CHURCH FINANCING IN THE CONTEXT OF MONASTERY ESTATES SECULARIZATION

The present study refers to the financing sources of the orthodox clergy in the context of the secularization of monastery estates. The Law on the Secularization of Monastery Estates was adopted and published on 17/29 December 1863. In exchange for the religious assistance offered, the clergy could get from the parishioners money or different donations. Among the financing sources for the clergy we distinguish gifts or the monetary equivalent for services rendered. To the income obtained from the parish where they functioned, the money obtained from different administrative acts issued by the ecclesiastical authorities would also be added. The voluntariate carried out by the parishioners could be viewed as done in the interest of the priest and of the place of worship. The historical event, to which this paper refers, meant for the Romanian clergy the debut of a regime according to which the priest was considered a mere civil servant and the Church entered a period of submission to the state.