On April 13, 1948, the constitution of the Romanian People's Republic was published. With this date, for the Roman Catholic as well as for the Greek Catholic Church in Romania a way of suffering and suppression began, which only ended on December 22, 1989, when the last dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown.
At the beginning of this dark period the Romanian episcopate had these members:
Latin Rite:
Alba Iulia: 1938 - 1980 Bishop Aaron Marton
Bucuresti: 1924 - 1954 Archbishop Alexandru Cisar
Iasi: 1947 - 1951 Bishop Anton Durcovici, 1944 - 1947 Administrator Bp. Markus (Marcu) Glaser
Satu Mare: 1942 - 1952 Bishop János Scheffler
Timisoara: 1930 - 1954 Bishop Augustin Pacha
While Archbishop Cisar was hindered to administer his diocese from 1949 on, the other bishops were imprisoned. Bishop Glaser was imprisoned in May 1950 and died the same month. Bishop Durcovici starved on December 11, 1951, in the jail of Sighet. Bishop János Scheffler died on December 6, 1952 at Bucarest; his martyrdom was officially recognized by the Holy See on July 1, 2010.
Augustin Pacha, Bishop of Timisoara
Greek Rite:
Cluj-Gherla: 1917 - 1970 Bishop Iuliu Hossu, 1969 Cardinal "in pectore"
Fagaras si Alba Iulia: 1940 - 1953 Administrator Bp. Ioan Suciu
Fagaras si Alba Iulia: 1940 - 1950 Auxiliary Bishop Vasile Aftenie
Lugoj: 1936 - 1959 Bishop Ioan Balan
Maramures: 1930 - 1963 Bishop Alexandru Rusu
Oradea Mare: 1922 - 1952 Bishop Valeriu Traian Frentiu
From 1949 onwards, all Greek Catholic bishops were imprisoned. Bishop Aftenie was shot in the Departement of Interior's prison on May 10, 1950, and also bishops Suciu and Frentiu died in prison on June 27, 1953, respective in 1952. Bishop Rusu died on May 5, 1963, in presence of Rev. Emil Riti, in jail.
During the communist regime the Greek Catholic Church was suppressed brutaly, and for the latin rite as well it was only possible to consecrate very few new bishops:
Alba Iulia: 1971 - 1990 Coadjutor Antal Jakab, 1980 Bishop
Alba Iulia: 1981 - 1990 Auxiliary Bishop Lajos Bálint
Bucuresti: 1984 - 1990 Administrator Bp. Ioan Robu
Iasi: 1965 - 1977 Petru Plesca, Titular Bishop of Voli, consecrated by Cardinal Confalonieri in Rome.
Episcopacy of Martyrs: united Bishops Ioan Suciu, Alexandru Rusu, Valeriu Traian Frentiu, Iuliu Hossu, Ioan Balan and Vasile Aftenie
The clandestine Cardinal: Iuliu Hossu, shortly before his death and on the bier, May 29, 1970.
Confessors of Faith: Vasile Afenie and Ioan Balan
In 1948, with Anton Durcovici the for a long time last official bishop of the catholic church in Romania was consecrated. Following, several clandestine bishop's consecrations took place. All new bishops of the first three generation were imprisoned afterwards for years.
1.
Bishop Consecrations by Mgr. Gerald Patrick O’Hara, Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta and Regent of the Apostolic Nunciature in Romania from 1946 up to his expulsion on July 4/5, 1950:
05.04.1948 Anton Durcovici, Bishop of Iasi, + 11.12.1951
left: Bishop Anton Durcovici; right: after the consecration ceremony at St. Joseph's, Bucuresti: Archbishop Alexandru Cisar, Nuncio Gerald Patrick O'Hara and Bishop Anton Durcovici
Secret Bishop Consecrations by Mgr. O'Hara in the Chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature:
30.11.1948 Ioan Ploscaru, Titular Bishop of Trapezopoli and Auxiliary Bishop of Lugoj, + 31.07.1998
08.12.1948 Ioan Duma, Titular Bishop of Giuliopoli, + 16.07.1981
12.12.1948 Adalbert Boros, Titular Bishop of Ressiana and Ap. Administrator of Timisoara, + 06.06.2003
02.02.1949 Imre Erös, Auxiliary Bishop of Alba Iulia, + 00.08.1950
14.02.1949 Szilárd István Constantin Bogdánffy, Auxiliary Bishop of Satu Mare si Oradea Mare, + 02.10.1953
06.03.1949 Ioan Maria Dragomir, Titular Bishop of Paleopoli di Pamfilia and Auxiliary Bishop of Maramures, + 25.04.1985
28.07.1949 Iuliu Hirtea, Titular Bishop of Nebbi and Auxiliary Bishop of Oradea Mare, + 28.06.1978
30.06.1950 Joseph Schubert, Titular Bishop of Ceramussa and Ap. Administrator of Bucuresti, + 04.04.1969
Bishop Bogdánffy died in Aiud prison; his martyrdom was officially recognized on March 27, 2010. On October 30, 2010, his beatification in Oradea Mare is scheduled.
Clandestine Bishops Ioan Ploscaru and Adalbert Boros
Per crucem ad lucem: clandestine bishop Ioan Duma, O. F. M. Conv. (on the left with his doctor and her mother, 1970)
Clandestine Bishops Iuliu Hirtea and Szilárd Bogdánffy
Bishop Ioan Maria Dragomir (1905 - 1985)
2.
Secret Bishop Consecration by Mgr. Joseph Schubert, Titular Bishop of Ceramussa and Ap. Administrator of Bucuresti:
19.11.1950 Alexandru Todea, Titular Bishop of Cesaropoli, + 22.05.2002
Additionaly, Hieronymus Menges was scheduled for consecration to replace Bishop Schubert in the case of his imprisonment. In fact, this consecration never took place, bevause Mons. Schubert went to jail without having had the opportunity for the ceremony. From 1951 up to 1952, Menges was special delegate of Bucuresti during Bishop Schubert's imprisonment, then was in prison himself since 1952, before he was released in 1964. He now rejected the episcopal dignity which was offered to him by the communist authorities. In 1966 he was deported to Munich. He died in Bremen in 2002.
Both Romanian Cardinals: Iuliu Hossu and Alexandru Todea. This Photo was taken 1969 in the Monastery of Caldarusani, the deportation place of Mgr. Hossu.
From Cardinal Todea's Family Album: Student of Philosophy at the Athenaeum of Propaganda Fide, Rome 1935 - with his parents Gheorghe and Maria, deceased 1944 resp. 1956 - with three of his sisters, 1976.
3.
Secret Bishop Consecrations by Mgr. Valerian Traian Frentiu, united Bishop of Oradea Mare:
00.04.1949 Titu Liviu Chinezu, Titular Bishop of Regiana and Auxiliary Bishop of Fagaras si Alba Iulia, + 15.01.1955
25.12.1949 Ioan Chertes, Titular Bishop of Cantano and Auxiliary Bishop of Cluj-Gherla, + 31.01.1992
Bischof Chinezu starb im Gefängnis von Sighet.
Clandestine Bishops Titu Liviu Chinezu and Ioan Chertes
4.
Secret Bishop Consecration by Mgr. Alexandru Cisar, Archbishop of Bucuresti:
00.00.1951 Gyözö Macalik, Titular Bishop of Azoto and Auxiliary Bishop of Alba Iulia, + 17./19.08.1951
The consecration took place without co-consecrators in Bucharest; in August, 1951, bishop Macalik was arrested and assassinated.
5.
Additional Bishop Consecrations of doubtfull prove
03.12.1949 Gavrila Stan, probably at Oradea, by Iuliu Hirtea
00.00.0000 Simion Crisan, probably at Blaj, by Iuliu Hirtea or Ioan Dragomir
Mons. Stan, rector of the theologian academy of Oradea, was imprisoned for a short time as soon as 1948; from 1951 up to 1955 he was in prison again. His consecration should have been recognized by the Holy See. Also, Mons. Crisian was imprisoned between 1952 and 1955 and again from 1958 up to 1964; afterwards he lived as a worker in Aiud and Alba Iulia.
6.
Secret Bishop Consecrations by Mgr. Ioan Maria Dragomir:
12.01.1983 Octavian Cristian, Bishop for Maramures, + 13.02.1989
10.07.1984 Justin Paven, Coadjutor of Bishop Cristian, + 19.11.1999
18.04.1985 Emil Riti, + 21.02.2006
Bishop Dragomir became after the death of Bishop Hossu in fact leading hierarch of the Greek-Catholic Church of Romania. This explains the three bishop's consecrations of the 1980s, of which the last one took place only one week beford Bishop Dragomir's death, when he already was lying dying. Bishop Todea, who became himself the only leader of the uniates - John Paul II appointed him Metropolitan of Fagaras si Alba Iulia after the crashdown of communism and created him a cardinal in 1991 -, worked for a official recognition of the Dragomir consecrations by the Holy See, which were only accepted silently. Because of his serious stroke and the critical point of view of Mgr Ploscaru in this very question it was not possible to solve this topic. Bishop Riti, a close collaborator of Mgr Todea and imprisoned for faith himself from 1950 up to August 4, 1964, never had been recognized as bishop. This may be founded in the circumstance of never refuted rumours of Riti's post-prison relationship to Securitate.
The last Generation of Clandestine Bishops: Octavian Cristian, Justin Paven and Emil Riti
Tu es Ep. in aeternum: Consecration Document for Bishop Riti, edited by his Consecrator, Bishop Dragomir, on April 18, 1985 in Bucuresti
Death of Bishop Dragomir (April 25, 1985). At the Coffin, from the right: Clandestine Bishops Ioan Chertes, Alexandru Todea and Ioan Ploscaru
Consecrated 1965 by Cardinal Confalonieri in Rome: Bishop Petru Plesca, Iasi
The photos of this page were taken by the archives of Hofrat Dr. Manfred Kierein, Vienna, and of the author. The privat photo of bishop Duma as well as his seal were provided by Ioan Antal, the bishop's nephew
Here you can find additional photos of Ioan Duma:
LITERATURE:
Birtz, Mircea Remus: Capitlul diecezan de Cluj-Gherla între septembrie 1987 - martie 1990, Editura Napoca Star 2007
ibd., Cronologia ordinarilor diecezani greco-catolici (uniti) 1948 - 1989, Editura Napoca Star 2007
ibd., Episcopul Emil Riti (1926 - 2006) - Tentativa unei recuperari istoriografice, Editura Napoca Star 2006
ibd., Farâme din prescura prigoanei 1948 - 1990, Editura Napoca Star 2008
ibd., Episcopul Ioan Ploscaru într-o prietenie epistolara de douazeci de ani, Editura Napoca Star 2009
ibd., Webblog http://remusmirceabirtz.wordpress.com
Jakubínyi, György: Archontológia, Gloria 2004.
Prundus, Silvestru Augustin: Iuliu Hossu - Exhumare si reînhumare, Editura Napoca Star 2008
AUDIODATA:
http://www.zshare.net/download/633805458225b243/, the last liturgy of Bp. Ioan Dragomir (I), with voice of Bp. Octavian Cristianhttp://www.zshare.net/download/63381020e7ac7b67/, the last liturgy of Bp. Ioan Dragomir (II), requiem for Bp. Dragomir at Arinis 30.IV.1985http://www.zshare.net/download/63381428ed9c1c8d/, Burial of Bp. Dragomir (I), with homily of Bp. Alexandru Todea (I)http://www.zshare.net/download/63381754deccdfe5/ Burial of Bp. Dragomir (II) with Homily of Bp. Todea, and discourses of canons Gheorghe Marian and Paul Sever.
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