The Romanian Orthodox Church: Church-State Relations under a Communist Dictatorship

On Sunday April 3, at 9:15 a.m., Good Shepherd member Brian Flora will discuss the Romanian Orthodox Church’s complicated relationship with the totalitarian Communist regime headed by Nicolai Ceausescu.  Brian is a retired member of the Department of State’s Senior Foreign Service, where he worked for over thirty years.  He and his wife Kay served in Romania from 1988 through 1990 and were witness to the violent revolution that overthrew the dictatorship.  Their twin sons were adopted from a Romanian orphanage.  Kay and Brian were able to participate in the belated Romanian Orthodox baptism of the orphanage’s children, who had been unable to be baptized under communism.