The Seventh Day Adventist Church is hoping to promote religious liberty in Romania via a series of meetings and lectures around the country. Called the Freedom Caravan, the scheme is a response to what the Adventist Church deems a threat to religious freedom in Romania coming from support for the re-introduction of Orthodox Christianity as the state religion in the country's constitution.

“Even though Romania has taken important steps in promoting religious liberty, we must stay alert to make sure that the principles of religious liberty stay untainted,” said Nelu Burcea, Public Affairs and Religious Liberty director for the Adventist Church’s Romania Union Conference, quoted by Adventist news site Adventist News Network. The idea of making Orthodox Christianity the national religion via explicit reference in a new constitution has been raised, but even the Adventists admit it is unlikely. Previous attempts in recent years to make such a change have been rejected by the government.

A recent proposal to set up a church tax whereby Romanians could choose to donate a part of their taxes to any religious or non-religious organization they want has caused some controversy. The scheme would be similar to other tax systems in Europe, but it caused controversy in Romania as some viewed it as an attack on the Orthodox Church. Currently, the Orthodox Church receives some funding directly from the Romanian government.

The majority of Romanians are Orthodox Christians, the 2011 census showed that out of Romania’s 19 million inhabitants, 16 million were Orthodox. Some 860,000 were Roman – Catholics, 160,000 were Greek – Catholics, 600,000 were members of the reformed churches, 370,000 were Pentecostals, and 350,000 had other religions, while over 20,000 said they did not believe in God, and over 80,000 did not declare any religion. The Adventist Church claims to have around 67,000 members in Romania.

The key figure in the founding of the Adventist Church in the US in the mid-19th Century was William Miller. Using calculations based on the bible, he predicted the second coming of Jesus Christ between 1843 and 1844 and attracted a group of followers. When Jesus failed to show up, Miller lost some of his congregation, but others kept the faith and the group became founders of the modern Seventh Day Adventist Church.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: adventistbanat.ro)