This centre was created on 8 January 1998, under a decision by the University Senate. It brings together a group of university teachers and researchers who are preoccupied with the history of religious life. The purpose of the centre is to encourage studies in this domain, especially those relating to the modern and contemporary period, regardless of the individual confessional attachments of researchers. The centre seeks to study the relationships between state and church and between society and church. The investigation of religious archives, of those created by state institutions and of those created by the ecclesiastical institutions, represent a priority for the centre’s members. It is intended that the centre’s researches should be published in the form of a bulletin. The difficulty of finding studies and articles at present is an indication of the incipient stage at which Church History finds itself in Romanian historiography.

The objectives of the centre are not limited to the stimulation of research in this domain and the creation of a new form of scholarly sociability. It also seeks to introduce onto the history syllabus courses and seminars devoted to religious history and to encourage the involvement of students in this field. Thus, starting with the academic year 1999-2000, the co-ordinator of the centre initiated a course on the history of the Romanian Uniate Church, a course on the history of the Church in Europe from the French Revolution to the Second Vatican Council, and a seminar on the contemporary history of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The centre does not have a permanent base or benefit from public funding. In 1999, it was sponsored by the legal firm C.C. & A. Dănescu. The centre collaborates with specialists from the Romanian ecclesiastical structures, and has established contacts with the Institut d’Histoire du Christianisme in Lyon with a view to concluding a co-operation agreement.