The Engagement into the Public Sphere of the Romanian Orthodox Church: Religious Assistance in the Army, Hospitals and Prisons.
The Engagement into the Public Sphere of the Romanian Orthodox Church: Religious Assistance in the Army, Hospitals and Prisons.

A Legal and Theological Approach

Summary/Abstract: The Orthodox Church has always placed special emphasis on the spiritual and bodily health of the faithful, placing the human person at the centre of the divine public worship. In this context, our study aims at analysing the ways in which the Romanian Orthodox Church has sought to make its voice heard in the public sphere by providing religious assistance in the army, penitentiaries and hospitals. A short overview of the legislative framework of religious assistance that regulates the partnership between the state and the denominations reveals the fact that the Romanian Orthodox Church has always considered that religious assistance is a pastoral imperative in a secularized society and has been continuously preoccupied with the well-being of those facing vulnerable conditions. The very Statute of the Romanian Orthodox Church thus stipulates that parish priests, deacons and church singers have the duty to provide religious assistance to all categories of faithful in military units, prisons, medical units, social assistance and educational establishments whenever requested, in adverse circumstances. On the other hand, we also sought to highlight that faith and religious practices have been considered constructive ways of dealing with bodily and mental distress. Consequently, through the activities proposed by the clergy in the army, hospitals and penitentiaries, the Church partakes in the state of well-being through interaction and communion.

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