Fodor György - Török József - Tusor Péter (szerk.): Felekezetek az Igazság szolgálatában: történelem, teológia, önazonosság (1500-2000) - Studia Theologica Budapestinensia 34. (2009)

I. Catholic-Orthodox symbiosis in Transylvania (Katolikus-ortodox együttélés Erdélyben) - Ioan Chirila: Tolerance and intolerance in t he Transylvanian legislative corpora (the 16th-19th centuries)

posed upon Simien §tefan in 1643 and the other 4 imposed upon Sava Brancovici in 1669).2fi

The Metropolitan Tenfil (1692-1697) shared the same difficulties as his predecessors, receiving, together with the diploma of acknowledgment from the part of the new governor Gheorghe Bánfi, the obligation of observing those 19 restrictions which have been imposed upon the other Metropolitans before him.26 27

5. The religious tolerance as it was expressed in the reform of Joseph the IInd

In order to have an objective basis of analysis, we will reproduce the content of the first article from the complementary Decree of the “merciful Governors”: “the non-catholic citizens may build a school and a Church of the type of those stipulated in the previous circulars, if they are in number of 100 families”. The term “non-catholic” includes in this case both the orthodox believers and the mosaic ones. This article makes possible the accomplishment of the two complementary levels: education and cult, through which, according to the vision of the emperor, the living together may be acquired. Later, according to the vision of the Metropolitan §aguna, through the agency of these two it might be acquired the approaching to God, to the source of the authentic tolerance, whose finality has always a social aspect, too. Therefore, the religious tolerance has also a prophetical dimension, it is an eschatological reality, but until then a liturgical, cubic and cultural ministration. When I say these, I’m thinking about the way in which Samuil Micu has understood cruelty, the intolerance regarding the rebellion of Horia.

Returning to the first article of the Edict of civil toleration (see the decree’s preamble from the 13th of October 1781), we will observe the fact that it’s purpose was that of putting an end to the state of intolerance which existed in Transylvania after it was incorporated into the Habsburgic Empire and especially after it became a target for the Contrareform. Robert Horvath has shown in a study that this climate of intolerance, this denial of the elementary rights concerning religion has changed radically after Joseph the IInd became regent.

26 Ibidem, p. 76.

27 Ibidem, p. 78.

24