The relationship between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Iron Guard was one of ambivalence. The Romanian Orthodox Church promoted its own version of nationalism which highlighted the role of Orthodoxy in preserving the Romanian identity. Starting with the 1920s, the Church became entangled with fascist politics and antisemitism. In this context, the Iron Guard, also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael, a fascist movement founded in 1927, became very influential with church grassroots. Numerous rank-and-file priests joined the Iron Guard ranks and actively supported its policies; so did a minority of influential high-ranking clergymen such as Nicolae Bălan or Vartolomeu Stănescu.
Patriarch Miron Cristea, on the other hand, felt threatened by the Iron Guard's anti-establishment rhetoric and so did his successor Nicodim Munteanu. Thus, when the National Legionary State was proclaimed in 1940, Munteanu showed little enthusiasm. The insurrection of 1941 ended with Marshal Ion Antonescu crushing the Guard and taking full control of the country. The of the Romanian Orthodox Church was quick to condemn the Rebellion but, at the same time, numerous priests who had actively taken part in it were protected from repercussions by their respective bishops.
After the end of World War II, when Romania came under communist rule, Orthodox congregations outside Romania maintained, in some cases, strong connections to exiled Iron Guard members. Since the fall of communism in 1989, Orthodox groups or individual clergymen have displayed legionary sympathies, although connections between Romanian neo-fascist groups and the Church are neither official nor systematic.
Background At the end of the nineteenth-century, Romanian Orthodox theological education was in its infancy. Priestly training was practical and general rather than focused on theology. In the early twentieth century the curriculum of a priest included subjects such as hygiene, calligraphy, accountancy, psychology, Romanian literature, geometry, chemistry, botany, and gymnastics. A strong emphasis was placed on church music, canon law, church history, and exegesis. After World War I, however, a number of young theologians like Nichifor Crainic, Ioan Savin, or Dumitru Stăniloae went to study abroad. These theologians proved extremely influential after their return to Romania and helped shape theological academies. With a few rare exceptions, these theologians were also nationalists. By the 1920s the Church had adopted a nationalist narrative which highlighted the role of Orthodoxy in preserving the Romanian identity. Crainic advocated in his magazine Gândirea a mix of Orthodoxy and nationalism, while philosopher Nae Ionescu argued that Orthodoxy was inseparable from the Romanian identity. In the second half of the 1920s antisemitism also started to appear in official Church publications such as Revista teologică ("The Theological Magazine").
The Legion of the Archangel Michael emerged in 1927 as a breakaway group from A. C. Cuza's far-right, antisemitic movement called the National-Christian Defense League (LANC). Dissatisfied with the older generation of LANC, Corneliu Codreanu embarked on the creation of what he saw as an "idealistic, youthful, voluntary movement organized hierarchically". The name of the organization was inspired by an icon of the archangel that Codreanu's father had shown him in the Văcărești prison in 1923. Initially, very few LANC affiliates followed Codreanu (roughly twenty stundets). In an article from the first issue of the Legion's new newspaper, Pământul strămoșesc ("The Ancestral land"), titled "To the Icon!", Codreanu's brother-in-law and fellow legionnaire, Ion Moța, wrote "We have a religion, we are slaves to a faith. We are consumed in its fire and are completely dominated by it. We serve it until our last breath." From this profession of Christian faith, Moța proceeded to highlight the more earthly goals of the ultranationalist movement, writing "In this consists salvation, with freedom from the Yids and from all the deadly plagues that consume us: in restoring fruitfulness in the godly vine [în via dumnezească], which today is sick and barren, in our nation (at least here), fallen into satanic claws that lay waste to the soul and bring it loss". Throughout the late 1920s and the early 1930s, the Legion steadily increased its membership among students, peasants, workers and tradesmen, but also among priests. The name "Iron Guard" only appeared in 1930 and specifically designated the paramilitary branch of the organization whose official existence ended in 1933. However, the name remains a popular way of referring to the Legion as a whole.
Rise of the Legion (1927–1938) Church grassroots Cuza's ultra-nationalist and antisemitic LANC had been critical of Orthodox Church hierarchy and lacked support among the clergy. Unlike Cuza, Codreanu felt a genuine sense of duty towards the Church and the clergy. Furthermore, his political narrative was unburdened by Cuza's overt rejection of the Old Testament. The Legion focused on traditional Orthodox themes like virtue, sacrifice, and regeneration. All this made Codreanu's organization increasingly attractive for rank-and-file Orthodox priests. The social status of priests in rural Romania gave them unique prestige and made them important assets that legionnaires sought to recruit. The total number of Orthodox priests to join the Legion by the mid-thirties was very large. Archival documents provide names for several hundred but estimates of the total number are closer to two thousand (up to 26% of all Romanian Orthodox priests). According to a police report from 1937, 1.2% of legionnaires were ordained priests. Beyond mere numbers, the priests were prone to assuming leadership roles within the organization because of their prestige; they also granted the organization access to their churches and they performed rituals on behalf of the Legion. All these aspects contributed to the Legion being so often associated with the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Like ordained priests, students of Orthodox theology also joined the Legion in large numbers. In universities, they played a significant role in the violent actions meant to take control of dormitories and canteens. An investigation conducted in a student dormitory in Bucharest in 1932 found that the governing committee had completely lost control of the facility as gangs of theology students were fighting students from other faculties and legionnaires regularly used the building to hold meetings.
In Orthodox seminaries the situation differed little from universities. The 1930s saw them turn into legionary strongholds with both students and teaching staff embracing legionary ideology. In Galați, for instance, seminary teacher Petre Andronescu was active organizing the local branch of the Legion in 1933. Legionary death-squads included a significant number of seminary students.
The so-called "work camps" were an important tool for propaganda, indoctrination and, ultimately, public celebration of the Legion. They were mostly construction and renovation projects using voluntary labor but in some cases they also took the form of organized participation in various petty jobs in villages. While the idea was not original among European fascist movements, the scale on which they were organized in Romania was unparalleled. Overall, the Orthodox clergy benefited from these projects, but in some cases fascist priests acted as facilitators and even leaders. These priests introduced the legionnaires to the local villagers and, at times, managed the work camps. Such examples highlight the vital role rural priests played in the Iron Guard. From the total number of work camp projects 39% involved Church property. Several high-ranking clergymen initially praised the legionnaires for their work camps; however, on October 23, 1935 Patriarch Miron Cristea forbade priests from participating in such projects. The ban was not effective, illustrating once more how deep the Legion's influence ran with rank-and-file clergy. When the Government officially banned work camps in 1936 a majority of ongoing projects still involved Church property.
The Legion's success in co-opting parish priests was not replicated in the case of high-ranking Orthodox clergymen. However, Church hierarchy was not immune to the organization's influence and a minority of important bishops became Iron Guard supporters.
Nicolae Bălan and the Academy of Theology in Sibiu
Nicolae Bălan, the highly influential Metropolitan of Transylvania and Archbishop of Sibiu, was one of the Legion's most open and valuable supporters. In the general elections of 1928, Bălan supported the National Peasants' Party, but later began perceiving it as the political arm of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church. Hence, he started providing financial support to far-right intellectuals like Nichifor Crainic or Nae Ionescu via periodicals like Calendarul ("The Calendar"), Cuvântul ("The Word"), and, later, Sfarmă-Piatră ("Stone Crusher"). By doing so, Bălan sought to draw Orthodox intellectuals away from the National Peasants' Party.
In 1930 Bălan replaced priest Iosif Trifa as editor in chief of weekly Lumina Satelor (The Light of villages) with Ioan Moța, father of Legion leader and founder Ion Moța. Lumina Satelor was very influential, printing a million copies a week, but under Moța's leadership it took an antisemitic and anti-Catholic line and sales dropped. Eventually, Iosif Trifa, a man who had always kept his distance from political parties, took his old job back.
In 1932 Valeriu Beleuță, a student of the Orthodox Theological Academy in Sibiu founded a periodical called Legiunea ("The Legion") in the village of Mândra, in Southern Transylvania. It only printed four issues but stood out as overtly antisemitic and anti-Catholic. According to Beleuță, any Greek-Catholic affiliated to the National Peasants' Party holding public office was likely to be a friend of the Jews and a traitor to the Romanian nation.
Glasul strămoșesc ("The Ancestral Voice") offers a different example. Founded in the major city of Cluj (Northern Transylvania), two years after Legiunea it initially attracted contributions from both Orthodox and Greek-Catholic clergymen who found common ground in their fascist views.
Nicolae Bălan's actions were instrumental in fueling support for the Legion in Transylvania. They also led the Academy of Orthodox Theology in Sibiu to grow into a fascist stronghold. Valeriu Beleuță was the earliest known legionary activist associated with the institution but more followed. Particularly influential in converting the teaching staff to the legionary cause was professor Spiridon Cândea.
Other high-ranking clergymen connected to the Legion Vâlcea county was a unique case in interwar Romania. The Iron Guard branch in Vâlcea literally developed under the guidance of the local bishop - Vartolomeu Stănescu. Stănescu was an able manager with a talent for business, but he also had a more scholarly interest in theology. For the Legion, he acted as a regional patron. He discouraged any anti-legionary opposition among his subordinates and mobilized village priests and church resources in the service of Iron Guard propaganda. He remained a loyal supporter of the movement through its most difficult times. Legionary commandant Radu Gyr referred to Stănescu as the "true shepherd of legionary souls" and believed him to be a fit candidate for the Patriarchal throne in a Legionary Romania.