2019ArticoleNR. 2 / 2019 (MAI-AUGUST)

 IMPORTANȚA COOPERĂRII DINTRE BISERICĂ ȘI STAT ÎN CONTEXT EUROPEAN / IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH-STATE COOPERATION IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT

 – † DANIEL, PATRIARCH OF ROMANIA

By 8 iunie 2019decembrie 9th, 2021No Comments
Abstract: Cuvântul rostit de Preafericitul Părinte Daniel, Patriarhul României, în deschiderea Conferinţei Internaţionale privind relaţiile dintre Stat şi denominaţiunile religioase în Uniunea Europeană, Palatul Patriarhiei, 7 iunie 2019 / Opening address by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania at the International Conference on the relations between the State and religious denominations in the European Union, at the Palace of the Patriarchate, Friday, June 7, 2019.


Keywords: European Union, Treaty of Lisbon, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania, International Conference, relations between the State and religious denominations


Summary: According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon of 2007, ‘The Union respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religious associations or communities in the Member States’ (article 7, paragraph 1 TFEU). Thus, ‘recognising their identity and their specific contribution, the Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and organisations’ (article 17, paragraph 3 TFEU).
Therefore, in the European Union there is no ‘European model’ for the relationship between religious communities and the political authority, but the legislative systems in force in the EU Member States oscillate from a radical separation to an almost complete identification between a particular religious community and a State. At the same time, the European Union aims to engage in dialogue with religious denominations so that they may express their specific contribution to the European construction.
Today there are four Member States with a majority Orthodox population in the European Union (Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Bulgaria), where Autocephalous Churches are organized and operate, while in other Member States there are important Orthodox communities organized ethnically as autocephalous (Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) or autonomous (Finland and Estonia). Also, in some Member States there are consistent Orthodox communities organized ethnically as diaspora (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Austria). Romania, with a population of 16,307,000 Orthodox believers, is the largest country of the European Union with a majority Orthodox population.
In the Orthodox majority states, the Church-State relation originally followed the Byzantine principle of symphonia, that is, harmony, understanding and cooperation between two distinct institutions, which are united by the common social life of the people in their double status as citizens of the State and believers of the Church.
In the Byzantine perspective on society there were two hierarchical systems, one of the Church and the other of the Empire, coexisting in the same space, confessing a single faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, and pursuing the same purpose: the union of the visible world with the invisible God. However, the two hierarchical systems of the State and the Church were conceived and understood as different and distinct, and any attempt to combine them proved to be unfortunate. (see al the article in pdf format)

Preafericitul Părinte Daniel, Patriarhul Bisericii Ortodoxe Române,
este membru de onoare al Academiei Române și autor a zeci de lucrări și peste 1.ooo de studii și articole în periodicele din țară și străinătate.
E-mail: cabinet.patriarhal@patriarhia.ro