Seven 20th-Century Romanian Bishops Declared Martyrs

Catholic News Agency ^ | 3/19/19 | Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

[marshmallow]

Vatican City, Mar 19, 2019 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Bishops Valeriu Traian Frentiu, Vasile Aftenie, Ioan Suciu, Tito Livio Chinezu, Ioan Balan, Alexandru Rusu, and Iuliu Hossu were declared to have been killed “in hatred of the faith” between 1950 and 1970, during the Soviet occupation of Romania and the rule of Nicolae Ceausescu.

Each of the bishops was arrested and held in prisons and camps until he died, often from isolation, cold, hunger, disease, or hard manual labor. Most were never tried or convicted and were buried in unmarked graves, without religious services.

A year before his death, Bishop Iuliu Hossu was named a cardinal “in pectore.” After spending years in isolation, he died in a hospital in Bucharest in 1970. His last words were: “My struggle is over, yours continues.”

In addition to imprisonment and isolation, Bishop Vasile Aftenie was tortured at the Interior Ministry, later dying from his wounds May 10, 1950.

[NorthMountain]

These men were murdered by communists in the name of communism ... those who promote communism today should study history.

[Redmen4ever]

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time by the blood of patriots and tyrants. T. Jefferson.

So too with the blood of martyrs.

God bless you, my brothers.

[Slyfox]

Each of the bishops was arrested and held in prisons and camps until he died, often from isolation, cold, hunger, disease, or hard manual labor. Most were never tried or convicted and were buried in unmarked graves, without religious services.

Most of that happened also to the bishops in England after Elizabeth I took over. A couple of bishops escaped England, but the majority were put under house arrest in someone else's house unable to fulfill their priestly functions. Later, they ended up in prison and languished there until they died.

Interestingly, only one bishop immediately sided with Elizabeth and was given the total red carpet. As opposed to Henry, where only one bishop told him no and was executed for it.