Unitarian Church of Transylvania

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Transylvanian Unitarian Church
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Unitarian Church of Transylvania
Official insignia of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania
TypeNontrinitarian Christianity
ClassificationRadical Protestant
OrientationUnitarianism
TheologySumma Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios
PolityQuasi-episcopal
BishopRev. István Kovács
AssociationsInternational Council of Unitarians and Universalists, European Liberal Protestant Network
RegionRomania, Hungary
LanguageHungarian
HeadquartersUnitarian Church, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
FounderFerenc Dávid;[1]
Origin1568
Separated fromHungarian Reformed Church
Members60,000 in Romania
25,000 in Hungary
Places of worship125 in Romania
12 in Hungary
Secondary schools2
Tertiary institutionsProtestant Theological Institute of Cluj
Other name(s)Hungarian Unitarian Church
Official websitewww.unitarius.org

The Unitarian Church of Transylvania (

Hungarian following, and is one of the 18 religious denominations given official recognition by the Government of Romania
.

The Transylvanian and Hungarian Unitarians represent the only branch of Unitarianism not to have adopted a

congregationalist polity, and remains quasi-episcopal; the Irish Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church, a distinct body closely related to Unitarianism, has a presbyterian structure.[3] The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is administered by a bishop and two Curators-General, being divided into five Archpriestships.[4] Since 2021, its bishop is the Rev. István Kovács. The Church, which uses Hungarian as the liturgical language, also endorses and teaches a catechism.[3]

Together with the Calvinist

Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession), the Unitarian community runs the Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj, wherein Unitarianism is represented by a distinct section. In addition, it has two high school-level theological educational institutions.[4]

Demographics

Unitarians in Romania (census 2002)

According to the results of the 2002 census, there are 66,846 Romanian citizens of the Unitarian faith (0.3% of the total population).

Roman Catholics (41.20%).[6] Since 1700, the Unitarian Church has had 125 parishes — in 2006, there were 110 Unitarian priests and 141 places of worship in Romania.[4]

The vast majority of church adherents live in Transylvania, mostly between

Inlăceni (Énlaka), and Mugeni (Bögöz), where Unitarians make up a large majority of the population. All of these localities are situated in the southwestern corner of Harghita County, except for Sighișoara which is located immediately outside of that area in the Southeastern corner of Mureș County
.

History

See also: History of Unitarianism
Pre-Unitarian fresco of the church in Dârjiu

The Unitarian Church was first recognized by the

Calvinist bishop, who had begun preaching the new doctrine in 1566). Early on, the Unitarian Church had notable successes: it included 425 parishes, made use of the monumental St. Michael's Church in Cluj-Napoca,[4] and attracted members of the eastern Transylvanian Székely community in large numbers.[7]

The Church attracted suspicion from all other established religions,

Socinian Polish Brethren from Poland on July 20, 1658, and maintained contact with the dispersed communities of Polish Brethren in the Netherlands and Lithuania. Andrzej Wiszowaty Jr., great-great-grandson of Fausto Sozzini, was one of the Polish exiles who taught at the Unitarian College in Cluj-Napoca, in the period in the 1730s when the church was reorganized and strengthened by Mihály Lombard de Szentábrahám, author of the church's official statement of faith, the Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios
.

Following the Union of Transylvania with Romania at the end of World War I, Unitarian congregations were established in regions of the Old Kingdom: the first Unitarian church in Bucharest was founded in 1933 (its building was later demolished).[4] During World War II, when Hungary ruled Northern Transylvania, the church, to prove its devotion to the official state ideology, engaged in anti-Semitic activity, despite having previously accepted many converts of Jewish origin.[8]

American and British Unitarians became aware of the survival of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania following the visit of

Communist authorities allowed it to welcome the IARF's executive committee in the city of Cluj-Napoca.[9] In 1994, the IARF European Conference was held in the same location.[9] The Transylvanian Unitarian Church is also a founding member of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists
.

In 2016, the deputy bishop announced his support for same-sex marriage.[10] In 2018, the governing body of the church voted to only bless marriages recognized by the state, presently only heterosexual marriages, but did vote to allow individual members to express their own opinions on marriage.[11]

Churches

The locality of Dârjiu is home to a 13th-century

Rugănești and Cristuru Secuiesc
.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-943549-83-5
    .
  2. ISBN 9781476794679
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-334-02883-3
  4. ^ a b c d e f g (in Romanian) Marius Vasileanu, "Cultele din România: Biserica Unitariană", in Adevărul, May 25, 2006 (hosted by Hotnews.ro); retrieved July 27, 2007
  5. ^ (in Romanian) Recensământ 2002. Rezultate: Populaţia după religie la recensământul din 2002 Archived March 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine; retrieved July 27, 2007
  6. ISBN 90-272-1858-7
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-8223-1241-7
  8. ISBN 9781498551229
  9. ^
    ISBN 90-232-3685-8
  10. ^ "Unitarian leader takes Equal Marriage stand in Romania". UUA International. 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  11. ^ "Hungarian Unitarian Church votes to support only male-female marriages". UU World Magazine. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2018-10-22.

External links

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