Alexandru Rusu

Alexandru Rusu (born November 22, 1884 in Șăulia , Torda-Aranyos County , Transylvania (now in Romania ); † May 9, 1963 in Gherla ) was the first Romanian-Greek Catholic bishop of Maramureş .

Life

Alexandru Rusu, the son of the priest Vasili Ruso and his wife Rozalia, had eleven brothers and a sister. He attended school in his hometown and high school in Bistrița and Blaj . After graduating from high school, he entered the seminary of the Archdiocese of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia in Blaj. In 1903 Archbishop Victor Mihaly de Apşa sent him to Budapest to study further theology . In 1910 he received his doctorate in theology. He was ordained a priest on July 20, 1910 in Blaj Cathedral. He received his appointment as professor of dogmatics at the Theological Academy in Blaj on August 17, 1910. In 1920 he became secretary to Archbishop Vasile Suciu and in 1923 a member of the Metropolitan Chapter .

On October 17, 1930, Alexandru Rusu was appointed the first bishop of the newly established Maramureș diocese. The episcopal ordination granted him on January 30, 1931 the Archbishop of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia, Vasile Suciu, in the cathedral of Blaj . Co- consecrators were Iuliu Hossu , the Bishop of Cluj-Gherla and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Maramureş, and Alexandru Nicolescu , the Bishop of Lugoj . The solemn installation in his diocese took place on February 2, 1931 in the Catedrala Adormirea Maicii Domnului (Assumption) in Baia Mare .

In 1941 he was the first candidate in the electoral chapter to succeed the late Archbishop Alexandru Nicolescu . However, Rome did not confirm it and installed an Apostolic Administrator.

On October 18, 1948, he was deposed as bishop by the communist authorities and placed under house arrest, arrested on October 28 and interned with other bishops in the Dragoslavele camp. In February 1949 they were placed in solitary confinement at Căldărușani Monastery and were transferred to Sighet Prison in 1950 . There died in 1952 his fellow prisoner Valeriu Traian Frenţiu , bishop of Oradea . Together with Iuliu Hossu , the bishop of Cluj-Gherla , and Ioan Bălan , the bishop of Lugoj , he was taken to a “rehabilitation hospital” in Bucharest, but was arrested again there and taken to a remote monastery (house arrest). On May 12, 1957, a military court in Cluj sentenced him to 25 years of forced labor.

After a serious illness he died on May 9, 1963 in the prison in Gherla and was buried in the prison cemetery without a church blessing.

Beatification process

The beatification procedure was initiated for Alexandru Rusu . In the course of this, on March 19, 2019 , Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Rusu and six other bishops who had perished in the communist persecution of the Church as a prerequisite for beatification. The Pope himself beatified him on June 2, 2019 in Blaj .

literature

• Biography of the canonization of the bishops Valeriu Traian Frențiu , Iuliu Hossu , Alexandru Rusu, Ioan Bălan , Ioan Suciu , Titu Liviu Chinezu and Vasile Aftenie
• Ioan Timbuş, Mircea Manu, Episcop Alexandru Rusu Editura Galaxia Gutenberg 2012 ISBN 978-973-141-458-4

Web links

• Entry on Alexandru Rusu on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Alexandru Rusu on the homepage of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church (Romanian)
• Alexandru Rusu (detailed biography) (Romanian)
• Viaggio Apostolico di Papa Francesco in Romania (31 maggio - 2 giugno 2019) - Divina Liturgia con la Beatificazione di 7 Vescovi Martiri Greco-Cattolici nel Campo della Libertà di Blaj e Recita del Regina Coeli. Press Office of the Holy See , June 2, 2019, accessed on June 3, 2019 (sermon of Pope Francis at the beatification with German translation). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 110
2. ^ Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 111, Number 9797
3. ↑ Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 121
4. ^ Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 132, Number 11,900
5. ↑ Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 155, additions / corrections
6. ^ Revue des Ordinations Épiscopales, Issue 1931, Number 4
7. ↑ Silvestru Augustin Prunduş and Clemente Plăianu, Catholicism and Orthodoxy Romanian. Brief history of the Romanian Church Christian Life Publishing House, Cluj 1994.
8. ↑ Silvestru Augustin Prunduş and Clemente Plăianu, the 12 martyrs bishops publishing "The Christian Life", Cluj 1998th
9. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, March 19, 2019, accessed March 19, 2019 (Italian). 
10. ↑ Pope beatifies martyr bishops of the communist era. Vatican News , June 2, 2019, accessed June 2, 2019 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
	Bishop of Maramureș 1930–1963	Lucian Mureșan