§ 31. The Metropolitanate of Sibiu (Hermannstadt)

After the establishment of the Metropolitanate of Sibiu and the recognition of its autonomy (1864), and on the basis of that same IX Hungarian statutory article of 1868, which recognizes the autonomy of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci as well, a church-national congress assembled at Sibiu in that same year of 1868, and drew up the Organic Statute of the Orthodox Romanian Church in Hungary and Transylvania, which received royal confirmation on 28 May 1869.[1] After the general foundational prescriptions, this statute is divided into five main sections, namely: 1) The parishes, their composition and the administration of parish affairs, which is carried out by: a) the parish assembly, b) the parish committee, c) the parish epitropoi. 2) The archpresbyterates (protopresbyterates), their composition and the administration of the affairs of the archpresbyterate, which is carried out by: a) the archpresbyteral seat, composed of the archpresbyter or his deputy, six parish priests with a decisive vote, and a matrimonial advocate and a notary with a consultative vote, b) the archpresbyteral assembly, c) the archpresbyteral committee, and d) the archpresbyteral epitropia. 3) The monasteries: concerning monasteries in general, concerning monks in general, concerning the monastic administration, which is carried out by the monastic assembly, concerning the monastic superior and his rights and duties, and so forth. 4) The eparchies, their composition and the eparchial affairs, which are carried out by: a) the eparchial assembly, which among other things has the right to elect the bishop, and b) the eparchial consistory, which, according to the diversity of its business, is divided into three departments: α) the department for strictly church affairs, β) for school affairs, and γ) for epitropal affairs. 5) The metropolitanate, its composition and its task, and the affairs subject to the metropolitan administration, which are carried out by: a) the national-church congress, b) the metropolitan consistory, which is likewise divided into α) the department for strictly church affairs, β) for school affairs, and γ) for epitropal affairs, and c) the episcopal synod.