Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa (November 23, 1925 – November 21, 2006) was a Romanian priest and dissident. Beginning with his teens, Calciu-Dumitreasa was involved in the activity of the fascist Iron Guard (also known as the "Legionary Movement"), being first arrested for this in 1942. He was again arrested in 1948 for continued "Legionary activity" and then condemned in 1949 to 8 years of prison for "conspiracy". In 1957 he became one of the torturers in the "experiment" taking place in the

Pitești Prison Pitești Prison ( ro, Închisoarea Pitești) was a penal facility in Pitești, Romania, best remembered for the Mind control, reeducation experiment (also known as ''Experimentul Pitești'' – the "Pitești Experiment" or ''Fenomenul Pitești'' ...

, violent infighting among Iron Guard sympathisers condoned and encouraged by the prison authorities. For his role in the experiment he received a new sentence to 15 years of forced labour, however he was released in May 1963 and assigned compulsory residence. Calciu-Dumitreasa was again arrested in 1978 and convicted to 10 years of prison for criticizing the regime of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

during his sermons at the Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he was working as a professor. Reportedly he suffered beatings and harassment in prison. He was released from prison due in part to pressure from supporters such as

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Ronald Reagan. He spent years in exile in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and ultimately settled there permanently. In the mid-1980s he preached on the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

and

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

. While Calciu-Dumitreasa was celebrated as a dissident and intensely promoted in anti-communist propaganda directed at Romania, his past association with fascism was constantly ignored, "if not intentionally hidden". Moreover, he continued to hold controversial views until his death, for example glorifying the "Brotherhood of the Cross", the youth organization of the Iron Guard, deifying Guard leader

Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (; born Corneliu Codreanu, according to his birth certificate; 13 September 1899 – 30 November 1938) was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or ''The Legion o ...

, proposing an idealized vision of Legionarism and

denying the Holocaust ''Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory'' is a 1993 book by the historian Deborah Lipstadt, in which the author discusses the Holocaust denial movement. Lipstadt named British writer David Irving as a Holocaust denier, l ...

in an interview in 2006. After being defrocked by the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates ...

, Calciu-Dumitreasa became a priest of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions ...

, which never recognised his defrocking. In 1989 he took charge of the Holy Cross Romanian Orthodox Church at

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

. In his last years he revisited his native land several times and met some of those whom he had influenced. He remained critical of certain Romanian Orthodox bishops to his last day, claiming they were former ''

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

'' secret police infiltrators. Calciu-Dumitreasa died of pancreatic cancer on November 21, 2006 at

Inova Fairfax Hospital Inova Fairfax Medical Campus is the largest hospital campus in Northern Virginia and the flagship hospital of Inova Health System. Located in Woodburn in Fairfax County, Virginia, Inova Fairfax Hospital is one of the largest employers in the co ...

in Woodburn, Fairfax County. He was survived by his wife of over 40 years, Adriana, and their son, Andrei. He was interred at the Petru Vodă Monastery in Poiana Teiului Commune,

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...

, Romania.

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