The Legacy of Communism: The Breakdown of Religious Life

Prior to the 20th century Soviet rule in Transylvania the church as an institution fulfilled many roles. Not only was the church responsible for many public service establishments such as schools, orphanages and hospitals, it more specifically provided an identity for the Transylvanian people, a community to relate to and associate with. Many villages in Transylvania were even built around a church, placing the church literally in the center of peoples’ lives. When the Soviets came to power after WWII, the church was one of the first bodies to be reformed. Because different denominations divided people, the communists saw this take over as a method of standardization. The Transylvanian people looked more to the state for the basis of their identity. A large percentage of church property was taken over by the state.
Under Communist rule industrialization increased which forced many Transylvanians to migrate to urban areas. This increased movement to cities resulted in reduced populations in small towns and villages. Church congregations suffered significant losses because so many parishioners were leaving. Many church buildings in Transylvania today remain deserted, a repercussion of the Soviets’ industry-focused economic plan.
In the United States, if a congregation dissipates, the church leaders might sell the building and move to a more populated area. In Transylvania, this is unacceptable. There is a social expectation that a church will remain in its historic space, even if nearly all of its members no longer live nearby. The thought of a pastor abandoning the building of a church and moving to more urban areas to form a new church would never be admissible. Also, the church building itself is regarded with more reverence and holds more significance to the people in Transylvania than is customary observed in the United States. This also contributes to the vast number of empty churches in Transylvania.
Despite the end of communist rule twenty years ago, the church’s position in society remains unstable. The state is still redistributing properties of the church that were taken over during Soviet rule. The view of denomination as an identifier has been nearly eliminated. People today are going to church but no longer feel the obligation to remain loyal to the denomination they were raised in.

(Catherine Van Halsma, Kristin Kurtz and Liz Yeager)