The Preliminary Stages in the Process of Obtaining the Autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church — The 1872 Law on the Election of Metropolitans and Diocesan Bishops

The Preliminary Stages in the Process of Obtaining the Autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church — The 1872 Law on the Election of Metropolitans and Diocesan Bishops

21 April 2026

The issue of the Romanian Orthodox Church's autocephaly, longer discussed since the middle of 19th century, would be resumed after the War of Independence. In 1879, the primate Archbishop Calinic Miclescu was notified by Patriarch Joachim III that the Orthodox Church in Romania was not autocephalous, challenging the Synodal Law of 1872. This conflict between the parties was further compounded by the issue of the Prodromos hermitage on Mount Athos, the reason being jurisdiction over it. Everything culminated with the consecration, on March 25, for the first time in the Romanian Church, of the Holy and Great Myrrh, an action vehemently condemned by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as uncanonical. This paper aims to present the preliminary elements of obtaining autocephaly for the Romanian Orthodox Church, the most important step being represented by the „Synodal Law”, a legislative text that would establish, for the first time in history, the procedure for electing hierarchs.