Ioan Dragomir

Ioan Dragomir (born October 11, 1905 in Arinis , Maramureş County , Romania ; † April 25, 1985 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian-Greek Catholic bishop and auxiliary bishop in Maramureş .

Life

The farmer's son Ioan Dragomir attended elementary school in his hometown and high school in Zalau and Baia Mare . After graduating from high school, he entered the seminary in Cluj-Gherla . After his ordination , he worked as a pastor in the parish pastoral care for two years . In 1934 he studied theology abroad, but had to return home for health reasons. After recovering, he finished his studies in Rome and received a doctorate in theology . He became archpriest of Satu Mare and cathedral chapter in Baia Mare. Already during the Second World War he was observed, threatened and persecuted in his pastoral work.

When the Romanian Greek Catholic Church was banned by the new communist regime in 1948, he hid for a time in a barn in his hometown. One night, dressed as a farmer, he took the train to Bucharest , was recognized by a resident of his hometown and paid him a "hush money", but the latter immediately went to an inn and converted the money into alcohol. In his intoxication he betrayed the clergyman. Ioan Dragomir escaped arrest by fling to the Apostolic Nunciature in Bucharest.

In 1949 he was appointed auxiliary bishop in Maramureş and at the same time appointed titular bishop of Palaeopolis in Pamphylia . He received the episcopal ordination on March 6, 1949 in the chapel of the nunciature by the offcial of the nunciature in Romania, Bishop Gerald Patrick O'Hara ; Co- consecrator was Ioan Ploscaru , the titular bishop of Trapezopolis .

With the adoption of the Constitution of the Romanian People's Republic on April 13, 1948, relations with the Vatican were dissolved and the nunciature closed. Ioan Dragomir was arrested, sentenced and imprisoned. Amnestied in 1964 , he hid in his hometown. He worked underground, organized secret meetings, ordained priests and bishops (including Emil Riti (1926–2006), Justin Stefan Paven (1925–1999) and Octavian Cristian (1920–1989)), but these were not recognized by Rome .

After a long and serious illness he died in Bucharest on April 25, 1985 and was buried in the cemetery of his hometown near his parents' grave with great sympathy from the faithful, the clergy and the "underground bishops" Ioan Chertes , Ioan Ploscaru and Alexandru Todea .

literature

• Biography of the canonization of the bishops Valeriu Traian Frențiu , Iuliu Hossu , Alexandru Rusu , Ioan Bălan , Ioan Dragomir, Ioan Suciu , Titu Liviu Chinezu and Vasile Aftenie .

Web links

• Entry on Ioan Dragomir on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Ioan Dragomir on the homepage of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church (Romanian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue , 121. Le Petit Episcopologe , 155: additions / corrections
2. ^ Revue des Ordinations Épiscopales, edition 1949, no.15
3. ↑ The Apostolic Succession - Secret Archives (Secret Episcopal Consecrations in Romania) ( Memento of the original of September 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Silvestru Augustin Prunduş, Clemente Plăianu: Catholicism and Orthodoxy Romanian. Brief history of the Romanian United Church. Christian Life Publishing House, Cluj 1994.