Ambivalence and Change in the Public Status of Religion in Romania during the 2008-2012 Legislative Term1

The article examines the legislation drafted during the last legislative term (2008-2012) in the area of Church-State relations and religions' public status. First, special attention is given to the State Secretariat for Religious Denominations, to the consolidation of "social partnership" between the lay and religious authorities, and to the topic of Church financing. Second, the legal treatment of various issues related to bioethics and social ethics is put under scrutiny. Attempts to modify legislation in these areas reveal the ambivalent attitudes of Romanian decision-makers towards the public status of religious institutions and of religious values in particular.