The Romanian Orthodox Church and post-communist democratisation

Ten years of post-communism have made it evident that the kind of democracy Romania will ultimately have will be determined by a number of political actors, including the Orthodox Church, the country's largest religious denomination, claiming the allegiance of four in five citizens.1 Since 1989 the Church has tried to become one of the dominant forces in transition by imposing its views on democracy through direct and indirect political engagement. This article begins by looking at the Church's pre-1989 position in Romania, and then considers the interplay between the Church and the Romanian state in the democratisation process. We assess the efforts of the Orthodox Church to carve a new role for itself in the new democracy, its political representation, influence on the new educational curricula and homosexual rights, as well as the issue of restitution of property to the Greek Catholic Church.