Jehovah's Witnesses Association of Romania
Encyclopedia
Jehovah's Witnesses Association of Romania is the formal name used by Jehovah's Witnesses
for their operations in Romania
, with a branch office located in Bucharest
. It is one of eighteen officially recognised religious denominations in the country. According to the organisation, it has 38,000 adherents as of 2008. Each congregation is supervised by a group of elders appointed by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
. The magazines The Watchtower
and Awake!
are both published in Romanian.
groups first appeared in present-day Romania through Hungarian missionaries in Transylvania
. These were also active in the Romanian Old Kingdom
prior to World War I
, and there remain groups under the "Bible Student" name in Romania today. In 1920, Ioan B. Sima, a former Greek-Catholic
, was sent from the United States
to organise the community, which was divided into four groups in the 1930s. Following a leadership dispute in the Bible Student movement in the United States, those who remained associated with the Watch Tower Society
became known as Jehovah's witnesses in 1931.
During the interwar
period of Greater Romania
the government imposed successive bans on the group's operations. In one piece of legislation passed in 1937 by the Gheorghe Tătărescu
cabinet, they were defined as one of the "religious associations and sects" whose activity on Romanian soil was prohibited; the list also included the Pentecostals
, the Apostolic Faith Church of God
, the Nazarenes
, the Old Calendar Orthodox
, the Inochentist church
and Bible societies
. As a result of their conscientious objection
, Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted during World War II
under the Ion Antonescu
regime.
In 1945–46, the Witnesses were permitted to openly publish their literature in Romanian; however, in 1948, their operations were again banned when the new Romanian Communist regime
excluded them from its list of official religious communities. The group presented forthright critiques of ecclesiastical, social and political institutions, as well as apocalyptic
pronouncements that were considered subversive by the Communist regime. Even more than their radical millenarianism
, their opposition to military service and what officials understood as the Witnesses' attitude to the Romanian state were also considered unacceptable. Stories claiming that Jehovah's Witnesses were prepared to become personally involved in overcoming the powers of darkness and to bring to a consummation the climactic eschatological moment
were circulated, increasing pressure on the group.
Officials maintained close surveillance of the Witness community, subjected its members to intense harassment and discrimination, and deprived them of their civil rights on various occasions. The media and other methods were also employed against the Witnesses. Religious scholar Earl A. Pope cites an American report which stated that in 1975 there were "heavy persecutions" in a number of major cities, including brutal beatings, continuous questioning in excess of fifty hours at a time, and physical torture, as well as many hundreds of house searches throughout the country and seizure of religious literature. The Governing Body tried to negotiate with the Romanian government, but their communications were unanswered. No precise figures are available as to the size of the movement under Communism, but it was large enough to create considerable apprehension for officials. According to British
political scientist
Tom Gallagher
, by the 1980s, one source of converts to the Witnesses, as well as to Protestant
denominations, was the new working class housed in urban high-rise settlements, as the Orthodox hierarchy was reluctant to take care of this group's religious needs. In an interview with the World Council of Churches
' official magazine, Metropolitan
Antonie Plămădeală
of the dominant Romanian Orthodox Church
said that gaining official recognition would have been very difficult for Jehovah's Witnesses in Romania because of their attitude toward the Communist state and to military service, but it would not have been impossible if the state had better understood their views and been less paranoid. He claimed that if they kept a low profile and were not active against the state, the authorities would be unconcerned about them.
Following the Romanian Revolution of 1989
, Jehovah's Witnesses in Romania received legal status as a religious association in 1990. Since then, opposition has come from the Orthodox Church, which considers the group to be a heretical sect that employs "aggressive proselytism
". In July 1996, the Orthodox Church influenced the authorities to cancel a planned international convention of Jehovah's Witnesses that had been scheduled to take place in Bucharest in July 1996. Pursuant to a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice
in 2000, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs granted the group official recognition in 2003, the first denomination to be recognised since the aftermath of the Revolution.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
for their operations in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, with a branch office located in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. It is one of eighteen officially recognised religious denominations in the country. According to the organisation, it has 38,000 adherents as of 2008. Each congregation is supervised by a group of elders appointed by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses is the ruling council of Jehovah's Witnesses based in Brooklyn, New York. The body assumes responsibility for formulating policy and doctrines, producing material for publications and conventions, and administering its worldwide branch office staff...
. The magazines The Watchtower
The Watchtower
The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom is an illustrated religious magazine, published semi-monthly in 194 languages by Jehovah's Witnesses via the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and printed in various branch offices around the world...
and Awake!
Awake!
Awake! is a monthly illustrated magazine published by Jehovah's Witnesses via the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and printed in various branch offices around the world. It is considered to be a companion magazine of The Watchtower, and is distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses in...
are both published in Romanian.
History
Bible StudentBible Student movement
The Bible Student movement is the name adopted by a Millennialist Restorationist Christian movement that emerged from the teachings and ministry of Charles Taze Russell, also known as Pastor Russell...
groups first appeared in present-day Romania through Hungarian missionaries in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. These were also active in the Romanian Old Kingdom
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Danubian Principalities—Wallachia and Moldavia...
prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and there remain groups under the "Bible Student" name in Romania today. In 1920, Ioan B. Sima, a former Greek-Catholic
Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic is an Eastern Catholic Church which is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. It is ranked as a Major Archiepiscopal Church and uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Romanian language....
, was sent from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to organise the community, which was divided into four groups in the 1930s. Following a leadership dispute in the Bible Student movement in the United States, those who remained associated with the Watch Tower Society
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, administer and develop doctrines for the religion...
became known as Jehovah's witnesses in 1931.
During the interwar
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
period of Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
the government imposed successive bans on the group's operations. In one piece of legislation passed in 1937 by the Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe Tatarescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania , three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs , and once as Minister of War...
cabinet, they were defined as one of the "religious associations and sects" whose activity on Romanian soil was prohibited; the list also included the Pentecostals
Pentecostal Union of Romania
The Pentecostal Union of Romania is Romania's fourth-largest religious body and one of its eighteen officially recognised religious denominations. At the 2002 census, 330,486 Romanians declared themselves to be Pentecostals; ethnically, they were 85.2% Romanians, 10.6% Roma, 1.9% Ukrainians, 1.8%...
, the Apostolic Faith Church of God
Apostolic Faith Church of God
The Apostolic Faith Church of God is a Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1909 by Charles W. Lowe following the teachings of William J...
, the Nazarenes
Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene)
The Apostolic Christian Church is a Christian denomination of the Anabaptist movement. It was formed in the early 1900s as the result of separating from their sister church, the Apostolic Christian Church of America. The Nazarene faith is widely spread across the globe, with congregations in...
, the Old Calendar Orthodox
Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church
The Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church is an Orthodox Church that uses the old-style Julian calendar. This church was split in 1925 by Metropolitan Glicherie, formerly a member of the Romanian Orthodox Church...
, the Inochentist church
Inochentism
Inochentism is a millennialist and Charismatic Christian sect, split from mainstream Eastern Orthodoxy in the early 20th century. The church was first set up in the Russian Empire, and was later active in both the Soviet Union and Romania...
and Bible societies
Bible society
A Bible society is a non-profit organization devoted to translating, publishing, distributing the Bible at affordable costs and advocating its credibility and trustworthiness in contemporary cultural life...
. As a result of their conscientious objection
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
, Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
under the Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
regime.
In 1945–46, the Witnesses were permitted to openly publish their literature in Romanian; however, in 1948, their operations were again banned when the new Romanian Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
excluded them from its list of official religious communities. The group presented forthright critiques of ecclesiastical, social and political institutions, as well as apocalyptic
Apocalypticism
Apocalypticism is the religious belief that there will be an apocalypse, a term which originally referred to a revelation of God's will, but now usually refers to belief that the world will come to an end time very soon, even within one's own lifetime...
pronouncements that were considered subversive by the Communist regime. Even more than their radical millenarianism
Millenarianism
Millenarianism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society, after which all things will be changed, based on a one-thousand-year cycle. The term is more generically used to refer to any belief centered around 1000 year intervals...
, their opposition to military service and what officials understood as the Witnesses' attitude to the Romanian state were also considered unacceptable. Stories claiming that Jehovah's Witnesses were prepared to become personally involved in overcoming the powers of darkness and to bring to a consummation the climactic eschatological moment
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
The eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses is central to their religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in heaven as king since 1914 , and that after that time a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in God's selection of the Bible Students associated with Charles Taze...
were circulated, increasing pressure on the group.
Officials maintained close surveillance of the Witness community, subjected its members to intense harassment and discrimination, and deprived them of their civil rights on various occasions. The media and other methods were also employed against the Witnesses. Religious scholar Earl A. Pope cites an American report which stated that in 1975 there were "heavy persecutions" in a number of major cities, including brutal beatings, continuous questioning in excess of fifty hours at a time, and physical torture, as well as many hundreds of house searches throughout the country and seizure of religious literature. The Governing Body tried to negotiate with the Romanian government, but their communications were unanswered. No precise figures are available as to the size of the movement under Communism, but it was large enough to create considerable apprehension for officials. According to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
political scientist
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
Tom Gallagher
Thomas Gerard Gallagher
-Education and career:Tom Gallagher is holder of the chair of ethnic peace and conflict at the department of peace studies, University of Bradford. Ironically it has been alleged that he has been known to vocally support the INLA, who carried out a twenty-four year campaign of terror including the...
, by the 1980s, one source of converts to the Witnesses, as well as to Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
denominations, was the new working class housed in urban high-rise settlements, as the Orthodox hierarchy was reluctant to take care of this group's religious needs. In an interview with the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
' official magazine, Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Antonie Plămădeală
Antonie Plamadeala
Antonie Plămădeală was a high-level hierarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Metropolitan of Transylvania ....
of the dominant Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
said that gaining official recognition would have been very difficult for Jehovah's Witnesses in Romania because of their attitude toward the Communist state and to military service, but it would not have been impossible if the state had better understood their views and been less paranoid. He claimed that if they kept a low profile and were not active against the state, the authorities would be unconcerned about them.
Following the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
, Jehovah's Witnesses in Romania received legal status as a religious association in 1990. Since then, opposition has come from the Orthodox Church, which considers the group to be a heretical sect that employs "aggressive proselytism
Proselytism
Proselytizing is the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion and, particularly, another religion. The word proselytize is derived ultimately from the Greek language prefix προσ- and the verb ἔρχομαι in the form of προσήλυτος...
". In July 1996, the Orthodox Church influenced the authorities to cancel a planned international convention of Jehovah's Witnesses that had been scheduled to take place in Bucharest in July 1996. Pursuant to a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice
High Court of Cassation and Justice
The High Court of Cassation and Justice is Romania's supreme court, and the court of last resort. It is the equivalent of France's Cour de cassation and serves a similar function to other courts of cassation around the world...
in 2000, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs granted the group official recognition in 2003, the first denomination to be recognised since the aftermath of the Revolution.