“The Cluj Catechization Trial (1958).” The Story of a Regional Orthodox Educational Project in Stalinist Romania

The removal of religious education from the school curriculum by the Communist regime, through the educational reform of 1948, forced the Romanian Orthodox Church, like the other denominations, to reposition itself. Thus, in the new, unfavorable, context of the 1950s, when the regime tried to limit the Church’s institutional autonomy and reduce its social impact, the Romanian Orthodox Church attempted to initiate catechetical activities at the parish level to compensate for the pupils’ lack of religious education. The general context of the relationship between the State and the Church, with a focus on the institutional mechanisms and instruments of the regime of control over the educational activity of the Orthodox Church, will be approached in the first part of the article, which aims to outline the political‑ecclesial context in which the “Cluj catechization trial” of 1958 took place, while the second part of the research will focus on the development of the events surrounding the 1958 catechization. The Cluj catechization action, initiated by Bishop Teofil Herineanu, aimed to revive the religious education of the faithful, both students and adults. For this purpose, the bishop called upon the priests Galaction Munteanu, administrative vicar, and Ioan Bunea, professor at the Theological Seminary. They drew up a catechetical program which, after being sent to the archpriestships of the diocese, triggered the brutal intervention of the Securitate. A trial ensued, and clerics Ioan Bunea and Galaction Munteanu (the latter, deceased in the Aiud Prison) fell victims; the trial took place in the larger context of the Bucharest regime’s reaction towards the danger of the expansion of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. Using multiple sources: archives (CNSAS, the Department of Cults, the Cluj Archdiocese Archives), oral history (interviews with the descendants of the clergy involved) and memoirs, the article aims to radiograph the topic of religious education in Communist Romania in the 1950s, capturing the regional institutional context, its mechanisms and ecclesiastical practices, the educational objectives of the Church, the reaction of the political and repressive authorities (the Department of Cults, the Securitate) and last, but not least, the (post)carceral destinies of the clergy involved.