In some legal cultures, constitutionalists and politicians count a first, a second, or even a fifth republic. In a like manner, it could be said that Catalin Raiu has analyzed the interdependence of the First Romanian Orthodox Church and public governance from the parliamentary regime of the late 19^th century to state socialism. During this period, the state was able to keep the Church in a position of administrative and financial dependency, even if the Church managed oftentimes to inspire many public policies, mainly in matters of nationhood, welfare, and constitutional design.

After 1990, a Second Romanian Orthodox Church slowly came of age. A Church independent from the state, but capable of claiming unconditional financial benefits on the public budget. A Church that took the lead in terms of human and social values or the governance of the numerous Romanians living abroad. Behind the image of a continuous, traditional, and everlasting institution, this Church has started a history of its own.

Prof. univ. dr. Daniel Barbu

Din cuprins

• Rationale: Why a book on religion and public governance
• Religion and Politics. An intertwined conceptual pair
• Subsidiarity, democracy and authority in modern Romania (1860s-1990)
• The Church under the political religion of Communism
• Post-communism: from past tense to past perfect
• The Reflection Group for the Church Renewal (1990-1991/2)

Puncte forte

• analiza detaliata asupra temei in discuție
• caracter interdisciplinar
• interpretari și clarificari ale dezbaterilor din doctrina
• multiple referințe de drept comparat
• ample referințe bibliografice

Despre autor

Catalin RAIU is a faculty member at the Faculty of Business and Administration and at the University of Bucharest; he was selected as a member of the panel of experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for the term 2019-2022, and since 2023 he is serving on the Steering Board of the National Council for Combating Discrimination of Romania.