Teoctist (Romanian pronunciation: [te.okˈtist], born Toader Arăpașu; February 7, 1915 – July 30, 2007) was the Patriarch
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church from 1986 to 2007. Teoctist served his first years as patriarch under the Romanian Communist regime, and was accused by some of collaboration. He offered his resignation after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, but was soon restored to office and served a further 17 years. A promoter of ecumenical dialogue, Patriarch
Patriarch Teoctist invited Pope John Paul II to visit Romania
Romania in 1999. It was the first visit of a Pope
Pope to a predominantly Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox country since the East-West Schism of 1054.

Contents

1 Studies and ecclesiastic career 2 Ascension to the patriarchal chair 3 The 1989 Revolution 4 Activity after 1989 5 Controversy

5.1 Football team 5.2 Securitate

6 Death 7 Notes 8 References

Studies and ecclesiastic career[edit] He was born as the tenth of eleven children of Dumitru and Marghioala Arăpașu, of Tocileni, Botoșani County. He attended the primary school in Tocileni (1921–1927). In 1928, Arăpașu became a novice at Sihăstria Voronei Hermitage, and later at Vorona Monastery. He became a monk on 6 August 1935 at the Bistrița-Neamț Monastery. In 1940, he began his studies at Theology School at the University of Bucharest, from which he graduated in 1945. On March 1, 1945, he was sent to Iași, where he was ordained hieromonk on 25 March 1945, and archimandrite in 1946. Between 1946 and 1947, he studied Literature and Philosophy at the University of Iași. At the beginning of 1947, the Holy Synod
Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church revoked Arăpașu's archimandrite rank due to his pro-Communist opinions, the decision being published in the official newsletter of the Romanian Patriarchate, the "Biserica Ortodoxă Română".[1] Ascension to the patriarchal chair[edit] In 1948, Justinian became Patriarch
Patriarch of Romania
Romania and in 1950, Arăpașu became patriarchal bishop-vicar, being the secretary of the Holy Synod and the rector of the Theological Institute of Bucharest
Bucharest between 1950 and 1954. In 1962, Arăpașu was named Bishop of Arad. In 1963, an attempt to make him the leader of the Romanian Orthodox community of the United States failed after the U.S. authorities refused to grant him a visa. In 1973, he became the Archbishop of Craiova
Craiova and Metropolitan of Oltenia
Oltenia and in 1977 the Metropolitan of Moldavia and Suceava. In 1986, he became the Patriarch
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. He was accused of obedience to the Communist authorities, culminating with the approval of the demolition of 26 historic churches in Bucharest. He sent many congratulatory telegrams to Nicolae Ceaușescu, who also gave him many valuable old prints and other heritage objects.[citation needed] Between 1975 and 1989, he was also a member of Marea Adunare Națională, the Romanian parliament.[2] For instance, in the 1985 elections, he was elected to the Parliament, being the only candidate who ran in the 9th electoral district - Belcești
Belcești ( Iași
Iași County), being nominated by Gheorghe Zaharia, the Juridical Secretary of the County People's Council.[3] He was also a delegate to the Socialist Unity and Democracy Front congresses and a member of Ceaușescu's National Peace Committee.[4]

Styles of Patriarch
Patriarch Teoctist of Romania

Reference style His Beatitude

Spoken style Your Beatitude

Religious style Patriarch

The 1989 Revolution[edit] On 18 December 1989, at the start of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Holy Synod
Holy Synod had a meeting in which Teoctist announced that he agreed with the repression of the anti-communist movement in Timișoara, claiming the events were caused by foreign interference.[5] He sent a telegram to Ceaușescu, praising him for his "brilliant activity", "wise guidance", "daring thinking" and claiming that the Romanians
Romanians live "in a golden age, properly and righteously bearing [Ceaușescu's] name".[6] Just a few hours after the Ceaușescus fled, Teoctist signed his resignation and fled incognito to the Sinaia Monastery, a location allegedly suggested to him by Gelu Voican Voiculescu.[5] On 18 January 1990, the Holy Synod
Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church accepted the patriarch's resignation by announcing that he retired from his office, without giving any motivation.[5] In April 1990, The Holy Synod
Holy Synod unanimously revoked its decision to accept the resignation and Teoctist was reinstated, claiming that he withdrew temporarily for health reasons.[6] According to the Tismăneanu Report, this has been seen by the Romanian intelligentsia as a harmful event and the start of the neo-Communist restoration in Romania.[7] Activity after 1989[edit]

Teoctist and Pope
Pope John Paul II

After 1989, Arăpașu promoted religious education at all levels of education and founded new theological seminaries as well as schools for church singers, historical monument restoration, and other specialties. He also organized foreign scholarships. In May 1999, Patriarch
Patriarch Teoctist received the visit of Pope
Pope John Paul II to Romania. This was the first time a Pope
Pope had visited a predominantly Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054, the event that separated Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism. On his arrival, the Patriarch
Patriarch and the President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, greeted the Pope. The Patriarch
Patriarch stated, "The second millennium of Christian history began with a painful wounding of the unity of the Church; the end of this millennium has seen a real commitment to restoring Christian unity." On 9 May, the Pope
Pope and the Patriarch
Patriarch each attended a worship service (an Orthodox Liturgy and a Catholic Mass, respectively) conducted by the other. A crowd of hundreds of thousands of people turned up to attend the worship services, which were held in the open air. In 2007, he criticized the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's declaration on "Subsistit in" in Lumen Gentium, saying "We were stunned by such a statement, which troubles the entire Christian world."[8] Controversy[edit] Football team[edit] In 1981, when he was the Metropolitan of Moldavia, Teoctist used money from the Orthodox Church
Orthodox Church to sponsor the Politehnica Iași
Iași football team and justified this as being an attempt to do something good for the local community.[9] Securitate[edit] After 1989, various accusations were made in the Romanian press, including that he was a collaborator of the Securitate, the political police in Romania, that he allegedly was homosexual and that as a "Legionnaire" (member of the "Legion of the Archangel Michael", an extreme-right Orthodox nationalistic movement of the interwar period, associated politically with the Iron Guard), he stored propaganda materials at the Cernica and Căldărușani monasteries[2] and that he participated in the vandalizing of a Bucharest
Bucharest synagogue. Accusing Teoctist of having been both a Legionnaire and a Communist collaborator is only an apparent contradiction, since numerous Legionnaires, in principle fierce anti-Communists, ended up being recruited by the Securitate
Securitate political police. The last two accusations were based on a 1950 file found in the archives of the Securitate. The official response of the Orthodox Church was that the file was made by the Soviets with the intent of destroying the Romanian Orthodox Church.[10] In July 2006, historian Stejărel Olaru said he found in the archives of the Securitate
Securitate documents which prove that Teoctist was an agent of influence, who did propaganda for the Communist regime. The accusations were publicly denied by the Church.[11] Death[edit] The Patriarch
Patriarch died on July 30, 2007, after undergoing surgery for a prostate adenoma at the Clinical Institute of Fundeni.[12] The surgery was not an emergency, but a scheduled operation. Along the day, the news received suggested he was recovering. According to the doctors, the death occurred following cardiac complications, at 17:00 (GMT+2). The Patriarch
Patriarch had a history of cardiac problems. His body was laid in the Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral
Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest.[13] After the session of the Holy Synod
Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church the date of burial was set for Friday, August 3, 2007, at 11:00 (GMT+2) and took place at the Patriarchal Cathedral. PM Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu announced that the Government decided the date to be a National Day of Mourning. The burial place was chosen by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church to be the Patriarchal Cathedral and the burial service was officiated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, alongside Romanian Orthodox hierarchs and hierarchs representing churches of the Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox communion. After the religious service, the Patriarch
Patriarch was given state honors. Delegations from 30 Orthodox Churches were present at the services. Taking part in the funeral itself were representatives from the churches of Constantinople, Albania, Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Finland, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Greece, Cyprus, Poland and the Czech Republic. Also present were delegations from the Holy See, different Christian denominations (Anglican, Armenian Apostolic, Ethiopian Church and Syriac churches), other religious communities from Romania
Romania (The Romanian Muftiat) and Romanian political leaders. About 8,000 people attended the funeral. Notes[edit]

^ "Biserica Ortodoxă Română", no. 1-3 (January–March 1947). ^ a b (in Romanian)"Dosarul de cadre al Patriarhului Teoctist", in Cotidianul, 22 August 2007 ^ "Ultimii deputați comuniști ai Iașului", Ziarul de Iași, October 17, 2005 ^ Stan and Turcescu, p. 34 ^ a b c "Cumpăna Patriarhului", in România Liberă, 2 August 2007 ^ a b Michael Bourdeaux, "Obituary: Patriarch
Patriarch Teoctist", in The Guardian, August 7, 2007 ^ Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, Final Report of the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, p. 467 ^ Patriarch
Patriarch Teoctist of Romania: A Brutal Document ^ Cotidianul, Teoctist a bagat bani in fotbal, 5 May 2005 ^ (in Romanian) Observator Cultural "Patriarhul Teoctist: legionar laureat ori comunist promovat?", January 2001 ^ (in Romanian)BBC Romanian, Preoți colaboratori ai fostei securități 28 July 2006 ^ Observator de Bacău, 30 July 2007 Archived 19 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine.. ^ "Head of Romanian Church Dies". London: guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. 

References[edit]

Biography portal Romania
Romania portal Eastern Christianity portal

Article about Teoctist Arăpașu
Teoctist Arăpașu in "Dicţionarul Teologilor Români" România Liberă, "Ce ar fi trebuit sa stie ambasadorul Taubman cand s-a dus la Patriarhie" 10 December 2005 Article about nuns being beaten by Teoctist's communist allies, April 2006 Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu, "The Devil's Confessors: Priests, Communists, Spies, and Informers", East European Politics and Societies, 19 (2005), no. 4, 655–685. doi:10.1177/0888325404272454 Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu, Politics, national symbols and the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, Europe-Asia Studies, 8 (2006), no. 7, 1119-1139. OCLC 90228854 Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu, Religion and Politics in Post-communist Romania, Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-19-530853-0

Eastern Orthodox Church
Orthodox Church titles

Preceded by Iustin Moisescu Patriarch
Patriarch of All Romania 1986–2007 Succeeded by Daniel Ciobotea

v t e

Heads of the Romanian Orthodox Church

Metropolitan-Primates

Nifon Rusailă Calinic Miclescu Iosif Gheorghidan (first time) Ghenadie Petrescu Iosif Gheorghidan (second time) Atanasie Mironescu Conon Arămescu-Donici Miron Cristea

Patriarchs

Miron Cristea Nicodim Munteanu Justinian Marina Iustin Moisescu Teoctist Arăpașu Daniel Ciobotea

Authority control

WorldCat Identities VIAF: 79207203 LCCN: nb2008008745 ISNI: 0000 0000 8396 9888 GND: 118015192 BNF: cb1507