{{Short description|Unitarian Christian denomination based in Cluj, Romania}} {{Infobox religion | name = Unitarian Church of Transylvania | caption_background = | image = Stema Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania.jpg | imagewidth = 137px | alt = | caption = Official [[insignia]] of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania | type = [[Nontrinitarianism|Nontrinitarian Christianity]] | main_classification = [[Radical Reformation|Radical]] [[Protestantism|Protestant]] | orientation = [[Unitarianism]] | theology = [[Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios]] | polity = Quasi-[[Episcopal polity|episcopal]] | governance = | structure = | leader/moderator = | leader_title = [[Bishop]] | leader_name = Rev. István Kovács | director = | fellowships = | associations = [[International Council of Unitarians and Universalists]], European Liberal Protestant Network | area = [[Romania]], [[Hungary]] | language = [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] | headquarters = [[Cluj-Napoca Unitarian Church|Unitarian Church]], [[Cluj-Napoca]], Romania | founder = [[Ferenc Dávid]]<ref name="Williams 1995">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=George Huntston |author-link=George Huntston Williams |year=1995 |chapter=Chapter 28: The Rise of Unitarianism in the Magyar Reformed Synod in Transylvania |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppmYEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1099 |title=The Radical Reformation |location=[[University Park, Pennsylvania]] |publisher=[[Penn State University Press]] |edition=3rd |pages=1099–1133 |isbn=978-0-943549-83-5}}</ref> | founded_date = 1568 | founded_place = | separated_from = [[Reformed Church in Hungary|Hungarian Reformed Church]] | parent = | merger = | separations = | hospitals = | nursing_homes = | aid = | congregations = | members = 60,000 in Romania<br/>25,000 in Hungary | churches = 125 in Romania<br/>12 in Hungary | ministers = | missionaries = | temples = | primary_schools = | secondary_schools = 2 | tax_status = | tertiary = [[Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj]] | other_names = Hungarian Unitarian Church | website = [https://www.unitarius.hu/ www.unitarius.hu] | footnotes = }}
The '''Unitarian Church of Transylvania''' ({{langx|hu|Erdélyi Unitárius Egyház}}; {{langx|ro|Biserica Unitariană din Transilvania}}), also known as the '''Hungarian Unitarian Church''' ({{langx|hu|Magyar Unitárius Egyház}}; {{langx|ro|Biserica Unitariană Maghiară}}), is a [[Nontrinitarianism|Nontrinitarian]] [[Christian denomination]] of the [[Unitarianism|Unitarian tradition]],<ref>{{cite book |last1= Walker|first1=Williston|title=History of the Christian Church|date=2014|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781476794679|page=535}}</ref> based in the city of [[Cluj-Napoca|Cluj]], [[Transylvania]], Romania. Founded in 1568 in the [[Eastern Hungarian Kingdom]] by the Unitarian preacher and theologian [[Ferenc Dávid]] (c. 1520–1579),<ref name="Williams 1995"/> it is the oldest continuing [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] [[Christian denomination|denomination]] in the world. It has a majority-[[Hungarian minority in Romania|Hungarian]] following, and is one of the 18 [[religious denomination]]s given official recognition by the [[Government of Romania]].
The Transylvanian and Hungarian Unitarians represent the only branch of Unitarianism not to have adopted a [[congregationalist polity]], and remains quasi-[[Episcopal polity|episcopal]]; the Irish [[Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland|Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church]], a distinct body closely related to Unitarianism, has a [[Presbyterian polity|presbyterian structure]].<ref name="bradshaw">Paul F. Bradshaw, ''The New SCM Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship'', SCM-Canterbury Press Ltd, London, 2002, p.460. {{ISBN|0-334-02883-3}}</ref> The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is administered by a [[bishop]] and two Curators-General, being divided into five [[Archpriest]]ships.<ref name="vasileanu"/> Since 2021, its bishop is the Rev. István Kovács. The Church, which uses Hungarian as the liturgical language, also endorses and teaches a [[catechism]].<ref name="bradshaw"/>
Together with the Calvinist [[Reformed Church in Romania|Reformed Church]] and the two [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] churches of Romania (the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Romania|Evangelical Lutheran Church]] and the [[Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania|Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession]]), the Unitarian community runs the [[Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj]], wherein Unitarianism is represented by a distinct section. In addition, it has two high school-level theological educational institutions.<ref name="vasileanu">{{in lang|ro}} Marius Vasileanu, [http://www.hotnews.ro/articol_48994-Cultele-din-Romania-Biserica-Unitariana.htm "Cultele din România: Biserica Unitariană"], in ''[[Adevărul]]'', May 25, 2006 (hosted by Hotnews.ro); retrieved July 27, 2007</ref>
==Demographics== [[File:Unitarieni Romania (2002).png|thumb|left|Unitarians in Romania (census 2002)]] According to the results of the 2002 census, there are 66,846 Romanian citizens of the Unitarian faith (0.3% of the total population).<ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.recensamant.ro/pagini/rezultate.html# ''Recensământ 2002. Rezultate: Populaţia după religie la recensământul din 2002''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325223653/http://www.recensamant.ro/pagini/rezultate.html# |date=March 25, 2008 }}; retrieved July 27, 2007</ref> Church officials place the number of believers at 80,000-100,000.<ref name="vasileanu"/> Of the total Hungarian minority, Unitarians represent 4.55%, being the third denominational group after members of the [[Reformed Church in Romania]] (47.10%) and [[Roman Catholicism in Romania|Roman Catholics]] (41.20%).<ref>Anna Fenyvesi, ''Hungarian Language Contact Outside Hungary: Studies on Hungarian as a Minority Language'', [[John Benjamins]], Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2005, p.141. {{ISBN|90-272-1858-7}}</ref> Since 1700, the Unitarian Church has had 125 [[parish]]es — in 2006, there were 110 Unitarian priests and 141 places of worship in Romania.<ref name="vasileanu"/>
The vast majority of church adherents live in Transylvania, mostly between [[Sighișoara]] (''Segesvár'') and [[Odorheiu Secuiesc]] (''Székelyudvarhely''), more or less around [[Dârjiu]] (''Székelyderzs''). The Unitarian church is especially strong in Dârjiu, [[Atid]] (''Etéd''), [[Cristuru Secuiesc]] (''Székelykeresztúr''), [[Feliceni]] (''Felsőboldogfalva''), [[Inlăceni]] (''Énlaka''), and [[Mugeni]] (''Bögöz''), where Unitarians make up a large majority of the population. All of these localities are situated in the southwestern corner of [[Harghita County]], except for Sighișoara which is located immediately outside of that area in the Southeastern corner of [[Mureș County]].
==History== {{Unitarian Universalist sidebar|organizations}} {{See also|History of Unitarianism}} [[File:Szekelyderzs 06 fresco.jpg|thumb|210px|Pre-Unitarian fresco of [[Dârjiu fortified church|the church]] in [[Dârjiu]]]] The Unitarian Church was first recognized by the [[Edict of Torda]], issued by the [[Transylvanian Diet]] under its Unitarian [[Rulers of Transylvania|Prince]] [[John II Sigismund Zápolya]] (January 1568),<ref name="poperamet">Earl A. Pope, "Protestantism in Romania", in Sabrina Petra Ramet (ed.), ''Protestantism and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia: The Communist and Postcommunist Eras'', [[Duke University Press]], Durham, 1992, p.160. {{ISBN|0-8223-1241-7}}</ref> and was first led by [[Ferenc Dávid]] (a former [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] bishop, who had begun preaching the new doctrine in 1566). Early on, the Unitarian Church had notable successes: it included 425 parishes, made use of the monumental [[St. Michael's Church, Cluj-Napoca|St. Michael's Church]] in Cluj-Napoca,<ref name="vasileanu"/> and attracted members of the eastern Transylvanian [[Székelys|Székely]] community in large numbers.<ref name="poperamet"/>
The Church attracted suspicion from all other established religions, [[Roman Catholic]] as well as [[Protestantism|Protestant]], with both camps deeming it [[Heresy|heretical]].<ref name="poperamet"/> After Dávid's imprisonment and 1579 death in custody, the institution entered a period of decline.<ref name="vasileanu"/><ref name="poperamet"/> The church in Transylvania received many refugees following the expulsion of the [[Socinian]] [[Polish Brethren]] from Poland on July 20, 1658, and maintained contact with the dispersed communities of [[Polish Brethren]] in the Netherlands and Lithuania. [[Andrzej Wiszowaty Jr.]], great-great-grandson of [[Fausto Sozzini]], was one of the Polish exiles who taught at the [[John Sigismund Unitarian Academy|Unitarian College]] in Cluj-Napoca, in the period in the 1730s when the church was reorganized and strengthened by [[Mihály Lombard de Szentábrahám]], author of the church's official statement of faith, the ''[[Summa Universae Theologiae Christianae secundum Unitarios]]''.
Following the [[Union of Transylvania with Romania]] at the end of [[World War I]], Unitarian congregations were established in regions of the [[Romanian Old Kingdom|Old Kingdom]]: the first Unitarian church in [[Bucharest]] was founded in 1933 (its building was later demolished).<ref name="vasileanu"/> During World War II, when Hungary ruled [[Northern Transylvania]], the church, to prove its devotion to the official state ideology, engaged in anti-Semitic activity, despite having previously accepted many converts of Jewish origin.<ref>Bottoni, Stefano, ''Stalin's Legacy in Romania: The Hungarian Autonomous Region, 1952–1960'', p. 22. Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2018, {{ISBN|9781498551229}}</ref>
American and British Unitarians became aware of the survival of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania following the visit of [[Sándor Bölöni Farkas|Alexander Farkas]] to Pennsylvania in 1831 and publication of his ''Account of the Unitarians of Transylvania'', which was communicated in Latin to the Secretary of the [[British and Foreign Unitarian Association]] and published in ''The Unitarian advocate and religious miscellany'' in 1832. On 5 June 1899 the [[American Unitarian Association]] sent a letter to Bishop Jozsef Ferencz of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church inviting the leaders of the church to the first [[International Association for Religious Freedom]] (IARF) conference in 1900. With the exception of 1920, Transylvanian Unitarian leaders have been present at all IARF congresses, and, in May 1975, [[Communist Romania|Communist authorities]] allowed it to welcome the IARF's executive committee in the city of Cluj-Napoca.<ref name="szabolehel">[[Árpád Szabó]], Molnár B. Lehel, "Role of the Unitarian Church of Transylvania (Romania)", in ''Centennial Reflections: International Association for Religious Freedom, 1900–2000'', Assen, 2001, p.107-111. {{ISBN|90-232-3685-8}}</ref> In 1994, the IARF European Conference was held in the same location.<ref name="szabolehel"/> The Transylvanian Unitarian Church is also a founding member of the [[International Council of Unitarians and Universalists]].
In 2016, the deputy bishop announced his support for [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://international.blogs.uua.org/uncategorized/unitarian-leader-takes-equal-marriage-stand-in-romania/|title=Unitarian leader takes Equal Marriage stand in Romania|date=2016-02-09|website=UUA International|language=en-US|access-date=2016-05-29}}</ref> In 2018, the governing body of the church voted to only bless marriages recognized by the state, presently only heterosexual marriages, but did vote to allow individual members to express their own opinions on marriage.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.uuworld.org/articles/hungarian-unitarian-marriage-vote|title=Hungarian Unitarian Church votes to support only male-female marriages|date=2017-11-13|work=UU World Magazine|access-date=2018-10-22|language=en}}</ref>
==Churches==
The locality of Dârjiu is home to a 13th-century [[Fortified churches in Transylvania|fortified church]], later reformed as Unitarian, which is on [[UNESCO]]'s [[World Heritage List]]. Murals, dating back to the Roman Catholic period, show [[List of rulers of Hungary|King]] [[Ladislaus I of Hungary]]'s legend: [[Cumans]] broke into the [[Kingdom of Hungary]]; Duke Ladislaus, along with his cousin King [[Solomon of Hungary|Solomon]], rode against them and freed a girl believed to be daughter of a Hungarian nobleman from a Cuman's hands. Further murals in the region are to be found at Unitarian churches in [[Mugeni]], [[Crăciunel]], and smaller ones in [[Rugănești]] and [[Cristuru Secuiesc]].
<gallery> Image:Unitarian church Brasov.JPG|The Unitarian Church in [[Brașov]] Image:Cluj-Napoca Unitarian Church.jpg|[[Cluj-Napoca Unitarian Church|The Unitarian Church]] in [[Cluj-Napoca]] Image:Szekelyderzs 01.jpg|[[Dârjiu fortified church|The Unitarian Church]] in [[Dârjiu]] Image:Enlaka rovas inscription.jpg|Ceiling of the Unitarian Church in [[Inlăceni]], with a statement rendered in [[Old Hungarian script]] Image:Szentmiklos.jpg|The Unitarian Church in [[Șimonești]] Image:OrTarnaveniMS_(39).JPG|The Unitarian Church in [[Târnăveni Unitarian Church|Târnăveni]] Image:Unitárius templom Bolyai tér.JPG|The Unitarian Church in [[Târgu Mureș]] </gallery>
==See also== * [[John Sigismund Unitarian Academy]] * [[Unitárius Hírnök]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.unitarius.org/ Official site] {{List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches|state=autocollapse}} {{Christianity in Romania}} {{Christianity in Hungary}} {{Romanian religions}} {{Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist topics}} {{Christianity footer|collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unitarian Church Of Transylvania}} [[Category:Unitarian Church of Transylvania| ]] [[Category:Protestantism in Romania]] [[Category:1568 establishments in Europe]] [[Category:Religious organizations established in the 1560s]] [[Category:Nontrinitarian denominations]] [[Category:16th-century establishments in Transylvania]]