the principles of proportionality to the number of believers and that of the real needs of the religions, in keeping with the law.

WhY aRe puBLIC FuNdS aLLOCated tO SuppORt the aCtIVItIeS OF

ReCOGNIZed ReLIGIONS?

recognized religions in romania are considered institutions of public utility, because they provide public services, partici-pate in the development of romanian societal identity, define public values, and build social solidarity; they play an impor-tant role in society in the social, educational, socio-charita-ble, and cultural life; they have the status of social partners of the State, and are recognized as social peacemakers; and they contribute to the development of civil society. the romanian State has committed to provide financial sup-port to recognized religions ever since it built its own patri-mony on confiscated church assets, back in the second half of the 19th century, through a process culminating in the 1863 secularization of all monastic assets. in the communist peri-od there was a new wave of expropriations of properties be-longing to religions. this is why the romanian State allocates public funds to religions, on the one hand, as a form of com-pensation for those expropriations, and on the other, to pro-mote social and educational roles, and social partnerships of the State.

What IS the SOCIaL ChuRCh State paRtNeRShIp?

the social partnership means that the romanian State recogniz-es the expertise of recognized religions in spiritual, educational,

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socio-charitable, and cultural areas, and is interested in consult-ing as often as it deems necessary in this capacity on public pol-icy reforms in these areas.

on the other hand, the social partnership between the State and religions is a form of recognition of the important role played by these not only in religious life, but also in the educa-tional sector, in the network of socio-charitable and social in-clusion organizations in romania, and in cultural activities. the state thus expresses its willingness to develop joint projects with all 18 religions in all the above-mentioned areas.

WhY IS the NuMBeR OF ReLIGIONS LIMIted?

as is the case in other european states, the romanian State has set relatively strict criteria for the recognition of religions pre-cisely because of the important role they have in society. the criteria for gaining recognized religion status were set because organizations that aspire to the status of social partner of the State must demonstrate their credibility, stability, sustainabil-ity, and public utility in order to justify the investment of time and resources on the part of the state to support such part-nerships. religious groups that do not have this legal recogni-tion are free to function and carry out public activities based on common law. their activities are not limited by public authorities.

WhY dOeS the LaW Set StRICteR CONdItIONS FOR the ReCOGNItION

OF ReLIGIOuS aSSOCIatIONS?

the State grants religious communities legal recognition as re-ligious associations and this status comes with certain fiscal ad-vantages. obtaining the status of religious association, based on law No. 489/2006, opens the way, after meeting certain le-gal criteria, to obtain the status of recognized religion. the State Secretariat for religious affairs has given approval for 35 re-ligions to be recognized as religious associations, of which 16 have submitted to this institution copies of the court judgment which attests their registration process as religious associations.

What OtheR tYpeS OF ReLIGIOuS ORGaNIZatIONSaRe

OpeRatING IN ROMaNIa?over 800 associations and foundations that also carry out religious activities are operating freely, on the basis of gov-ernment Ordinance No. 26/2000. these may benefit from all advantages which the romanian State offers non-govern-mental organizations. religious groups that do not have a legal standing may function freely and carry out their public activities according to common law. their activities are not restricted by public authorities.

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Annex 1. Situation of amounts allocated for the salaries of staff for construction and repairs of places of worship and other activities

YEAR TOTAl

Of which:

SUPPORT fOR SAlARIES

BUIlDING,

REPAIRS

1990 16,814 15,694 1,1201991 32,661 29,231 3,4301992 141,008 118,338 22,6701993 629,370 575,350 54,0201994 2,002,697 1,731,167 271,5301995 2,705,743 2,290,452 415,2911996 4,165,736 2,997,036 1,168,7001997 8,809,587 7,369,437 1,440,1501998 10,947,815 8,347,875 2,599,9401999 26,256,196 17,188,236 9,067,9602000 68,434,671 40,447,371 27,987,3002001 84,285,808 67,693,308 16,592,5002002 62,630,921 51,181,321 11,449,6002003 94,994,803 69,316,363 25,678,4402004 108,881,385 90,751,585 18,129,8002005 141,890,789 111,122,500 30,768,2892006 178,484,990 132,502,990 45,982,0002007 314,729,598 151,298,543 163,431,0552008 351,373,638 83,949,388 267,424,2502009 367,700,856 261,451,356 106,249,5002010 322,231,883 238,478,383 83,753,5002011 321,819,440 236,012,375 85,807,0652012 314,158,126 249,894,126 64,264,0002013 344,843,488 275,640,988 69,202,5002014 426,715,194 277,452,694 149,262,5002015 464,167,780 286,199,396 177,968,3842016 477,065,515 355,952,640 121,112,8752017 564,008,599 492,614,865 71,393,7342018 803,107,368 588,746 441 214,360,927

TOTAl 5,867,232,479 4,101,369,449 1,765,863,030

aNNeXeS

213

FAITH 2011 2012 2013 2014

Orthodox 185,420,634 195,897,154 216,156,469 217,028,630

Reformed 11,418,549 12,025,755 13,227,527 13,252,584

Roman Catholic 11,279,078 11,881,566 13,059,817 13,123,465

Greek Catholic 7,620,098 8,057,824 8,887,013 8,884,550

Pentecostal 2,371,116 2,494,813 2,745,938 2,806,782

Unitarian 1,662,612 1,751,533 1,926,132 1,939,893

Old Believers 952,992 1,003,963 1,096,731 1,096,349

Islam 808,116 848,688 922,402 926,656

Christians of the Gospel

802,330 845,321 936,438 951,618

Evangelical-Lutheran 703,527 774,678 842,380 821,627

Evangelical CA 661,445 689,220 746,882 758,414

Serbian Orthodox Church

629,628 663,273 729,421 1,179,439

Evangelical Church 249,420 262,746 289,006 180,727

Armenian Church 159,054 212,600 258,281 270,229

Judaism 107,436 108,075 118,901 117,732

TOTAl 224,846,035 237,517,209 261,943,338 263,338,695

Annex 2. Distribution of funds for salaries, total amounts (RON):

214

2015 2016 2017 2018 FAITH

224,590,724 280,158,200 392,545,015 485,205,171 Orthodox

13,660,685 16,907,489 23,302,502 28,623,827 Reformed

13,646,138 17,017,659 23,940,208 29,306,831 Roman Catholic

9,239,844 11,552,680 16,422,828 20,621,435 Greek Catholic

2,959,364 3,824,650 5,395,977 6,814,184 Pentecostal

2,104,516 2,551,419 3,475,966 4,380,054 Unitarian

1,128,104 1,379,692 1,992,207 2,539,249 Old Believers

956,239 1,182,109 1,679,638 2,153,510 Islam

997,329 1,267,341 1,813,575 2,251,303Christians of the

Gospel

828,018 988,572 1,416,517 1,933,995 Evangelical-Lutheran

765,911 951,807 1,362,835 1,828,455 Evangelical CA

1,239,949 1,571,732 1,249,259 1,487,043Serbian Orthodox

Church

142,895 171,077 234,926 285,660 Evangelical Church

279,629 326,603 377,227 680,495 Armenian Church

151,534 196,614 439,202 635,229 Judaism

272,690,879 340,047,644 475,647,882 588,746,441 TOTAl

215

2012

13,844

44

768

531

791

59

60

10

47

48

116

7

12

191

61

16,589

2011

13,844

44

768

531

791

59

60

10

47

48

116

7

12

191

61

16,589

2010

13,845

44

768

531

791

59

60

10

47

48

116

6

12

191

61

16,589

2009

13,850

44

768

531

791

59

60

10

47

48

116

7

12

191

61

16,595

2008

13,819

44

766

531

789

59

60

10

47

48

116

6

12

191

61

16,559

2007

13,553

44

755

524

779

59

60

10

47

48

116

5

12

182

60

16,254

Orthodox

Serbian Orthodox

Roman Catholic

Greek Catholic

Reformat

Old Believer

Islam

Armenian Church

Evangelical A.C.

Evangelical Lutheran

Unitarian

Judaism

Evangelical Church

Pentecostal

Christians of the Gospel

TOTAL

Annex 3. Statistical data concerning the maximum number of positions for which the state provides salary support for clerical staff that carries out activities in the country on behalf of the rec-ognized religions in Romania, in the 2007-2012 period:

Year

FAITH

216

Orthodox

Serbian Orthodox

Roman Catholic

Greek Catholic

Reformat

Old Believer

Islam

Armenian Church

Evangelical A.C,.

Evangelical Lutheran

Unitarian

Judaism

Evangelical Church

Pentecostal

Christians of the Gospel

TOTAL

2018

13,885

44

772

535

791

61

62

11

47

48

117

8

10

204

62

16,656

2017

13,884

44

772

535

791

61

61

11

47

48

117

7

12

204

62

16,656

2016

13,883

44

771

535

791

61

61

11

47

48

117

7

12

204

62

16,654

2015

13,883

44

771

535

791

61

61

11

47

48

117

7

12

204

62

16,654

2014

13,862

44

770

533

791

60

60

10

47

48

116

7

12

201

61

16,622

2013

13,848

44

768

531

791

59

60

10

47

48

116

7

12

191

61

16,593

Year

FAITH

Annex 4. Statistical data concerning the maximum number of positions for which the state provides salary support for clerical staff that carries out activities in the country on behalf of the rec-ognized religions in Romania, in the 2013-2018 period:

218

autONOMY OF ReLIGIONS FROM the State

Under Romanian Law no. 489/2006, religious organizations may function freely, according to their own statutes and canonical codes, and may conduct their internal affairs without interference from the State.

NeutRaLItY OF the State WIth ReSpeCt tO ReLIGIONS

A form of public positioning of the State as non-confessional; it implies the equal treatment by the State of all religious beliefs and non-religious convictions. It does not necessarily imply the indif-ference or “blindness” of the State with respect to the religious phenomena, but sets the stage for its cooperation with all reli-gious organizations on equal terms.

ReLIGIONS Under Romanian Law no. 489/2006, religions are public utility and private organizations recognized as such by the State, sub-ject to certain conditions of membership, presence on Romanian soil, and some administrative provisions. They are considered so-cial partners of the State, may provide religious education in pub-lic schools, and enjoy various public funding and fiscal facilities, largely derived from their public utility status.

ReLIGIOuS aSSOCIatIONS Under Romanian Law no. 489/2006, religious associations are re-ligious organizations recognized as such by the State, included in the Registry of Religious Associations, (subject to administrative and membership conditions), that receive certain fiscal facilities.

GLOSSaRY

219

ReLIGIOuS FReedOM One of the fundamental freedoms under a democratic regime, which includes: the following: the freedom to have a religious be-lief or non-religious conviction; the freedom to express that belief or conviction, individually or collectively, in private and in pub-lic, including through ritual celebrations; the freedom to educate one’s children in the religion or conviction of one’s choice; the free-dom to change or renounce one’s religious belief or non-religious conviction.

ReLIGIOuS GROupS Under Romanian Law no. 489/2006, religious communities not having acquired a legal status as NGOs, religious associations, or religions may function freely as religious groups, without interfer-ence from the State.

ReLIGIOuS NGOS Religious organizations functioning according to government Decree no. 26/2000 on associations and foundations as regular non-governmental organizations, do not benefit from any distinct form of State recognition, or fiscal or other facilities for their spe-cific religious activities.

SepaRatION OF ReLIGION aNd State

A form of public positioning of the State as non-confessional; un-like neutrality, it emphasizes the State’s intention of maintaining a clear differentiation of the respective areas of action and insti-tutional practices of public authorities and religious institutions.

220

tRaNSLatOR’S NOte

There are terms in the Romanian language, which are widely used in the original Romanian version of this book, that present a chal-lenge for translators and readers.

For example, the Romanian word “cult”, which is part of the name of the institution that prepared and published this book, Secretariatul de Stat pentru Culte, is often translated into English with the cognate “cult.” While the word in both languages does have a religious meaning, in English “cult” has a pejorative sense, and it would not be proper for it to be used in the English name of this institution. For this reason the Romanian word “cult,” which also appears in other contexts throughout the text, is translated “religious affairs” in the name of the institution, and as “religion” and/or “faith” in other instances.

A great deal of controversy surrounds the word “religion” in English. This word is widely used in the book, mostly as a trans-lation of the Romanian word “culte,” and especially to refer to the 18 recognized religions. It will perhaps assist the reader to un-derstand from the outset that Romania currently has a three-tier religious classification system, which includes 18 religions/denom-inations in the top tier, 36 religious associations, and over 800 as-sociations and foundations that carry out religious activities. This book will explain in detail the reason why this classification system was chosen, why the faiths are categorized in this way, and what benefits come with the respective categorization. Religious asso-ciations and associations and foundation that carry out religious activities have an opportunity to move to the next level of cate-gorization provided they meet certain criteria. The fact that those faiths in the top tier are referred to as “recognized religions” does not in any way mean that the others have not been given a form of recognition in Romania.

221

The expression “lăcaș de cult,” which originally comes from a popular expression “a da cuiva locaș,” defined as “to receive someone in the house; to offer refuge, to host someone,” is now also used to refer to a holy building, such as “lăcaș sfânt” [literal-ly “holy house” or “lăcaș dumnezeiesc” [“house of God”]. It would normally be used to designate a church, but can also refer to the church-like buildings in other religions or faiths, such as mosques or temples. Because in English the word church is defined as “a building used for public Christian worship”, the term “lăcaș de cult” is translated in this text as “place of worship”, regardless of the religion or faith to which it refers, unless it refers specifically to a Christian church.

222

BIBLIOGRaphYThis book was put together on the basis of legislation in effect for religions/

faiths, of data from censuses and data available to the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs, as well as other sources, with the assistance of the National Institute of Statistics (Chapter 3), the National Authority for the Restitution of Properties, and the Romanian Embassies in European Union countries.

Selective Bibliography:

www.culte.gov.ro – State Secretariat for Religious Affairs www.cdep.ro – Chamber of Deputies – Romanian Parliament (legislative

documents) www.anrp.ro – National Authority for the Restitution of Properties (data

concerning the restitution of properties belonging to religions/faiths) Secondary Literature: BRUSANOWSKI, Paul, Stat și Biserică în Vechea Românie între 1821-1925, Presa

Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca, 2010. CONOVICI, Iuliana, Ortodoxia în România postcomunistă. Reconstrucția unei

identități publice, Volumul I, Eikon Cluj Napoca, 2009. DOBRESCU, C., Casa Bisericii 1902-1919, Tipografia Cărţilor Bisericeşti,

Bucharest, 1920. FACULTÉ DE DROIT ET DE SCIENCE POLITIQUE D’AIX-MARSEILLE, Religion,

droit et société dans l’Europe communautaire. Actes du XIIIe Colloque de l’Institut de Droit et d’Histoire Religieux (IDHR) Aix-en-Provence, 19-20 mai 1999, Presses Universitaires d’Aix-Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, 2000.

LEUȘTEAN, Lucian, Orthodoxy and the Cold War: Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2009.

MARGIOTTA-BROGLIO, Francesco, MIRABELLI, Cesare, ONIDA Francesco, Religioni e sistemi giuridici. Introduzione al diritto ecclesiastico comparato, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2000.

MINISTERUL CULTURII ȘI CULTELOR, Viața religioasă din România, ed. a III-a, Tipogrup Press, Buzău, 2008.

RAIU, Cătălin, Ortodoxie, postcomunism și neoliberalism, Curtea Veche Publishing, Bucharest, 2012.

ROBBERS, Gerhard (ed.), State and Church in the European Union, Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2005.

STAN, Lavinia, TURCESCU,Lucian, Church, State, and Democracy in Expanding Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford/ New York, 2011.

This book is an over-view by the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs of several is-sues being debated in connec-tion with the status of religion in society, and specifically of those religions recognized by the Romanian State. The relation-ship between the State and rec-ognized religions, especially with the Romanian Orthodox Church, has become the focus of some public figures, politicians, and the media. Through our ac-tivities, including the publication of this work, we wish to contrib-ute to a balanced debate based on concrete data, legislation, and an understanding of the historic evo-lution of the relationship between the State and faith organizations in our country. We are talking about constitutive elements of na-tional identity, whose complexi-ty requires an objective approach, as an essential condition for civil, argument-driven debate.

State Secretariat for Religious Affairs

©2019