Titu Liviu Chinezu

Titu Liviu Chinezu (born December 22, 1904 in Huduc , Mureş County , Transylvania , † January 15, 1955 in Sighet , Romania ) was Romanian Greek Catholic auxiliary bishop in Făgăraş and Alba Iulia .

Life

The son of a Catholic priest attended primary school in his hometown and then high school in Reghin and Blaj . His classmate was Ioan Suciu , it was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. They graduated from high school together and decided to become a priest. In 1925 both were sent to the Pontifical Greek College of St. Athanasius to study theology, followed by studies at the Pontifical Urban University . Titu Liviu Chinezu holds a PhD in Philosophy ; January 31, 1930 he received in Rome the priesthood . Back in Blaj he became a professor, later prefect and rector of the academy. In 1947 he became dean in Bucharest. He was arrested on October 28, 1948 and interned in the Dragoslavele camp. In February 1949 he was given solitary confinement in the Căldărușani monastery , together with the diocesan bishops of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church who were also arrested .

On December 3, 1949, he was ordained bishop there. Pope Pius XII had previously appointed him auxiliary bishop in Făgăraş and Alba Iulia and at the same time titular bishop of Regiana . The episcopal ordination received his Valeriu Traian Frenţiu , bishop of Oradea Mare (Oradea) , co-consecrators were Iuliu Hossu , Bishop of Cluj-Gherla , Ioan Bălan , Bishop of Lugoj and his friend Ioan Suciu, the apostolic administrator of Fagaras and Alba Iulia .

Despite the greatest secrecy, the ordination was betrayed and the bishops were taken to the notorious Sighet prison. There Bishop Titu Liviu Chinezu fell ill. At the beginning of January 1955 the terminally ill man was held half-naked with the cell window open. After a five-day agony, he died, severely hypothermic, on January 15, 1955. He was buried that night without a coffin in a mass grave in the poor cemetery.

Beatification process

The beatification process was initiated for Titu Liviu Chinezu . In the course of this, on March 19, 2019 , Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Chinezu and six other bishops who had died 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 .
• Adran Podar: Episcop Tit Liviu Chinezu. Editura Galaxia Gutenberg, 2012, ISBN 978-973-141-462-1 .

Web links

• Entry for Titu Liviu Chinezu on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Titu Liviu Chinezu on the homepage of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church (Romanian)
• 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 121.
2. ^ Le Petit Episcopologe, Issue 155, Number 13,541.
3. ^ Revue des Ordinations Épiscopales, Issue 1949, Number 108.
4. ↑ Silvestru Augustin Prunduş, Clemente Plăianu: Catholicism and Orthodoxy Romanian. Brief history of the Romanian United Church. Christian Life Publishing House, Cluj 1994.
5. ↑ Silvestru Augustin Prunduş, Clemente Plăianu: The 12 Martyrs bishops. Christian Life Publishing House, Cluj 1998.
6. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, March 19, 2019, accessed March 19, 2019 (Italian). 
7. ↑ Pope beatifies martyr bishops of the communist era. Vatican News , June 2, 2019, accessed June 2, 2019 .