The religious-magical practices of orthodox Romanian priests, kalugers (monks) in Hungarian (Catholic, Protestant) communities are a wellknown aspect of the ethnology of religion. In the village researched by the author, the need for those practices has been permanent throughout the twentieth century: the difference is that while before 1940 the kalugers actually went to the locals during their travellings, after the Vienna decision, but not closely connected with it, during the religion pursuits of the communism a new habit has developed: the locals started to seek the monks in their convents.
In the present study, after presenting the practice, I discuss the social role of “kalugers”. Having as a starting point Michel Foucault’s thoughts, I try to answer how much the community acknowledges and practices the two forms of cultural mechanisms of truth-seeking: proof and investigation. Moreover, in what situations and why don’t they accept the constructed truth arising from the investigation done by institutions of the intellectual, and under what circumstances and why do they prefer the “eternal” truth of the religious-magical practices of the holy committee.
