Romanian Catholic Church in the US

[Little_Boy_Lost]

How are they doing? Are they expanding? I Know they have the two Byzantine monasteries under their care. They always seem the fourth and often left out player when talking about US Byzantine Jurisdictions.

 

[jam070406]

How are they doing? Are they expanding? I Know they have the two Byzantine monasteries under their care. They always seem the fourth and often left out player when talking about US Byzantine Jurisdictions.

The Parish I attended many times, on any given Sunday, had less then 20 people all over the age of 70.

 

[ciero]

The Parish I attended many times, on any given Sunday, had less then 20 people all over the age of 70.

And the parish and missions here in So Cal are doing great! (except maybe one, but that 1 is still to new to tell). Many large families with kids and not all ethnically Romanian.

I guess it depends on where you are.

God bless Kyr John Michael!!!

 

[jam070406]

And the parish and missions here in So Cal are doing great! (except maybe one, but that 1 is still to new to tell). Many large families with kids and not all ethnically Romanian.

I guess it depends on where you are.

God bless Kyr John Michael!!!

That’s awesome! I so wish it were like that here.

The Church itself is so beautiful.

 

[Phillip_Rolfes]

I sure wish there was a Romanian Catholic parish here in D.C. (incidentally, so does Kyr John Michael, as he has told me on a number of occasions). As much as I love the Melkites, there is a part of me that greatly wishes to be under the spiritual shepherding of such a wonderful bishop as Kyr John Michael, a truly humble and holy man. I’ve had many amazing conversations with him over a cup of coffee and some Romanian sausage.

I believe you can judge the health of his diocese by looking not only at him, but also at the monastic communities. The Romanian monks at Holy Resurrection Monastery are known, loved and respected throughout the Byzantine Catholic world, and throughout much of the Orthodox world as well. I’ve heard that a number of the Romanian parishes are growing, and the diocese has been expanded to include Canada. Bishop John Michael has been fighting tooth and nail, with more or less success, to restore the fullness of the Byzantine tradition to his Church. It seems that those places which have been restoring the fullness of the Byzantine tradition have been growing in numbers. He’s also been working to expand his efforts at evangelization beyond the ethnically Romanian community. I remember him telling me stories of nearly leaving the Romanian Church and becoming Roman Catholic simply because he didn’t understand the Byzantine Liturgy, having never heard it in English before. The first time he heard it in English was at a Melkite parish (incidentally he was a member of my parish here in D.C. while he was attending Catholic University of America as a seminarian… my current pastor was still the pastor back then).

For those of you who are interested, I would strongly recommend contacting the Eparchy of St. George for the Romanians and subscribing to their (bi)monthly newsletter, “Uniria.” It contains news of the Eparchy, of course, but also some wonderful theological and spiritual articles. The Hieropriest, Fr. Maximos of Holy Resurrection Monastery, has a regular column, as does Fr. David Petras, a liturgical scholar of the Ruthenian Catholic Church sui iuris. I myself edited an article for it shortly before Christmas. It was a lecture given by Prof. Richard Schneider (St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary) on the iconography of Christmas that I edited down into a written format. I’m going to have to get in touch with Kyr John Michael and talk to him about a subscription.

 

[jam070406]

I sure wish there was a Romanian Catholic parish here in D.C. (incidentally, so does Kyr John Michael, as he has told me on a number of occasions). As much as I love the Melkites, there is a part of me that greatly wishes to be under the spiritual shepherding of such a wonderful bishop as Kyr John Michael, a truly humble and holy man. I’ve had many amazing conversations with him over a cup of coffee and some Romanian sausage.

I believe you can judge the health of his diocese by looking not only at him, but also at the monastic communities. The Romanian monks at Holy Resurrection Monastery are known, loved and respected throughout the Byzantine Catholic world, and throughout much of the Orthodox world as well. I’ve heard that a number of the Romanian parishes are growing, and the diocese has been expanded to include Canada. Bishop John Michael has been fighting tooth and nail, with more or less success, to restore the fullness of the Byzantine tradition to his Church. It seems that those places which have been restoring the fullness of the Byzantine tradition have been growing in numbers. He’s also been working to expand his efforts at evangelization beyond the ethnically Romanian community. I remember him telling me stories of nearly leaving the Romanian Church and becoming Roman Catholic simply because he didn’t understand the Byzantine Liturgy, having never heard it in English before. The first time he heard it in English was at a Melkite parish (incidentally he was a member of my parish here in D.C. while he was attending Catholic University of America as a seminarian… my current pastor was still the pastor back then).

For those of you who are interested, I would strongly recommend contacting the Eparchy of St. George for the Romanians and subscribing to their (bi)monthly newsletter, “Uniria.” It contains news of the Eparchy, of course, but also some wonderful theological and spiritual articles. The Hieropriest, Fr. Maximos of Holy Resurrection Monastery, has a regular column, as does Fr. David Petras, a liturgical scholar of the Ruthenian Catholic Church sui iuris. I myself edited an article for it shortly before Christmas. It was a lecture given by Prof. Richard Schneider (St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary) on the iconography of Christmas that I edited down into a written format. I’m going to have to get in touch with Kyr John Michael and talk to him about a subscription.

Thanks for the insight and tip. I’ll have to inquire about a subscription. Any way I can get that article on Iconography you mentioned? Incidentally, I ordered a missal from the Eparchy a few years ago. It’s also a wonderful book of prayers.

 

[Phillip_Rolfes]

Thanks for the insight and tip. I’ll have to inquire about a subscription. Any way I can get that article on Iconography you mentioned? Incidentally, I ordered a missal from the Eparchy a few years ago. It’s also a wonderful book of prayers.

Sadly I’m not really sure how you’d go about getting the article on Iconography that I did. I wrote it while I was still working for Eastern Christian Publications (they publish Unirea also) and just never kept a copy. You could probably get a copy if you contacted the Eparchy. Alternatively you could order the DVD lecture from Orientale Lumen Television. They have a series done by Prof. Schneider on the iconography of all the Great Feasts, or you could just order the one on the iconography of Christmas (which is excerpted from the Great Feasts series).

 

[theistgal]

We have a Romanian Catholic Mission church using our (Byzantine Rite) church for their services and although their parish is small, they are enthusiastic - and really inspire us!

Also, it’s cool that their priest is married and has four adorable kids!

 

[waterbender]

I visit the romanian monestary north of Pittsburg, PA for retreats. Always booked for visiting faithful, and the nuns are always busy with new novices.

And they speak in English.

 

[reggieM]

Slightly off topic but relevant: I just recently read the book “Stolen Church: Martyrdom in Communist Romania” and that is truly and amazing story. Sadly, the book is out of print now and there’s very little else telling about that persecution (which some historians claim is one of the worst Christian persecutions in the history of the Church). Aside from the story, the book gives a very interesting overview of the history of the Romanian Catholic Church.

 

[CB_Catholic]

There is a Romanian Byzantine parish a few blocks from where I live. The Pastor is a lovely man who works as a chaplain at the hospital I am employed at and who I know very well. I attended the DL one Sunday and there were about 20 people there, no children, and some of them were Latin Catholics who introduced themselves to me and told me they were actually members of my parish but didn’t like it Father has a special devotion to Our Lady of Soufanieh, and there is a small shrine at the church.

My husband had a stroke last Wed. and was in critical condition, and Father anointed him in the ER. Wednesdays are his days to anoint and he “happened” to be in the ER and he whipped out the purple stole (not sure what it’s called), and the oil and went to work. (Coincidence?–I don’t think so). He got a thorough anointing, and now, after intervention is recovering nicely with no apparent deficits. I am very fond of my Romanian priest friend.

 

[waterbender]

321 Monastery Ln,
Ellwood City, PA 16117-6531
oca.org/DIRlisting.asp?SID=9&KEY=oca-ro-elchxc
you must call ahead to visit or stay. Orthodox get first dibbs on lodgings.

**ReggieM:**Ask the nuns at this Monastery for help in finding your book! They have a wonderful gift shop, as well a big library!

 

[reggieM]

321 Monastery Ln,
Ellwood City, PA 16117-6531
oca.org/DIRlisting.asp?SID=9&KEY=oca-ro-elchxc
you must call ahead to visit or stay. Orthodox get first dibbs on lodgings.

**ReggieM:**Ask the nuns at this Monastery for help in finding your book! They have a wonderful gift shop, as well a big library!

Thanks, waterbender – that is good to know.

I should point out that the book is written by a Catholic priest who suffered for about 20 years under, possibly, the worst conditions that the Communists had anywhere. They had been able to dominate the Orthodox clergy in Romania – and then they tried to force all the Catholic priests to become Orthodox. I had never heard of that before. But the tortures were inhuman and extreme - and it was very easy to have them stop: just leave the Catholic Faith and become Orthodox. Many Catholic priests did this. But this book is about the priests and those martyrs who refused to leave the union of the See of Peter. Most of those died martyrs in horrible conditions.

The book is friendly to Orthodox and admires the many who resisted the Communists and supported their Catholic bretheren. But it also tells a very ugly story about how the Orthodox Church was used for political purposes – and also, very importantly, that union with the Catholic Church through the See of Peter in Rome, is not something for us to take lightly. These priests suffered horrible things to preserve their union with the Catholic Church.

Romanian Catholics have some amazing martyrs to look up to (and we all share them). I think this story is so powerful especially these days because it shows the kind of committment that was given to preserve union with the Catholic Church, in our era when many Catholics think that union with the Pope is not a big deal and they dismiss it lightly or even walk away from the Church.

This is an excellent article:

The Calvary of Romania

The story of Romanian persecution and martyrdom is virtually without equal in the 20th or any other century. As L’Osservatore Romano wrote in 1948, when the persecution was only starting: “No similar story of moral violence, of persecution, of the Via Crucis of liberty, of personality, and of human dignity can be read in all the pages of history.”

As occurred in Ukraine under the Soviets, Romanian Communist authorities organized an illegitimate synod of this church, which no Romanian Catholic bishop, even under torture and other pressures, agreed to attend. The synod was forced to declare that it was the will of the faithful to become Orthodox, though Romanian Orthodoxy had been available as an option for anyone who wanted to convert for centuries. In October of 1948, the Greek Catholic Church was liquidated, her thousands of churches confiscated and converted to Orthodox use.

At the beginning, all the bishops were held in Dragoslavele, the summer residence of the Orthodox Patriarch. Patriarch Justinian visited them often and urged them to become Orthodox. The government put out propaganda that the bishops had gone on a “spiritual retreat.” The regime needed at least one bishop to apostatize in order to claim that their unification of the Catholic Church with the Orthodox was licit. No bishop obliged them. When gentle persuasion failed, the bishops were separated and sent to different locations. By May 10, 1950 Vasile Aftenie, after suffering terrible tortures in the Vacaresti prison, went mad and died, even though he was a relatively young man and had been in good health. The fates of the other bishops were soon sealed in similar fashion. Of the clergy, 600 were imprisoned, about a third of them in the Soviet Union; only half survived.

Unfortunately, about a quarter of the Romanian Greek Catholic clergy gave in and became formally Orthodox during the persecution, fearing repercussions on themselves and their families. Since there were ample opportunities prior to the advent of the Communist regime for these men to have become part of the majority Romanian Orthodox Church had they so wished, there is no reason to believe that even a single one of these allegedly “voluntary” conversions was sincere. (Many later recanted.) The means needed to convince them testify to that. One priest was thrown into a sewer full of rats for two days. He relented. Another was cast into a quagmire, with similar results. In the town of Oradea, a Father Tamian was subjected to torture by fire and electricity until he surrendered. In Sibiu, a Father Onofreiu miraculously survived being hanged when the rope broke. He still refused to accept Orthodoxy but was declared insane and released — temporarily. It is easy to understand why a quarter of the clergy, subjected to such treatment in so many different places, were not hardy enough to withstand it.

 

[Vico]

How are they doing? Are they expanding? I Know they have the two Byzantine monasteries under their care. They always seem the fourth and often left out player when talking about US Byzantine Jurisdictions.

There are about 5000 - 6000 Romanian Catholics given in the statistics for the USA. (Click the thumbnail for the USA statistics from the Annuario Pontifico.)

 

[waterbender]

@ reggiem,

oh. If that’s what the book is about, please do not disturb the nuns for it. I am sure they will not have it. Thanks for sharing, though. What happened to the Roman rite priests from the Great war to theSecond World War is horrible and the same story played throughout Europe in all of the West and East of it. So many martyrs.

 

[Little_Boy_Lost]

I read that the Bishop of the US Eparchy is directly under Roman Leadership and not under the authority of the Archbishop of the Romanian Church in Romania. Why is this? Or can someone clarify?

 

[Vico]

I read that the Bishop of the US Eparchy is directly under Roman Leadership and not under the authority of the Archbishop of the Romanian Church in Romania. Why is this? Or can someone clarify?

Bishop John Michael Botean is Bishop of Saint George’s in Canton of the Romanians, which was upgraded from an Exarchy to an Eparchy on Mar 26, 1987 (and also includes two parishes in Toronto). The question then arises, is Bishop Michael immediately subject to the Major Archbishop Lucian Mureşan who is also President of the Synod of the Romanian Church or to the Holy See (meaning the Congregation for Oriental Churches, which also includes Major Archbishop Lucian)?

For the eastern churches the authority and power of the patriarch (or major archibishop or metropolitan) and synod (or council/assembly of hierarchs) and tribunals, is confined to the churches’ ancient geographical borders. The Latin Church does not have this restriction. Read some comments on this from some bishops at the Eastern Synod in Oct 2010:

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1004186.htm

and on canon law (search Bishop Botean):

canonlaw.info/blogarch03.htm

Also the US bishops of Latin and Eastern Churches together are members of the USCCB.

 

[hazcompat]

Thanks, waterbender – that is good to know.

I should point out that the book is written by a Catholic priest who suffered for about 20 years under, possibly, the worst conditions that the Communists had anywhere. They had been able to dominate the Orthodox clergy in Romania – and then they tried to force all the Catholic priests to become Orthodox. I had never heard of that before. But the tortures were inhuman and extreme - and it was very easy to have them stop: just leave the Catholic Faith and become Orthodox. Many Catholic priests did this. But this book is about the priests and those martyrs who refused to leave the union of the See of Peter. Most of those died martyrs in horrible conditions.

The book is friendly to Orthodox and admires the many who resisted the Communists and supported their Catholic bretheren. But it also tells a very ugly story about how the Orthodox Church was used for political purposes – and also, very importantly, that union with the Catholic Church through the See of Peter in Rome, is not something for us to take lightly. These priests suffered horrible things to preserve their union with the Catholic Church.

Romanian Catholics have some amazing martyrs to look up to (and we all share them). I think this story is so powerful especially these days because it shows the kind of committment that was given to preserve union with the Catholic Church, in our era when many Catholics think that union with the Pope is not a big deal and they dismiss it lightly or even walk away from the Church.

This is an excellent article:

The Calvary of Romania

The story of Romanian persecution and martyrdom is virtually without equal in the 20th or any other century. As L’Osservatore Romano wrote in 1948, when the persecution was only starting: “No similar story of moral violence, of persecution, of the Via Crucis of liberty, of personality, and of human dignity can be read in all the pages of history.”

As occurred in Ukraine under the Soviets, Romanian Communist authorities organized an illegitimate synod of this church, which no Romanian Catholic bishop, even under torture and other pressures, agreed to attend. The synod was forced to declare that it was the will of the faithful to become Orthodox, though Romanian Orthodoxy had been available as an option for anyone who wanted to convert for centuries. In October of 1948, the Greek Catholic Church was liquidated, her thousands of churches confiscated and converted to Orthodox use.

At the beginning, all the bishops were held in Dragoslavele, the summer residence of the Orthodox Patriarch. Patriarch Justinian visited them often and urged them to become Orthodox. The government put out propaganda that the bishops had gone on a “spiritual retreat.” The regime needed at least one bishop to apostatize in order to claim that their unification of the Catholic Church with the Orthodox was licit. No bishop obliged them. When gentle persuasion failed, the bishops were separated and sent to different locations. By May 10, 1950 Vasile Aftenie, after suffering terrible tortures in the Vacaresti prison, went mad and died, even though he was a relatively young man and had been in good health. The fates of the other bishops were soon sealed in similar fashion. Of the clergy, 600 were imprisoned, about a third of them in the Soviet Union; only half survived.

Unfortunately, about a quarter of the Romanian Greek Catholic clergy gave in and became formally Orthodox during the persecution, fearing repercussions on themselves and their families. Since there were ample opportunities prior to the advent of the Communist regime for these men to have become part of the majority Romanian Orthodox Church had they so wished, there is no reason to believe that even a single one of these allegedly “voluntary” conversions was sincere. (Many later recanted.) The means needed to convince them testify to that. One priest was thrown into a sewer full of rats for two days. He relented. Another was cast into a quagmire, with similar results. In the town of Oradea, a Father Tamian was subjected to torture by fire and electricity until he surrendered. In Sibiu, a Father Onofreiu miraculously survived being hanged when the rope broke. He still refused to accept Orthodoxy but was declared insane and released — temporarily. It is easy to understand why a quarter of the clergy, subjected to such treatment in so many different places, were not hardy enough to withstand it.

Forgive me. I did not know. Thank you for this.

peace

 

[Little_Boy_Lost]

Ah interesting. What were most other Byzantines responses to Bishop Botean’s statement on the Iraq war? I read in other forums here in the archives many Roman Catholics appalled and taken aback by his statement and were suggesting the Pope immediately put him in place.