#Miron Cristea

The role of the Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches in shaping Romanian national identity can be traced from medieval documents, such as the papal bull of 1234 addressed to King Bela IV, right up to the Great National Assembly at Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918, where the bishops Miron Cristea and Iuliu Hossu presided over the act of union. For Romanians, throughout the ages, the Church has represented not only a place of worship, but also a bastion of ethnic resilience, an instrument of national emancipation and a unifying force for the community in the face of external political and religious pressures.

The role of the Romanian Orthodox Church in bringing about the Great Union of 1 December 1918 is the central theme of this article, which highlights the contribution of hierarchs, priests and theologians such as Miron Cristea, Gurie Grosu, Vladimir Repta, Nicolae Bălan, Vasile Goldiș and Silviu Dragomir to the National Assemblies in Chișinău, Cernăuți and Alba Iulia, demonstrating that the clergy accounted for 38 per cent of the total number of official delegates.

Based on diary entries from 1982–1983, the article recounts the author’s visits to the monasteries of Oltenia and Muntenia – Dintr-un Lemn, Surpatele, Hurez, Frăsinei, Cozia, Căldărușani, Dragoslavele – in the company of the vicar bishop Gherasim. Through portraits of monks such as Father Paulin Lecca and Sister Mihaela Ghișoiu, and through references to church samizdat, a picture of Romanian monastic life under the communist regime emerges.