The Ukrainian community in Romania marks 36 years since the re-establishment of the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate in Romania on Monday.
Following the fall of the communist regime, Orthodox Ukrainians in Romania initiated steps to obtain the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church for the restoration of the Ukrainian Vicariate, which had been abolished by communist authorities in 1952.
The core of this initiative consisted of 15 Ukrainian priests from Maramureș, organised within the Ukrainian Deanery headquartered in Ruscova. With the blessing of the Archdiocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj, the document drawn up on 12 January 1990 and signed by all 15 priests—led by Archpriest Ioan Pițura—was discussed during the Synod meeting of 12 February 1990.
Following this decision, on 16 March 1990, the Chancellery of the Holy Synod issued the official decree re-establishing the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate (no. 1432). The document was signed by Metropolitan Nicolae Corneanu of Banat, as the Patriarchal Locum Tenens, and by Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Nifon of Ploiești.
According to the decree, the Vicariate was placed directly under the Romanian Patriarchate, as it had been between 1948 and 1952. It also recognised the right of Ukrainian parishes in the dioceses of Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași and Oradea to join this ecclesiastical structure.
Vicariate Preserves Ukrainian Identity
Today, the Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate represents the largest organised community of Ukrainians in Romania. Data from the 2021 census shows that in areas where the Vicariate has parishes and monasteries, the proportion of people using Ukrainian as their mother tongue is highest: 99% in Maramureș and 88% in Timiș County.
By contrast, in regions where Ukrainian Orthodox believers are not part of the Vicariate, the percentage of those declaring Ukrainian as their native language is lower: 73% in Suceava County, 72% in Botoșani County and 36% in Tulcea County.
Around 80% of ethnic Ukrainians in Romania are Orthodox Christians. For them, the Romanian Patriarchate organised the Vicariate as a structure in which services are celebrated in the Ukrainian language by priests drawn from the community.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate is currently led by Vicar General Fr Marius-Nicolae Lauruc, parish priest in Sighetu Marmației, and includes more than 30,000 faithful from Ukrainian communities in Maramureș, Crișana, Transylvania and Banat.
Photo: Facebook / Vicariatul Ortodox Ucrainean
