Old Calendaristsʼ Religious Minority in Romania - Contribution to the Study of the History and Cultural Heritage

Abstract

For centuries, Romania has been the center of numerous national, ethnic, and religious communities, each with its own cultural and religious organizations. The Christian faith group found in this country includes legally protected religious communities, marked by specific features such as perception of time, symbolism of space, patterns, as well as beliefs, rituals, and customs. The paper presents the religious minority of old calendarists in Romania, which emerged within the Romanian Orthodox Church at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of disputes over the use of the liturgical calendar. Fundamental issues associated with the Gregorian and Julian calendars, the history of old calendarists in Romania, and the churches currently using the Julian calendar in their liturgical practice in Romania are addressed. Additionally, the article presents key artifacts of the tangible cultural heritage of old calendarists. The analysis is based on qualitative methodology, including the results of field studies conducted in Romania during the period of 2010-2020.