The peacemaking element in romanian-soviet ecclesiastical relations in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract

The article is devoted to the peacemaking aspect of the relations between the Romanian and Russian Orthodox Churches during one of the most difficult periods of their existence, accompanied by a political war with the clergy and believers and the intensification of anti-religious propaganda. Against the background of growing foreign policy tensions and the escalation of the arms race, the Soviet leadership sought to actively use the Romanian Church and its hierarchy through the Moscow Patriarchate to strengthen its positions in the international arena and in the confrontation with NATO. The active work of the Romanian Church in pro-Soviet international religious and secular organizations (the Christian Peace Conference, the International Christian Movement for Peace, the World Congress for Disarmament and International Cooperation, the World Peace Council) was accompanied by regular consultations with the Moscow Patriarchate, and Patriarch Justinian publicly supported the peacemaking statements of Patriarch Alexy and the Holy Synod. On the initiative of the Primate of the Romanian Church, Patriarch Alexy, during his trip to the socialist countries (May 31 — June 4, 1962), paid an official visit to Romania. Following the visit, a joint statement was adopted calling for the early conclusion of an agreement on the prohibition of nuclear and hydrogen tests and condemning American and British nuclear operations. The period 1958–1964 clearly demonstrated the complete lack of independence and manageability of church leaders in the peacekeeping campaign, but this direction remained the only means of interaction between the Russian and Romanian Churches approved by the authorities.