Vladimir Ghika

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Portrait of Vladimir Ghikas in the Archbishop's Residence in Bucharest

Vladimir Ghika (also Ghica ; born December 25, 1873 in Constantinople , Ottoman Empire , † May 16, 1954 in Jilava , Romania ) was a Romanian diplomat , later a Roman Catholic clergyman and martyr . In the Roman Catholic Church he is venerated as a blessed .

Life

Vladimir Ghika in Paray-le-Monial in 1917
Reliquary in the Bucharest Cathedral

Vladimir Ghika was born as the son of the division general and diplomat Ioan Ghika and his wife Alexandrine Moret de Blaremberg. The last ruler of the Principality of Moldova , Grigore Alexandru Ghica , was his uncle. At the age of five he moved with his family to France, where he graduated from Toulouse with a law degree in 1895 . He then studied political science in Paris, where he also attended lectures in medicine, botany, art, literature and history. From 1898 he studied in Rome at the Dominican College, later the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas . Here he obtained a licentiate in philosophy and was awarded a Dr. theol. PhD .

On April 13, 1902, he grew up in the Orthodox faith and converted to the Roman Catholic Church in the Church of Santa Sabina . Because of his mother, who was hit hard by this step, he put off his desire to become a Catholic priest . Instead, on the advice of Pope Pius X, he got involved in the field of lay apostolate and charitable initiatives. Encouraged by meeting a Vincentian woman, he founded a women's community for charitable services in 1906 and opened a free outpatient clinic in Bucharest for those in need. He carried out his diverse social activities alongside his work in the diplomatic service, which took him to Italy during the First World War and to France again from 1920.

On October 7, 1923, the Archbishop of Paris , Louis-Ernest Cardinal Dubois, donated the sacrament of ordination to him in the chapel of the Parisian Lazarists . He built up a lively parish in the poor district of Villejuif and did missionary work in many countries. Pope Pius XI awarded him the honorary title of prelate . In 1939 he traveled to Romania to visit his family, but was unable to return to France when the Second World War broke out . In the following years he stood up for Polish war refugees, bomb victims, prisoners and other needy people.

After the war, the Ghika's family left Romania as a noble family to escape the increasing pressure from the new communist government . Ghika stayed in the country even after all Catholic bishops were arrested by the communist state police Securitate after 1948 and church life was directed by secret administrators. Vladimir Ghika, who supported this secret hierarchy, was arrested by the Securitate on November 18, 1952, imprisoned in Bucharest's Uranus military prison, and interrogated and severely tortured for a year. On October 25, 1953, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment for "espionage for the Vatican and for the imperialist powers" and transferred to Jilava prison. He died on May 16 of the following year from the abuse he suffered. He was initially buried near the prison, but in 1968 he was reburied in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest .

beatification

A process for his beatification was initiated by the Archbishop of Bucharest , Ioan Robu , in 2002. On March 27, 2013, Pope Francis signed the decree recognizing Vladimir Ghika as a martyr. The beatification was performed by the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints , Angelo Amato , on behalf of the Pope on August 31 of the same year in Bucharest. During the beatification process, his remains were raised and buried in a reliquary grave in the left side altar of the Bucharest Cathedral of St. Joseph .

literature

  • Anca Mărtínaş: Vladimir Ghika. The beggar prince for the love of Christ , Bucharest 2013, ISBN 978-973-1891-75-0
  • Francisca Bataceanu and Monica Brosteanu: Vladimir Ghika. Professeur d'espérance , Éditions du Cerf, Paris 2013, ISBN 978-2-2041-0083-0

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , p.10
  2. ↑ Mărtínaș: Wladimir Ghika , p. 11f
  3. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , p 12ff
  4. ↑ Mărtínaș: Wladimir Ghika , p. 6f
  5. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , p 15ff
  6. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , p.19
  7. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , p.27
  8. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , S. 34f
  9. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , S. 36f
  10. ↑ Megan: Vladimir Ghika , pp 41-45
  11. ↑ Povestea monseniorului Vladimir Ghika, “marele vagabond apostolic”, Biserica Catolică îl va beatifica pe prințul care a murit într-o închisoare comunistă. historia.ro, accessed on September 29, 2017 (Romanian).
  12. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , March 28, 2013, accessed September 17, 2017 (Italian).
  13. ↑ Vladimir Ghika va fi beatificat la 31 August 2013, la Bucureşti. catholica.ro, May 8, 2013, accessed September 17, 2017 (Romanian).
  14. ↑ Localizarea mormântului Fericitului Vladimir Ghika. vladimirghika.ro, accessed September 29, 2017 (Romanian).
personal data
SURNAME Ghika, Vladimir
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ghika, Vladimir; Ghika, Vladimir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Romanian diplomat and Roman Catholic clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Constantinople , Ottoman Empire
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1954
Place of death Jilava , Romania