2005/10/26 by Lavinia Stan, Lucian Turcescu · 3 citations
Social Sciences · #Religion and Society Interactions #Eastern European Communism and Reforms #Balkans: History, Politics, Society
paper · doi:10.1177/0888325404272454
openalex publication_date 2005/10/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
The article charts the efforts of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the country's largest religious denomination, to block the public exposure of the names of priests and prelates who collaborated with the dreaded communist secret political police, the Securitate, by informing on other priests, disclosing information obtained from believers during confession or supporting communist antireligious policies. The article identifies four types of attitudes toward the Securitate of members of the Romanian Orthodox clergy, presents the arguments in favor of and against the public exposure of tainted priests, examines the recent revelations regarding the controversial past of Patriarch Teoctist, and investigates the Church's efforts to impose amendments to the Romanian transitional justice legislation that would exempt priests from being investigated by the National Council for the Study of Securitate Archive.