Freemasonry in Romania

The first modern Masonic lodges were established on the territory of present-day Romania in the third decade of the 18th century, in the context of the spread of European Enlightenment ideas. Early Masonic activity was linked to intellectual, diplomatic, and commercial circles that were in direct contact with Western culture.

In 1734, in Galați, with the contribution of the princely secretary Anton Maria del Chiaro, the “Loggia di Galazzi” lodge was founded, considered the oldest Masonic lodge attested on the current territory of Romania.

A year later, in 1735, in Iași, Prince Constantin Mavrocordat established the “Moldova” Lodge, marking the documented beginning of Masonic activity in the Romanian Principalities.

At the end of the 18th century, in 1795, the “Philosophical Society of the Romanian People in the Grand Principality of Transylvania” was founded in Transylvania by the Freemason Ioan Molnar Piuariu. This society brought together important Romanian intellectuals and cultural figures, including Gheorghe Șincai, Petru Maior, Samuel Micu, Aron Budai, and Enache Văcărescu. Some members of this society, inspired by national spirit and the ideals of the Enlightenment, contributed to the drafting of the fundamental document Supplex Libellus Valachorum (1791), a memorandum addressed to the Court of Vienna, through which the Romanians of Transylvania requested recognition of their political, civil, and religious rights as a nation.

In the first half of the 19th century, the lodges in Bucharest brought together numerous personalities from Romanian political and cultural life, such as Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Cezar Bolliac, Grigore Alexandrescu, and Teodor Diamant.

Romanian Freemasonry played a significant role in the Revolutionary Movement of 1848, with many of the political, military, and cultural leaders of the time recognized in historiography as Freemasons or close associates of European Masonic circles. The ranks of the 1848 generation included personalities such as Nicolae Bălcescu, C. A. Rosetti, Ion Ghica, Christian Tell, Alexandru G. Golescu, and Dimitrie Brătianu, promoters of the ideals of freedom, reform, and national affirmation.

The efforts and ideals of this generation continued to manifest themselves in the following decade, culminating in the Union of the Romanian Principalities in 1859, an act that laid the foundations for the birth of the modern Romanian state. In this context, prominent figures in political and cultural life, such as Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Mihail Kogălniceanu, Vasile Alecsandri, Costache Negri, and Ion C. Brătianu contributed, through their public and diplomatic activities, to the consolidation of the new state and the modernization of Romanian institutions.

The process of affirming the Romanian state continued in the second half of the 19th century, culminating in the War of Independence of 1877–1878, which established Romania’s independence internationally. During this period, the country’s political and administrative elites, shaped by modern European values, supported efforts to emancipate and consolidate the state.

In 1866, the “Steaua României” Lodge was founded in Iași, one of the most influential lodges of the 19th century. This Lodge was opened to civil society through the “Junimea” Literary Society, which played a fundamental role in modern Romanian culture and literature.

The ranks of the “Steaua României” Lodge included numerous prominent figures from Romanian cultural, political, and intellectual life, among them Titu Maiorescu, Costache Negruzzi, Iacob Negruzzi, Petre P. Carp, Gheorghe Asachi, Grigore Sturdza, Charles Tissot, and Petre Palladi, who made a decisive contribution to the formation of Romanian culture and intellectual elites of the time.

On September 20, 1880, the Grand National Lodge of Romania was established as a regular and sovereign Grand Lodge, with Constantin Moroiu as its Grand Master. This moment institutionalized Romanian Freemasonry and definitively integrated it into the family of universal Freemasonry.

In the last decades of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, Romanian Freemasonry experienced a period of internal consolidation, characterized by the continuity of ritual works, the development of educational and philanthropic activities, and the maintenance of relations with regular Masonic obediences in Europe.

A symbolic moment of public recognition came in 1906, when, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his reign, King Carol I awarded the Gold Medal to the Grand National Lodge of Romania, as a sign of appreciation for its prestige and contributions to the cultural and social life of Romanian society.

The First World War was a period of trial for Romanian society as a whole. In this context, Romanian Freemasonry and its members continued their activities within the limits imposed by the circumstances of the time, maintaining fraternal ties and communication with European Masonic circles.

The year 1918 marked the fulfillment of the national ideal through the establishment of the Romanian unitary national state. In the period immediately following World War I, Romania made extensive diplomatic efforts to obtain international recognition of the acts of union. In this context, several Romanian personalities, recognized in historiography as Freemasons or associated with international Masonic circles, were involved in supporting Romania’s interests abroad, including at the Paris Peace Conference.

Among these personalities were Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Caius Brediceanu, Ioan Pillat, and Mihai Șerban, who participated in diplomatic efforts aimed at international recognition of the acts of December 1, 1918. Their activity took place within the broader framework of Romanian diplomacy, capitalizing on the experience, relationships, and personal prestige acquired in the European circles of the time.

In 1919, with the end of the post-war period and the processes of institutional consolidation, General Alexandru Averescu, in an official letter, thanked the Grand National Lodge of Romania for its services to the country, a gesture that confirmed its status as a respected institution in Romanian public life at the time.

Between the end of the post-war processes and the end of the 1930s, Romanian Freemasonry functioned under conditions of institutional normality, before the profound changes in the European climate affected associative life and freedom of organization.

In 1937, at the express request of King Carol II, Romanian Freemasonry, under the leadership of Grand Master Jean Pangal, went into hibernation as a measure of self-protection, suspending its public activity without renouncing the continuity of its tradition.

In 1944, in the context of international changes generated by the evolution of World War II, this decision was temporarily reversed, with the agreement and authorization of the Allied Control Commission, but the resumption of activity was short-lived. In 1948, the new regime established in Romania, aligned with the political orientation of the Soviet Union, ordered the complete and dictatorial prohibition of Freemasonry, putting an end to any form of legal Masonic activity.

This period was one of profound suffering for Romanian Freemasonry. Numerous brethren were subjected to persecution, investigations, and convictions to severe prison sentences, solely for their membership in the Order, and Masonic activity was institutionally interrupted on Romanian territory.

After 1948, some Romanian Freemasons managed to take the path of exile, continuing their Masonic activity in lodges in France, Israel, Germany, the United States of America, Argentina, and Brazil, being received in regular obediences. Through these brethren, the tradition, memory, and spirit of Romanian Freemasonry were kept alive outside the country’s borders, ensuring the symbolic and moral continuity of the Order during the years of prohibition.

The Resumption of Regular Freemasonry in Romania after 1989

After 1989, with the collapse of totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, Freemasonry was able to rekindle its Lights in the countries of the former communist bloc. In this favorable historical context, the resumption of Masonic life in Romania was accomplished in full compliance with the principles of regularity and with the support of internationally recognized Masonic obediences.

With the knowledge and in agreement with the United Grand Lodge of England, the Grande Oriente d’Italia, an obedience recognized at that time by the Mother Grand Lodge of the World, decided to support the reactivation of regular Freemasonry in Romania. For this purpose, on Romanian territory, in Bucharest, three Regular Lodges were constituted, initially under the jurisdiction of the Grande Oriente d’Italia.

Thus, the following were founded and registered in the Matricular Register of the Grande Oriente d’Italia:

• Lodge “Concordia”, constituted on January 25, 1991, registered with no. 1097;
• Lodge “Delta Dunării”, constituted on April 29, 1992, registered with no. 1103;
• Lodge “Nicolae Bălcescu”, constituted on April 30, 1992, registered with no. 1118, which, by the unanimous decision of its members, in the first Meeting in May 1992, changed its name to Lodge “George Washington”.

The founding members of the Workshop “Nicolae Bălcescu” / “George Washington” were 12 Master Mason Brethren, initiated in Romanian Lodges before the prohibition of Freemasonry by the communist regime. After more than four decades of forced dormancy, they were reactivated and regularized on April 30, 1992, in a ceremony held in Bucharest.

The ceremony was conducted by Giuliano di Bernardo, Grand Master of the Grande Oriente d’Italia, assisted by Douglas Lemons, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California, as well as other distinguished Italian and American Freemasons.

The 12 veterans of the National Grand Lodge of Romania, through whose reactivation the historical continuity of MLNR is attested, were:
Nicolae Filip, Constantin Bărbulescu, Radu Gherghinescu, Mircea Sion, Paul Petrescu, Cezar Balaban, Nicolae Simedrea, Gheorghe Cercel, Eugen Victor Șuculescu, Dinu Roco, Vladimir Boantă, and Paul Viscocil.

Subsequently, they were joined by other prestigious seniors of Romanian Freemasonry, including Barbu Cioculescu, Edmond Nicolau, Vlaicu Barna, and Eracle Gugiu, contributing to the consolidation of the reborn Masonic life.

On January 24, 1993, the three Regular Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grande Oriente d’Italia reconstituted the NATIONAL GRAND LODGE of ROMANIA, in a solemn Ritual Meeting held in Bucharest. The proceedings were conducted by Most Worshipful Brother Giuliano di Bernardo, Grand Master of the Grande Oriente d’Italia, assisted by Most Worshipful Brother Douglas Lemons, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California, as well as numerous Italian and American Brethren.

This moment marked the official, regular, and legitimate resumption of Romanian Freemasonry, in full historical continuity and in full accordance with the principles of universal regular Freemasonry.

Succession of Grand Masters of the National Grand Lodge of Romania (after 1993)

After the reconstitution of the National Grand Lodge of Romania on January 24, 1993, the leadership of the Order was ensured, in succession, by the following Grand Masters:

• 1993 – 1995 – Most Worshipful Brother Nicolae Filip

• 1995 – 1996 – Most Worshipful Brother Adrian Dohotaru

• 1996 – 1997 – Most Worshipful Brother Sever Frențiu

• 1998 – 2003 – Most Worshipful Brother Gheorghe Comănescu

• 2003 – 2010 – Most Worshipful Brother Eugen-Ovidiu Chirovici

• 2010 – 2023 – Most Worshipful Brother Radu Bălănescu

• from November 4, 2023 – present – Most Worshipful Brother Cătălin Viorel Tohăneanu

Regularity and International Recognition of MLNR

The institutional continuity of the National Grand Lodge of Romania is confirmed by constant and documented international recognitions, granted by Regular Grand Lodges. These are recorded in the successive reports of the Commission on Information for Recognition within the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America, a reference authority in the field of Masonic recognition.

Summary of the main official reports:

• 1993 – Anaheim
  The Commission notes that the National Grand Lodge of Romania was regularly reconsecrated, in Bucharest, on January 24, 1993, and meets the standards of the Commission on Recognition.
• 1996 – Phoenix
  The Commission reaffirms the regularity of MLNR, stating that the National Grand Lodge of Romania, led by Grand Master Sever Frențiu, is a Regular Grand Lodge.
• 2005 – Calgary
  The Commission establishes unequivocally that the National Grand Lodge of Romania, led by Grand Master Eugen-Ovidiu Chirovici, is the only Grand Lodge in Romania that meets the standards for recognition, the other existing structures being considered irregular.
• 2025 – San Diego
  The Commission rejects the claims of a schismatic structure and confirms the continuity of regularity of the National Grand Lodge of Romania, establishing that the only legitimate and regular Grand Lodge in Romania is the one led by Grand Master Cătălin Viorel Tohăneanu.