gious tolerance enabled the church to
thrive in Walachia and Moldavia; in Transylvania, however, a
post-Reformation settlement between the Hungarian rulers and the various
churches did not recognize the Romanian Orthodox Church as a legal
denomination.

In order to gain legal status and its accompanying freedoms and
benefits, a major portion of Romanian Orthodox clergy and laymen in
Transylvania agreed, in 1698, to accept the jurisdiction of the pope
while retaining Orthodox liturgy and ritual. The resulting Uniate church
was an important religious and political force in Transylvania until
the communist government forced it to reunite with the Romanian Orthodox
Church in 1948. As the church of the Romanian people in Transylvania,
the Uniate church played a major role in their emancipation and eventual
integration into a greater Romania.

With over 1.6 million adherents in 1948, the Uniate church in Romania
was the second largest and second most influential church in the
country. Fearing and resenting the influence of the Roman Catholic pope
with such a large number of its people, the communist regime decreed
that the Uniates be merged with the Romanian Orthodox Church and disavow
allegiance to the pope. Some Uniate clergy and laymen resisted and were
persecuted and imprisoned. The pattern for the dissolution of the Uniate
church was the same everywhere in Eastern Europe, and from 1946 to 1950
the Uniate congregations were absorbed into the various national
Orthodox churches.

Until the Romanian state was enlarged in 1918, the Orthodox faith was,
with minor exceptions, the exclusive religion of the country. The
Romanian Orthodox Church was legally accepted as the national church and
was supported by the state. Its hierarchy generally supported the
policies of the government both as individuals and as officials of the
church. The close relationship between church and state was of
particular significance in rural areas, where the church was often
called on to carry out local government functions. As the only literate
person in the area, the parish priest was often not only the spiritual
mentor of the population but also the teacher, judge, and government
official. The power of the church in relation to the population,
therefore, was based on both spiritual and governmental authority. In
the eyes of the devout peasant, the local priest was an important
authority on a variety of matters as well as a confidant and adviser.