use Jews have not been
listed separately in official statistics since the mid-1950s, it is
difficult to estimate how many remain in the country. There are several
operating synagogues, but most Jewish services are led by laymen because
emigration has drained away almost all rabbis and none are being trained
in the country; the last rabbinical school was closed during the late
1950s because of lack of faculty and students.

Most of the small Slavic minorities belong to the Orthodox faith, and
the few remaining Muslims--Turks and Tatars--retain their adherence to
Islam and have their principal mosque in the port city of Constanta.
Relatively small numbers of Romanians are Baptists, Seventh-Day
Adventists, and Unitarians. Officially, the communist-ruled country
advocates atheism, but the Constitution allows for freedom of religion
or freedom to profess no religion. Atheism does not seem to have made
any great inroads into the established religions during the first
quarter century of communist rule.

The activities of all religions are supervised by the government through
its Department of Cults. The separation of church and state is
constitutionally guaranteed, but in practice this guarantee serves to
impose limitations on the churches and clergy but does not in any manner
restrict government interference in religious activities.

Though the Communists were unsuccessful in eradicating religion in the
country, they have been successful in transforming the politics,
society, and economy. With the promulgation of the 1948 Constitution,
based on the Soviet Constitution of 1936, and the establishment of the
Romanian People's Republic, the new rulers were ready to construct a
socialist state. Out of this transformation, the leaders were confident
that a "new socialist man" would ultimately evolve, just as Marx and
Lenin had prophesied.

In more pragmatic areas the Communists altered the form of government,
the social structure, and the economy. The 1948 Constitution established
a form of government much like that of the Soviet Union and other
communist-ruled states in that the government is structured to be the
instrument through which the party runs the country. There is an
interlocking of party and government positions that ensures party
control over every facet of Romanian life. There are no competing
political parties, but there are several mass organizations, thoroughly
PCR dominated, in which the people are urged to pa