Iosif Bobulescu (; born Ioan Bobulescu; December 15, 1818–December 15, 1890) was a

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...

n and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n bishop within 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 patriarchat ...

. Born in ,

Botoșani County Botoșani County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia (encompassing a few villages in neigbhouring Suceava County from Bukovina to the west as well), with the capital town ( ro, Oraș reședință de județ) at Botoșani. De ...

, then a village near

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

, Bobulescu attended primary school there, followed by the theological seminary at Socola Monastery in Iași, the capital of

. He graduated in 1845,"Iosif Bobulescu"
entry in Mircea Păcurariu, ''Dicționarul Teologilor Români'', Editura Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest, 1996 married, and in March 1846 was ordained a priest and assigned to Saint Parascheva parish church in

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

. There, he taught catechism. In January 1856, he was named to a similar position at Iași, remaining until 1860. In 1857, after being a widower for several years, he became a monk, taking the name Iosif. In 1861, he was elevated to the rank of

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") wh ...

and placed in charge of Saint Nicholas Princely Church. In January 1862, he was consecrated bishop, taking the title ''Sevastius''. Between 1865 and 1872, he was among those who promoted

autocephaly Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

for the Romanian church. After 1872, he supervised a number of churches in Iași, and later became vicar of the Moldavia and Bukovina Metropolis, with the style ''Botoșăneanul''. In November 1880, he was named Bishop of Râmnic. During his episcopate, Bobulescu repaired the walls of the cathedral's bell tower. In November 1886, he retired and withdrew to Botoșani, where he died four years later.Ierarhi din secolul al XIX-lea
at the Archdiocese of Râmnic site

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobulescu, Iosif 1818 births 1890 deaths People from Suceava Bishops of the Romanian Orthodox Church