Bartolomeu Anania
Encyclopedia
Bartolomeu Anania, was a Romanian Orthodox
bishop, translator, writer and poet; he was the Metropolitan of Cluj, Alba, Crişana and Maramureş.
, Vâlcea County
, to Vasile Anania and his wife Ana, the daughter of a priest. He attended primary school in Glăvile and entered the Bucharest Central Seminary in 1933.
At the age of 15, Anania, while a student at the Seminary, joined the local organization of the Cross Brotherhood (Frăţia de Cruce), part of the Iron Guard
, being introduced to it by an older student. However, he claimed that within the Cross Brotherhood at the Seminary, politics was not discussed and the group was not anti-Semitic, like the rest of the Iron Guard. Anania graduated the Seminary in 1941. That year, he spent three weeks under arrest, being accused of participating at the funeral of a member of the Iron Guard.
In 1942, he was tonsured a monk at the Antim Monastery
, graduating from Bucharest's Mihai Viteazul High School the following year. In 1944, Hierodeacon Bartolomeu began studying Medicine and at the Cluj Conservatory, but he was expelled after organizing a student strike against the new communist government of Petru Groza
. Afterwards, he continued his studies at the Theology Faculty of the University of Bucharest
and the Theological Academies of Cluj
and Sibiu
, receiving his degree in the latter city in 1948.
. Another political prisoner at Aiud, Grigore Caraza, accused Anania of having actively participated in the 're-education' of prisoners, a charge categorically denied by Anania.
In August 1964, he was freed and only a few months later, in February 1965, he was sent by the communist regime to become an Archimandrite
of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada, where he lived for 12 years, also editing a religious newspaper called Credinţa ("The Faith").
The short time between his release from prison and the time when he was sent to the United States has been seen as a sign that he had links to the Romanian Securitate
. This idea has been supported by Ion Mihai Pacepa
, who argued in a 1992 book that Archimandrite Bartolomeu was an agent of the External Intelligence department of the Securitate who was sent to the United States to divide the Romanian community. Anania has admitted that he signed denunciations against other high-ranking clerics for the Securitate in 1959, but he claims that he was not a collaborator and that these denunciations were made after he was given tea containing a truth drug
at the Securitate's Ploieşti headquarters.
In 1974, he was recalled to Romania from the United States because of reports which mentioned a possible defection. From 1976 to 1982, he was head of the Church's Biblical and Missionary Institute; afterward, he retreated to Văratec Monastery
, where he began retranslating Bible using as source for Old Testament the Septuagint (since the 1930s, Romanian Orthodox Church Bible uses as its reference text the Masoretic Text
).
In 1999, after the Church's failed attempt to convince politicians to endorse a proposal to give Senatorial seats to the Orthodox Church Synod's members, Archbishop Bartolomeu made two public requests. The first one was that the Church be able to select parliamentary candidates and then have priests urge parishioners during sermons to vote for them, while the second request repeated the proposal of making the 27-member Synod members of the Senate, arguing that the state was never really separated from the church. A law to this effect was drafted but never brought up for discussion in parliament.
Nevertheless, after the 2000 elections, he reconsidered the involvement of clergymen in politics. In 2004, he made a proposal, which was approved by the Synod, not to allow priests to run in elections, giving an ultimatum to priests currently involved in politics to choose between the priesthood and politics.
In 2007, he was a candidate for the office of Patriarch, but he lost to Daniel Ciobotea, who received from the Church Electoral College 95 votes, against 66 for Bartolomeu. Following unsuccessful treatment in Vienna
in early 2011, Anania died in Cluj-Napoca of heart failure and aortic valve stenosis
at age 89. He was buried in the hierarchs' crypt beneath the altar of the city's Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral
.
. Voicing disagreement with the Western world
, he argued that it is built exclusively on politics and economics, lacking any trace of spirituality, culture or religion. Following the repeal of Article 200
(regarding homosexuality), he decried the Westernization of Romania, claiming that "Europe asks us to accept sex, homosexuality, vices, drugs, abortions and genetic engineering, including cloning".
He also condemned the way in which television
stations "manipulate" viewers and use violent programs to "poison the souls of Romanians", arguing that such programs are harming people's personalities and make them unable to tell good from evil.
In 2002, he was among a group of intellectuals who voiced their opposition to the building of a vampire theme park called Dracula Park, claiming that vampires are not a part of Romanian mythology (which instead has other monsters, like Muma Pădurii
and zgripţuroaica).
While he supported the neutrality of the Church in politics, in 2007 he did join seven other high-ranking Orthodox clerics in signing an appeal against the decision of the parliament to begin impeachment
proceedings against President Traian Băsescu
, calling the procedure "immoral politics".
Regarding ecumenism
, Bartolomeu argued that unifying all Christians within one Church is a far-fetched goal.
Bartolomeu Anania, as Metropolitan, joined the dispute over the biometric passports, signing in 2009 a public statement (together with all the bishops of his metropolitan see), in which he claimed that the usage of biometric chips in passports is offensive to the Romanian people, whom, he claims, are therefore treated as a potential gang of criminals. He also made clear his worry about the possibility of using microchip implants
.
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
bishop, translator, writer and poet; he was the Metropolitan of Cluj, Alba, Crişana and Maramureş.
Early life
Anania was born as Valeriu in GlăvileGlavile
Glăvile is a commune located in Vâlcea County, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Aninoasa, Glăvile, Jaroştea, Olteanca and Voiculeasa....
, Vâlcea County
Vâlcea County
Vâlcea is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia...
, to Vasile Anania and his wife Ana, the daughter of a priest. He attended primary school in Glăvile and entered the Bucharest Central Seminary in 1933.
At the age of 15, Anania, while a student at the Seminary, joined the local organization of the Cross Brotherhood (Frăţia de Cruce), part of the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
, being introduced to it by an older student. However, he claimed that within the Cross Brotherhood at the Seminary, politics was not discussed and the group was not anti-Semitic, like the rest of the Iron Guard. Anania graduated the Seminary in 1941. That year, he spent three weeks under arrest, being accused of participating at the funeral of a member of the Iron Guard.
In 1942, he was tonsured a monk at the Antim Monastery
Antim Monastery
The Antim Monastery is located in Bucharest, Romania on Mitropolit Antim Ivireanu Street, no. 29. It was built between 1713 and 1715 by Saint Antim Ivireanu, at that time a Metropolitan Bishop of Romania. The buildings were restored by Patriarch Justinian Marina in the 1950s. As of 2005, there are...
, graduating from Bucharest's Mihai Viteazul High School the following year. In 1944, Hierodeacon Bartolomeu began studying Medicine and at the Cluj Conservatory, but he was expelled after organizing a student strike against the new communist government of Petru Groza
Petru Groza
Petru Groza was a Romanian politician, best known as the Prime Minister of the first Communist Party-dominated governments under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Communist regime in Romania....
. Afterwards, he continued his studies at the Theology Faculty of the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
and the Theological Academies of Cluj
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
and Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
, receiving his degree in the latter city in 1948.
Communist era
Anania, accused of being associated with the Iron Guard, was arrested by the Communist authorities in 1958 and incarcerated at the Aiud prisonAiud prison
Aiud prison is a prison complex in Aiud, central Transylvania, Romania.It is infamous for its political inmates, especially during the reign of Romania's by Nazi allies and later communists...
. Another political prisoner at Aiud, Grigore Caraza, accused Anania of having actively participated in the 're-education' of prisoners, a charge categorically denied by Anania.
In August 1964, he was freed and only a few months later, in February 1965, he was sent by the communist regime to become an Archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada, where he lived for 12 years, also editing a religious newspaper called Credinţa ("The Faith").
The short time between his release from prison and the time when he was sent to the United States has been seen as a sign that he had links to the Romanian Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
. This idea has been supported by Ion Mihai Pacepa
Ion Mihai Pacepa
Ion Mihai Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the former Eastern Bloc. He is now a United States citizen, a writer, and a columnist....
, who argued in a 1992 book that Archimandrite Bartolomeu was an agent of the External Intelligence department of the Securitate who was sent to the United States to divide the Romanian community. Anania has admitted that he signed denunciations against other high-ranking clerics for the Securitate in 1959, but he claims that he was not a collaborator and that these denunciations were made after he was given tea containing a truth drug
Truth drug
A truth drug or truth serum is a psychoactive medication used to obtain information from subjects who are unable or unwilling to provide it otherwise. The unethical use of truth drugs is classified as a form of torture according to international law. However, they are properly and productively...
at the Securitate's Ploieşti headquarters.
In 1974, he was recalled to Romania from the United States because of reports which mentioned a possible defection. From 1976 to 1982, he was head of the Church's Biblical and Missionary Institute; afterward, he retreated to Văratec Monastery
Varatec Monastery
Văratec Monastery is a Romanian Orthodox religious settlement located in north-eastern part of the country, in Văratec village, Agapia Commune, Neamţ County.-External links:***...
, where he began retranslating Bible using as source for Old Testament the Septuagint (since the 1930s, Romanian Orthodox Church Bible uses as its reference text the Masoretic Text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
).
After the 1989 Revolution
On January 21, 1993 he was chosen Archbishop of Vad, Feleac and Cluj. Following a controversial decision of the Holy Synod, in 2006, the archdiocese was elevated to the rank of metropolis, making Archbishop Bartolomeu the first Metropolitan of Cluj, Alba, Crişana and Maramureş.In 1999, after the Church's failed attempt to convince politicians to endorse a proposal to give Senatorial seats to the Orthodox Church Synod's members, Archbishop Bartolomeu made two public requests. The first one was that the Church be able to select parliamentary candidates and then have priests urge parishioners during sermons to vote for them, while the second request repeated the proposal of making the 27-member Synod members of the Senate, arguing that the state was never really separated from the church. A law to this effect was drafted but never brought up for discussion in parliament.
Nevertheless, after the 2000 elections, he reconsidered the involvement of clergymen in politics. In 2004, he made a proposal, which was approved by the Synod, not to allow priests to run in elections, giving an ultimatum to priests currently involved in politics to choose between the priesthood and politics.
In 2007, he was a candidate for the office of Patriarch, but he lost to Daniel Ciobotea, who received from the Church Electoral College 95 votes, against 66 for Bartolomeu. Following unsuccessful treatment in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in early 2011, Anania died in Cluj-Napoca of heart failure and aortic valve stenosis
Aortic valve stenosis
Aortic valve stenosis is a disease of the heart valves in which the opening of the aortic valve is narrowed. The aortic valve is the valve between the left ventricle of the heart and the aorta, which is the largest artery in the body and carries the entire output of blood.-Pathophysiology:The...
at age 89. He was buried in the hierarchs' crypt beneath the altar of the city's Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral
Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral, Cluj-Napoca
The Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral is the most famous Romanian Orthodox church of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Built in a Romanian Brâncovenesc style, a synthesis of Renaissance and Byzantine architecture, it lies on the Avram Iancu Square, together with the Cluj-Napoca National Theatre and the...
.
Opinions
Metropolitan Bartolomeu was known as a conservative voice within the church. Politically, he asserted that he had always been attracted by the right wingRight-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
. Voicing disagreement with the Western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, he argued that it is built exclusively on politics and economics, lacking any trace of spirituality, culture or religion. Following the repeal of Article 200
Article 200
Article 200 was a section of the Penal Code of Romania that criminalised homosexual relationships. It was introduced in 1968, under the communist regime, during the rule Nicolae Ceauşescu, and remained in force until it was repealed by the Năstase government on 22 June 2001...
(regarding homosexuality), he decried the Westernization of Romania, claiming that "Europe asks us to accept sex, homosexuality, vices, drugs, abortions and genetic engineering, including cloning".
He also condemned the way in which television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stations "manipulate" viewers and use violent programs to "poison the souls of Romanians", arguing that such programs are harming people's personalities and make them unable to tell good from evil.
In 2002, he was among a group of intellectuals who voiced their opposition to the building of a vampire theme park called Dracula Park, claiming that vampires are not a part of Romanian mythology (which instead has other monsters, like Muma Pădurii
Muma Padurii
In Romanian folklore, Muma Pădurii is an ugly and mean old woman living in the forest.Muma Pădurii literally means "the Mother of the Forest", though "mumă" is an archaic version of "mamă" , which has a fairy-tale overtone for the Romanian reader...
and zgripţuroaica).
While he supported the neutrality of the Church in politics, in 2007 he did join seven other high-ranking Orthodox clerics in signing an appeal against the decision of the parliament to begin impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
proceedings against President Traian Băsescu
Traian Basescu
Traian Băsescu is the current President of Romania. After serving as the mayor of Bucharest from June 2000 until December 2004, he was elected president in the Romanian Presidential Elections of 2004 and inaugurated on December 20, 2004...
, calling the procedure "immoral politics".
Regarding ecumenism
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
, Bartolomeu argued that unifying all Christians within one Church is a far-fetched goal.
Bartolomeu Anania, as Metropolitan, joined the dispute over the biometric passports, signing in 2009 a public statement (together with all the bishops of his metropolitan see), in which he claimed that the usage of biometric chips in passports is offensive to the Romanian people, whom, he claims, are therefore treated as a potential gang of criminals. He also made clear his worry about the possibility of using microchip implants
Microchip implant (human)
A human microchip implant is an integrated circuit device or RFID transponder encased in silicate glass and implanted in the body of a human being...
.