Miron Cristea
Encyclopedia
Miron Cristea, was an Austro-Hungarian
-born Romania
n cleric and politician.
A bishop in Hungarian-ruled Transylvania, Cristea was elected Metropolitan-Primate of the Orthodox Church of the newly unified Greater Romania
in 1919. As the Church was raised to a rank of Patriarchy, Miron Cristea was enthroned as the first Patriarch
of the Romanian Orthodox Church
in 1925.
In 1938, Carol II banned political parties and established a royal dictatorship, choosing Miron Cristea to be the Prime Minister of Romania
, a position from which he served for about a year, between February 11, 1938 and his death.
to Gheorghe and Domniţa Cristea, a peasant family, he studied at the Saxon Evangelical Gymnasium of Bistriţa
(1879–1883), at the Greek-Catholic
Lyceum of Năsăud
(1883–1887), at the Orthodox Seminary of Sibiu
(1887–1890), after which he became a teacher and principal at the Romanian Orthodox school of Orăştie (1890–1891).
Cristea then studied philosophy
and modern philology
at the University of Budapest (1891–1895), where he was awarded a doctorate
in 1895 - with a dissertation about the life and works of Mihai Eminescu
(given in Hungarian
).
Returning to Transylvania, he was a secretary (between 1895 and 1902), then a counselor (1902–1909) at the Archbishopric of Sibiu. It was then that he was ordained deacon
in 1900 and archdeacon in 1901. Cristea became a monk at the Hodoş Bodrog Monastery, Arad County
in 1902, taking the monastic name of Miron. He climbed the monastery hierarchy, becoming an archmonk in 1903 and a protosingel in 1908.
In 1908, following the death of bishop Nicolae Popea, the election of the bishop of Caransebeş led to a dispute between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Imperial authorities, when, twice in a row, the elected bishops were not recognized by emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, at the recommendation of the Hungarian government. Cristea was the third choice, being chosen on November 21, 1910 and obtaining the recognition from the authorities; he became an archbishop in 1919.
During World War I
, as Romania joined the war on the Allies' side, Cristea signed on September 1, 1916 a public letter to the parishioners printed at Oradea
by the Orthodox Bishophric of Transylvania. The letter called to arms all believers against "Romania the new enemy which sinfully covets to ruin the borders, coming to conquer Transylvania".
Towards the end of World War I
, on October 18, 1918, it was founded the Central National Romanian Council, an organization which fought for the union of Transylvania
and Romania. On November 21, Cristea, as archbishop of Caransebeş joined the organization and recognized it as the only ruling body of the Romanian nation in Transylvania. On December 1, he was (with Vasile Goldiş
, Iuliu Hossu
, and Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
) a member of Austro-Hungarian
Romanian
delegation that called for the unification of Romania
and Transylvania
.
On May 28, 1919, the King and government of Romania went to the grave of Michael the Brave in Câmpia Turzii
and Bishop Cristea lead the religious service of commemoration and held a nationalist speech in which he drew a parallel between King Ferdinand I and Michael the Brave and commended the King for not stopping at Turda
, but continuing all the way to the Tisa River.
was forced to resign on December 1, 1919 and on December 31, 1919, Cristea was chosen by the Great Electoral College to be the Metropolitan-Primate
of Whole Romania with 435 votes out of 447. On November 1, 1925, after a Synod
was held, Cristea was named Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
As Metropolitan-Primate and later Patriarch, Cristea continued the tradition of his predecessors to support whatever government was in power. The Church acted as an agent of the state, for instance, in 1920, Cristea asked the clergymen to help the state financially by encouraging the faithful to buy government bonds
. Cristea's discourse incorporated national elements, arguing that the Orthodox faith was part of the Romanian soul and he argued that the church's values include "patriotism
" and "obedience
towards authorities" alongside "faith and morality".
Cristea introduced reforms such as the Gregorian calendar
to the church, including, briefly, the celebration of Easter on the same date as the Roman Catholic Church. This was opposed by various groups of Old calendarists
, especially in Moldavia, where Metropolitan Gurie Grosu
of Bessarabia refused to accept the orders given by the Patriarchy.
In 1927, he was chosen by Ionel Brătianu to be one of the three regent
s of King
Michael I of Romania
, alongside Prince Nicholas of Romania
and Gheorghe Buzdugan.
Cristea's involvement in politics was, however, controversial, being criticised by journalists at Epoca newspaper, who accused him of trying to play the role of Rasputin and being a member of the palace camarilla
. This resulted in the issue being confiscated by the police and their offices being vandalized by hooligans, allegedly incited by the government.
A dispute arose with philosopher Nae Ionescu
, after Ionescu attacked Cristea in newspaper articles following a dinner at Cristea during the Nativity Fast
during which they were served turkey
. As a response, Cristea requested the painter Belizarie to paint Ionescu's face on a devil in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest
's Apocalipse-themed mural.
In 1929, because of a serious illness (identified as leucocythemia
by his medics), Cristea retired for several months to a country house in Dragoslavele
, Muscel County, but despite the bleak predictions about his health state, he was soon able to return to Bucharest.
On July 6, 1930, Carol II
returned to Romania to assume power. On July 7, Miron Cristea and Constantin Sărăţeanu resigned from the regency and the following day, the Parliament revoked the 1926 law which gave the throne to Mihai, Carol becoming King again.
Cristea kept his loyalty to King Carol II throughout his rule. In March 1937, as the King attempted to suppress the influence of the fascist
movement known as the Iron Guard
, Cristea responded to the request sent by the Tătărescu government on limiting the relationship between the clergy and the Iron Guard. Cristea invoked a Holy Synod which banned clergy from joining the Legion and disallowed political demonstrations and symbols in the churches.
, which was gaining popularity, in 1938, Carol dismissed the government headed by Octavian Goga
. The activity of the parliament and of all political parties was suspended and the country was to be governed by royal decree. Cristea was named Prime Minister on 11 February 1938 and the government included seven former prime-ministers and people from all major parties except for Codreanu's Iron Guard and Goga's Lăncieri
, which had violently clashed. Time Magazine
described him as a "puppet Premier" of Carol II, whereas historian Joseph Rothschild considered that it was Cristea's vice-prime-minister, Armand Călinescu, who held the power in the Cristea government.
In his inaugural speech
, Cristea denounced political pluralism, arguing that "the monster with 29 electoral heads was destroyed" (referring to the 29 political parties which were to be banned) and claiming that the king shall bring salvation.
The new government stopped the antisemitic violence that was unleashed under Goga's rule, but the antisemitic legislation
in place was not altered, as Nichifor Crainic
's fascist ideology fit within the theological-political stance of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Cristea's government announced a program which put restrictions on various freedoms, especially related to censorship and the introduction of authoritarian measures such as military rule
(by declaring a state of siege
, which allowed among other things, searches without warrant and the military appropriation of privately-held guns) and the death penalty, but it promised prosperity through some constitutional and social reforms, which were to include the "organized emigration of Jewish surplus population", that is, expulsion Jewish people who came to Romania during or after World War I. However, it eased the Jewish restrictions imposed by the Goga government.
The external politics of the Cristea government were based on seeking an alliance with the United Kingdom
and France
, away from the friendship with the Berlin-Rome Axis supported by the Goga government. Cristea also visited Poland
, with which Romania had an alliance and with which it tried to create a neutral block between Nazi Germany and the USSR.
Among the policies Cristea introduced during his rule as Prime Minister was a crackdown on Protestants, by disallowing religious service to small congregations with less than 100 heads of families, basically banning the services in around 1500 small chapels belonging to various Christian denominations. Despite worldwide protests from the Baptists, the ban was only lifted after Cristea's death by his successor, the National Renaissance Front
's Armand Călinescu
.
On February 20, a new constitution
was announced, which organized Romania as a "corporatist state" similar to the one of Fascist Italy, with a parliament made up of representatives of the guild
s of farmers, workers and intellectuals. Four days later, on February 24, the constitution was approved, with 99.87% of votes for, through a plebiscite, described by a contemporary article in The Manchester Guardian as a "farse" for its lack of vote secrecy and the lack of information given to the rural people.
Upon the approval of the new constitution, Miron Cristea's government resigned on February 30 in order to form a new government on the same day. The new government banned all political parties, their activity being only suspended before that.
In March 1938, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
, the leader of the Iron Guard, attacked in a letter the politicians who supported Carol II, including Prime Minister Cristea and members of his government. Codreanu was arrested for slander against Nicolae Iorga
and killed "while attempting to escape".
By the end of 1938, Carol II introduced even more Fascist-inspired elements: for instance, on January 1, 1939, during the government's visit to the Royal Palace, they wore uniforms and when meeting Carol, Cristea and the ministers greeted him with the Fascist salute.
Another change in Cristea's government was on February 1, 1939, which gave extensive powers to Călinescu, who became virtually the head of the cabinet, while Cristea remained nominally the Prime Minister at the King's insistence.
, France
, but contracted pneumonia while waiting for his niece in the Nice railway station
. He stayed in Cannes for treatment, but died two weeks later, on March 6, of bronchopneumonia
complicated by heart disease.
His body was sent by train to Bucharest, the funeral train stopping in all stations in Romania to permit believers to pay their last respects and say prayers before the body. On March 7, a state of national mourning was ordered and all festivities were canceled. A week later, on March 14, funeral services were held in Bucharest, Cristea being buried in the Patriarchal Cathedral
.
, a multiethnic and multireligious state, Cristea feared that the ethnic minorities, as well as Romanians belonging to non-Orthodox creeds such as the Greek-Catholicism and the Jews would challenge the privileged status which the Orthodox Church had in pre-World War I Romania.
Nevertheless, Cristea attempted an ecumenical
close-up with the Anglican Church, by visiting Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury
in 1936.
Cristea strongly opposed the idea of a Concordat
with the Vatican and the Romanian Orthodox Church issued a statement against it saying that "the treaty subordinates the interests of the country and the sovereignty of the state to a foreign power". The Romanian Senate ratified it anyway on May 26, 1929 and Cristea, as a member of the regency, was forced to sign it. This has led again to discussions about the incompatibility between his two posts and there were discussions on whether Cristea would have resigned rather than sign the Concordat.
After Cristea introduced reforms such as switching to the Gregorian calendar, the Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church
, led by Glicherie Tănase seceded many parishes from the Orthodox Church and by 1936 they had built more than 40 churches. However, after 1935, the Romanian government began to suppress any opposition to the Orthodox Church and the churches were razed and some of the activists the imprisoned, while a number of clerics, including hieromonk Pambo and five monks from the Old Calendarist Cucova Monastery, were beaten to death. Protests against the authorities' actions were met with repression by police and the leader of Old Calendarists, Tănase, was accused of being an instigator and sentenced to death.
In 1937, William Temple
, the Archbishop of York
, sent a letter to Cristea in which he questioned religious freedom in Romania, referring especially to the treatment of the Baptists. Cristea denied such claims and responded in a long document in which he said Temple was misled by the "perverse propaganda" and the "false mystification" of the Magyars, as well as the "ferocious and barbaric proselytism of the Pope". He further added, referring to neo-Protestants, that Romania should not allow to be "undermined by foreigners dressed in innocent pseudo-religious garb".
and he expressed regrets for attacks and profanations of synagogues.
In the 1930s, as the Fascist Iron Guard
rose in popularity, initially, Cristea's position towards them was of acceptance, especially since their program included loyalty to Orthodoxism. Many Orthodox priests were attracted by the movement and it was common that their banners were blessed in churches.
In 1937, Cristea realized that the Iron Guard was decreasing the loyalty of both the Orthodox Christians and the lower-ranked clergy to the church hierarchy and began to oppose the Guard, while adopting their anti-semitic
and xenophobic
rhetoric: he supported the revocation of the Romanian citizenship for Jewish people and their deportation, the Jews being in his opinion the major obstacle in "assuring preponderant rights to ethnic Romanians".
On August 18, 1937, he issued a statement which called the Romanian nation "to fight the Jewish parasites" who spread "epidemics of corruption" throughout Romania and that the Romanians have a "a national and patriotic duty" to protect themselves against the Jews:
In 1938, during a meeting with Wilhelm Fabricius, the German ambassador, Cristea praised the anti-semitic policy conducted by Nazi Germany and supporting such a policy in Romania, and the British Ambassador wrote in his report to London that "Nothing would induce him [i.e., Cristea] to talk about anything but the Jewish problem."
is currently a museum dedicated to his life. Each year, on Cristea's birthday, the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchy organizes the "Miron Cristea Days", dedicated to the first patriarch of the Church and which feature various cultural activities.
In July 2010, the National Bank of Romania minted a commemorative coin bearing Cristea's image as a part of a collectors' series of five coins showing the Patriarchs of All Romania
. In response, Radu Ioanid, international archives director at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
, called for the coin be withdrawn.
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
-born Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n cleric and politician.
A bishop in Hungarian-ruled Transylvania, Cristea was elected Metropolitan-Primate of the Orthodox Church of the newly unified Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
in 1919. As the Church was raised to a rank of Patriarchy, Miron Cristea was enthroned as the first Patriarch
Patriarch of All Romania
The Patriarch of All Romania is the title of the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church. As of September 12, 2007, the chair is occupied by Daniel Ciobotea.-Metropolitans of Ungro-Wallachia:* Maxim * Macarie II * Ilarion II...
of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
in 1925.
In 1938, Carol II banned political parties and established a royal dictatorship, choosing Miron Cristea to be the Prime Minister of Romania
Prime Minister of Romania
The Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers...
, a position from which he served for about a year, between February 11, 1938 and his death.
Early life
Born in TopliţaToplita
Toplița is a city in Harghita County, Romania.The settlement has had multiple name changes: Taplócza, Toplicza, Gyergyó-Toplicza, from February 3, 1861 Oláh-Toplicza, or "Romanian Toplița", then from January 1, 1907 Maroshévíz, until 1918, when it received the Romanian name Toplița Română...
to Gheorghe and Domniţa Cristea, a peasant family, he studied at the Saxon Evangelical Gymnasium of Bistriţa
Bistrita
Bistrița is the capital city of Bistriţa-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistriţa River. The city has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants, and it administers six villages: Ghinda, Sărata, Sigmir, Slătiniţa, Unirea and Viişoara.-History:The earliest sign of...
(1879–1883), at the Greek-Catholic
Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic is an Eastern Catholic Church which is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. It is ranked as a Major Archiepiscopal Church and uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Romanian language....
Lyceum of Năsăud
Nasaud
Năsăud is a town in Bistriţa-Năsăud County in Romania located in the historical region of Transylvania. The town administers two villages, Liviu Rebreanu and Luşca.The name Năsăud is possibly derived from the Slavic nas voda, meaning "near the water"...
(1883–1887), at the Orthodox Seminary of Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
(1887–1890), after which he became a teacher and principal at the Romanian Orthodox school of Orăştie (1890–1891).
Cristea then studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and modern philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
at the University of Budapest (1891–1895), where he was awarded a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1895 - with a dissertation about the life and works of Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul , the official newspaper of the Conservative Party...
(given in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
).
Returning to Transylvania, he was a secretary (between 1895 and 1902), then a counselor (1902–1909) at the Archbishopric of Sibiu. It was then that he was ordained deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in 1900 and archdeacon in 1901. Cristea became a monk at the Hodoş Bodrog Monastery, Arad County
Arad County
Arad is an administrative division of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crişana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center of the county lies in the city of Arad...
in 1902, taking the monastic name of Miron. He climbed the monastery hierarchy, becoming an archmonk in 1903 and a protosingel in 1908.
In 1908, following the death of bishop Nicolae Popea, the election of the bishop of Caransebeş led to a dispute between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Imperial authorities, when, twice in a row, the elected bishops were not recognized by emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, at the recommendation of the Hungarian government. Cristea was the third choice, being chosen on November 21, 1910 and obtaining the recognition from the authorities; he became an archbishop in 1919.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, as Romania joined the war on the Allies' side, Cristea signed on September 1, 1916 a public letter to the parishioners printed at Oradea
Oradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
by the Orthodox Bishophric of Transylvania. The letter called to arms all believers against "Romania the new enemy which sinfully covets to ruin the borders, coming to conquer Transylvania".
Towards the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, on October 18, 1918, it was founded the Central National Romanian Council, an organization which fought for the union of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and Romania. On November 21, Cristea, as archbishop of Caransebeş joined the organization and recognized it as the only ruling body of the Romanian nation in Transylvania. On December 1, he was (with Vasile Goldiş
Vasile Goldis
Vasile Goldiş was a Romanian politician and member of the Romanian Academy.-Early life:He was born on 12 November 1862 in his grandfather's house in the village of Mocirla. His parents were Isaia and Floarea Goldiş. The family of his father had its origins in the Chişcău village, Bihor County...
, Iuliu Hossu
Iuliu Hossu
Iuliu Hossu was a Romanian Greek-Catholic bishop of the Cluj-Gherla Diocese and later cardinal and victim of the Communist regime...
, and Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod or Vaida-Voievod was a Romanian politician who was a supporter and promoter of the union of Transylvania with the Romanian Old Kingdom; he later served three terms as a Prime Minister of Greater Romania.-Transylvanian politics:He was born to a Greek-Catholic family in the...
) a member of Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
delegation that called for the unification of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
.
On May 28, 1919, the King and government of Romania went to the grave of Michael the Brave in Câmpia Turzii
Câmpia Turzii
Câmpia Turzii is a city in Cluj County, Romania, which was formed in 1925 by the union of two villages, Ghiriş and Sâncrai...
and Bishop Cristea lead the religious service of commemoration and held a nationalist speech in which he drew a parallel between King Ferdinand I and Michael the Brave and commended the King for not stopping at Turda
Turda
Turda is a city and Municipality in Cluj County, Romania, situated on the Arieş River.- Ancient times :The city was founded by Dacians under the name Patavissa or Potaissa...
, but continuing all the way to the Tisa River.
Patriarch of Romania
Because of his collaboration with the German occupation troops, the Metropolitan-Primate Conon Arămescu-DoniciConon Arămescu-Donici
Conon Arămescu-Donici was Metropolitan-Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church between 1912 and 1918. In conflict with the authorities of modern Romania, he was forced to resign due to his collaboration with German occupation troops during World War I.-Biography:Born in Urzici-Arămeşti, Neamţ...
was forced to resign on December 1, 1919 and on December 31, 1919, Cristea was chosen by the Great Electoral College to be the Metropolitan-Primate
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of Whole Romania with 435 votes out of 447. On November 1, 1925, after a Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
was held, Cristea was named Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
As Metropolitan-Primate and later Patriarch, Cristea continued the tradition of his predecessors to support whatever government was in power. The Church acted as an agent of the state, for instance, in 1920, Cristea asked the clergymen to help the state financially by encouraging the faithful to buy government bonds
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
. Cristea's discourse incorporated national elements, arguing that the Orthodox faith was part of the Romanian soul and he argued that the church's values include "patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
" and "obedience
Obedience (human behavior)
In human behavior, obedience is the quality of being obedient, which describes the act of carrying-out commands or being actuated. Obedience differs from compliance, which is behavior influenced by peers, and from conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the majority. Obedience can...
towards authorities" alongside "faith and morality".
Cristea introduced reforms such as the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
to the church, including, briefly, the celebration of Easter on the same date as the Roman Catholic Church. This was opposed by various groups of Old calendarists
Old calendarists
The term Old Calendarist refers to any Orthodox Christian or any Orthodox Church body which uses the historic Julian calendar , and whose Church body is not in communion with the Orthodox Churches that use the New Calendar...
, especially in Moldavia, where Metropolitan Gurie Grosu
Gurie Grosu
Gurie Grosu was a Bessarabian priest and the first Metropolitan of Bessarabia.- Biography :Gurie Grosu was born on January 1, 1877 in Nimoreni and died on November 14, 1943 in Bucharest...
of Bessarabia refused to accept the orders given by the Patriarchy.
In 1927, he was chosen by Ionel Brătianu to be one of the three regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
s of King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Michael I of Romania
Michael I of Romania
Michael was the last King of Romania. He reigned from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930, and again from 6 September 1940 until 30 December 1947 when he was forced, by the Communist Party of Romania , to abdicate to the Soviet armies of occupation...
, alongside Prince Nicholas of Romania
Prince Nicholas of Romania
| style="float:right;"|Prince Nicholas of Romania was the second son of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania.- Biography :Born in Peleş Castle, Sinaia, Nicholas was the younger brother of Carol, heir apparent, who renounced his rights of succession on 12 December 1925...
and Gheorghe Buzdugan.
Cristea's involvement in politics was, however, controversial, being criticised by journalists at Epoca newspaper, who accused him of trying to play the role of Rasputin and being a member of the palace camarilla
Camarilla
Camarilla may refer to:*Camarilla, an unofficial group of courtiers or favorites surrounding and influencing a king or ruler, specifically the two such groups prominent in German history....
. This resulted in the issue being confiscated by the police and their offices being vandalized by hooligans, allegedly incited by the government.
A dispute arose with philosopher Nae Ionescu
Nae Ionescu
Nae Ionescu was a Romanian philosopher, logician, mathematician, professor, and journalist. Near the end of his career, he became known for his antisemitism and devotion to far right politics, in the years leading up to World War II.-Life:...
, after Ionescu attacked Cristea in newspaper articles following a dinner at Cristea during the Nativity Fast
Nativity Fast
The Nativity Fast is a period of abstinence and penance practiced by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches, in preparation for the Nativity of Christ, . The fast is similar to the Western Advent, except that it runs for 40 days instead of four weeks. The fast is...
during which they were served turkey
Turkey (bird)
A turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species...
. As a response, Cristea requested the painter Belizarie to paint Ionescu's face on a devil in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest
Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral
The Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral is located near the palace of the Patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, on Dealul Mitropoliei, in Bucharest, Romania....
's Apocalipse-themed mural.
In 1929, because of a serious illness (identified as leucocythemia
Acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia , also known as acute myelogenous leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal white blood cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interfere with the production of normal blood cells. AML is the most common acute...
by his medics), Cristea retired for several months to a country house in Dragoslavele
Dragoslavele
Dragoslavele is a commune in the northern part of Argeş County, Romania, located by the former border between Wallachia and Transylvania, on the Wallachian side. It is a relatively important location for boarding house tourism...
, Muscel County, but despite the bleak predictions about his health state, he was soon able to return to Bucharest.
On July 6, 1930, Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
returned to Romania to assume power. On July 7, Miron Cristea and Constantin Sărăţeanu resigned from the regency and the following day, the Parliament revoked the 1926 law which gave the throne to Mihai, Carol becoming King again.
Cristea kept his loyalty to King Carol II throughout his rule. In March 1937, as the King attempted to suppress the influence of the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
movement known as the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
, Cristea responded to the request sent by the Tătărescu government on limiting the relationship between the clergy and the Iron Guard. Cristea invoked a Holy Synod which banned clergy from joining the Legion and disallowed political demonstrations and symbols in the churches.
Prime Minister of Romania
In a bid for political unity against the Iron GuardIron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
, which was gaining popularity, in 1938, Carol dismissed the government headed by Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator.-Life:Born in Răşinari, nearby Sibiu, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in Transylvania and of its leading group, the Romanian National Party in Austria-Hungary. Before World War I,...
. The activity of the parliament and of all political parties was suspended and the country was to be governed by royal decree. Cristea was named Prime Minister on 11 February 1938 and the government included seven former prime-ministers and people from all major parties except for Codreanu's Iron Guard and Goga's Lăncieri
Lancieri
The Lăncieri or 'Lance-bearers' were a Romanian fascist paramilitary movement who adopted a blue shirted uniform and contributed to the country's political street battles in the 1920s and 1930s....
, which had violently clashed. Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
described him as a "puppet Premier" of Carol II, whereas historian Joseph Rothschild considered that it was Cristea's vice-prime-minister, Armand Călinescu, who held the power in the Cristea government.
In his inaugural speech
Inauguration
An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
, Cristea denounced political pluralism, arguing that "the monster with 29 electoral heads was destroyed" (referring to the 29 political parties which were to be banned) and claiming that the king shall bring salvation.
The new government stopped the antisemitic violence that was unleashed under Goga's rule, but the antisemitic legislation
Antisemitic laws in Romania
A series of antisemitic laws in Romania existed since the creation of the modern state of Romania in mid-19th century, but their number and scope was greatly expanded in the late-1930s and 1940s culminating with the Holocaust in Romania....
in place was not altered, as Nichifor Crainic
Nichifor Crainic
Nichifor Crainic was a Romanian writer, editor, philosopher, poet and theologian famed for his traditionalist and antisemitic activities...
's fascist ideology fit within the theological-political stance of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Cristea's government announced a program which put restrictions on various freedoms, especially related to censorship and the introduction of authoritarian measures such as military rule
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
(by declaring a state of siege
State of Siege
State of Siege is a 1972 French film directed by Costa Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori.-Summary:...
, which allowed among other things, searches without warrant and the military appropriation of privately-held guns) and the death penalty, but it promised prosperity through some constitutional and social reforms, which were to include the "organized emigration of Jewish surplus population", that is, expulsion Jewish people who came to Romania during or after World War I. However, it eased the Jewish restrictions imposed by the Goga government.
The external politics of the Cristea government were based on seeking an alliance with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, away from the friendship with the Berlin-Rome Axis supported by the Goga government. Cristea also visited Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, with which Romania had an alliance and with which it tried to create a neutral block between Nazi Germany and the USSR.
Among the policies Cristea introduced during his rule as Prime Minister was a crackdown on Protestants, by disallowing religious service to small congregations with less than 100 heads of families, basically banning the services in around 1500 small chapels belonging to various Christian denominations. Despite worldwide protests from the Baptists, the ban was only lifted after Cristea's death by his successor, the National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
's Armand Călinescu
Armand Calinescu
Armand Călinescu was a Romanian economist and politician, who served as Prime Minister between March 1939 and the time of his death.-Early life:...
.
On February 20, a new constitution
1938 Constitution of Romania
The 1938 Constitution of Romania was the fundamental law that established the authoritarian monarchic regime of King Carol II. It was drafted by a university professor, Istrate Micescu, based on suggestions given by the king, and made public on February 20, 1938. Four days later, voters were...
was announced, which organized Romania as a "corporatist state" similar to the one of Fascist Italy, with a parliament made up of representatives of the guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s of farmers, workers and intellectuals. Four days later, on February 24, the constitution was approved, with 99.87% of votes for, through a plebiscite, described by a contemporary article in The Manchester Guardian as a "farse" for its lack of vote secrecy and the lack of information given to the rural people.
Upon the approval of the new constitution, Miron Cristea's government resigned on February 30 in order to form a new government on the same day. The new government banned all political parties, their activity being only suspended before that.
In March 1938, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or The Legion of the Archangel Michael , an ultra-nationalist and violently antisemitic organization active throughout most of the interwar period...
, the leader of the Iron Guard, attacked in a letter the politicians who supported Carol II, including Prime Minister Cristea and members of his government. Codreanu was arrested for slander against Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright. Co-founder of the Democratic Nationalist Party , he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly as Prime Minister...
and killed "while attempting to escape".
By the end of 1938, Carol II introduced even more Fascist-inspired elements: for instance, on January 1, 1939, during the government's visit to the Royal Palace, they wore uniforms and when meeting Carol, Cristea and the ministers greeted him with the Fascist salute.
Another change in Cristea's government was on February 1, 1939, which gave extensive powers to Călinescu, who became virtually the head of the cabinet, while Cristea remained nominally the Prime Minister at the King's insistence.
Deteriorating health and death
His health deteriorated in January 1939, suffering from two heart attacks, which prompted his doctors to recommend him to stay in a warmer place for a few months, in order to avoid the harsher Romanian winter. On February 24, 1939, Cristea arrived in CannesCannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but contracted pneumonia while waiting for his niece in the Nice railway station
Gare de Nice
Nice Ville is the main railway station in Nice, France.-Overview:The station was completed in 1867 for CF du PLM and by architect Louis Bouchot in Louis XIII style....
. He stayed in Cannes for treatment, but died two weeks later, on March 6, of bronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia
Bronchopneumonia or bronchial pneumonia or "Bronchogenic pneumonia" is the acute inflammation of the walls of the bronchioles...
complicated by heart disease.
His body was sent by train to Bucharest, the funeral train stopping in all stations in Romania to permit believers to pay their last respects and say prayers before the body. On March 7, a state of national mourning was ordered and all festivities were canceled. A week later, on March 14, funeral services were held in Bucharest, Cristea being buried in the Patriarchal Cathedral
Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral
The Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral is located near the palace of the Patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, on Dealul Mitropoliei, in Bucharest, Romania....
.
Political positions and policies
Cristea's political positions were nationalistic, seeing for Romania external threats from both the east, in the form of communism and the Soviet Union and from the capitalist and modernist west.Toward other Christian denominations
As he became the head of the Orthodox Church in Greater RomaniaGreater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
, a multiethnic and multireligious state, Cristea feared that the ethnic minorities, as well as Romanians belonging to non-Orthodox creeds such as the Greek-Catholicism and the Jews would challenge the privileged status which the Orthodox Church had in pre-World War I Romania.
Nevertheless, Cristea attempted an ecumenical
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
close-up with the Anglican Church, by visiting Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
in 1936.
Cristea strongly opposed the idea of a Concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
with the Vatican and the Romanian Orthodox Church issued a statement against it saying that "the treaty subordinates the interests of the country and the sovereignty of the state to a foreign power". The Romanian Senate ratified it anyway on May 26, 1929 and Cristea, as a member of the regency, was forced to sign it. This has led again to discussions about the incompatibility between his two posts and there were discussions on whether Cristea would have resigned rather than sign the Concordat.
After Cristea introduced reforms such as switching to the Gregorian calendar, the Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church
Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church
The Old Calendar Romanian Orthodox Church is an Orthodox Church that uses the old-style Julian calendar. This church was split in 1925 by Metropolitan Glicherie, formerly a member of the Romanian Orthodox Church...
, led by Glicherie Tănase seceded many parishes from the Orthodox Church and by 1936 they had built more than 40 churches. However, after 1935, the Romanian government began to suppress any opposition to the Orthodox Church and the churches were razed and some of the activists the imprisoned, while a number of clerics, including hieromonk Pambo and five monks from the Old Calendarist Cucova Monastery, were beaten to death. Protests against the authorities' actions were met with repression by police and the leader of Old Calendarists, Tănase, was accused of being an instigator and sentenced to death.
In 1937, William Temple
William Temple (archbishop)
William Temple was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Manchester , Archbishop of York , and Archbishop of Canterbury ....
, the Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
, sent a letter to Cristea in which he questioned religious freedom in Romania, referring especially to the treatment of the Baptists. Cristea denied such claims and responded in a long document in which he said Temple was misled by the "perverse propaganda" and the "false mystification" of the Magyars, as well as the "ferocious and barbaric proselytism of the Pope". He further added, referring to neo-Protestants, that Romania should not allow to be "undermined by foreigners dressed in innocent pseudo-religious garb".
Toward the Jews
Early during his tenure as Patriarch, Cristea supported tolerance towards the Jewish people. For instance, in 1928, he made an appeal towards the Romanian students to observe the Golden RuleEthic of reciprocity
The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a maxim, ethical code, or moralitythat essentially states either of the following:* : One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself....
and he expressed regrets for attacks and profanations of synagogues.
In the 1930s, as the Fascist Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
rose in popularity, initially, Cristea's position towards them was of acceptance, especially since their program included loyalty to Orthodoxism. Many Orthodox priests were attracted by the movement and it was common that their banners were blessed in churches.
In 1937, Cristea realized that the Iron Guard was decreasing the loyalty of both the Orthodox Christians and the lower-ranked clergy to the church hierarchy and began to oppose the Guard, while adopting their anti-semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and xenophobic
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
rhetoric: he supported the revocation of the Romanian citizenship for Jewish people and their deportation, the Jews being in his opinion the major obstacle in "assuring preponderant rights to ethnic Romanians".
On August 18, 1937, he issued a statement which called the Romanian nation "to fight the Jewish parasites" who spread "epidemics of corruption" throughout Romania and that the Romanians have a "a national and patriotic duty" to protect themselves against the Jews:
In 1938, during a meeting with Wilhelm Fabricius, the German ambassador, Cristea praised the anti-semitic policy conducted by Nazi Germany and supporting such a policy in Romania, and the British Ambassador wrote in his report to London that "Nothing would induce him [i.e., Cristea] to talk about anything but the Jewish problem."
Legacy
His birthplace home in TopliţaToplita
Toplița is a city in Harghita County, Romania.The settlement has had multiple name changes: Taplócza, Toplicza, Gyergyó-Toplicza, from February 3, 1861 Oláh-Toplicza, or "Romanian Toplița", then from January 1, 1907 Maroshévíz, until 1918, when it received the Romanian name Toplița Română...
is currently a museum dedicated to his life. Each year, on Cristea's birthday, the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchy organizes the "Miron Cristea Days", dedicated to the first patriarch of the Church and which feature various cultural activities.
In July 2010, the National Bank of Romania minted a commemorative coin bearing Cristea's image as a part of a collectors' series of five coins showing the Patriarchs of All Romania
Patriarch of All Romania
The Patriarch of All Romania is the title of the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church. As of September 12, 2007, the chair is occupied by Daniel Ciobotea.-Metropolitans of Ungro-Wallachia:* Maxim * Macarie II * Ilarion II...
. In response, Radu Ioanid, international archives director at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
, called for the coin be withdrawn.