Justinian Marina
Encyclopedia
Justinian Marina (February 2, 1901, in Şueşti, Vâlcea County
– March 26, 1977, in Bucharest
) was a Romania
n Orthodox
prelate
. He was the third patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
, serving between 1948 and 1977.
, to a family of hard-working ploughmen. As his mother wanted him to become a priest and he had a natural tendency toward learning, in 1915 he entered the St. Nicholas
Theological Seminary in Râmnicu Vâlcea
. He graduated in 1923, that year also obtaining a teacher's diploma, after taking an examination at the Normal School in the same city.
He began his social work on September 1, 1923, as a teacher at the primary school in Olteanca, Vâlcea County. A year later, on September 1, 1924, he was transferred, also as a teacher, to the primary school in Băbeni, Vâlcea County (then a commune, now a city). Then, on October 14, 1924, he married Lucreţia Popescu, daughter of the priest Pavel Popescu, from the Braloştiţa commune, Dolj County
. After this he became a priest in Băbeni, continuing to teach as well.
In 1925 he enrolled as a student at the University of Bucharest
's Faculty of Theology, receiving a licentiate in theology in 1929. The next year he quit work as a schoolteacher, becoming a full-time priest. Noticing that the talents of the young priest exceeded those meant for a village priest, Vartolomeu Stănescu, Bishop of Râmnic, called Marina to him and on November 1, 1932 named him director of the St. Nicholas Theological Seminary in Râmnicu Vâlcea. That day he was also assigned as a priest at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Râmnicu Vâlcea.
On September 1, 1933, he was transferred, at his request, to serve as a priest at the parish of St. George, Râmnicu Vâlcea, whose pastorate was then vacant. In 1935 he was named confessor to Râmnicu Vâlcea's scouts
, and the next year he became catechizer to the pre-military boys of the city.
Marina's wife died on November 18, 1935 at the age of 27. Left a widower at 34, he did not remarry, raising his children, Silvia and Ovidiu, by himself.
On August 25, 1939, Fr. Marina was moved from the seminary headmastership to be the director of the diocesan printing press. In eight months, he surpassed expectations by paying off all debts to creditors of years past and re-establishing his printing press's credibility on the market. In the spring of 1940, he handed over the printing press, now debt-free, to the newly-established Metropolitanate of Craiova
. He refused to go to Craiova, being aggrieved at the disestablishment of the Râmnic Diocese on November 7, 1939.
In recognition of his merits, achieved over a decade and a half as a priest, the authorities of the Râmnic Diocese awarded him all priestly honorifics (sakellarios
, iconon and iconom stavrofor with the right to wear a red girdle); he was also elected to the Central Council of the General Association of Romanian Clergy. The Minister of Religion, upon the proposal of the Metropolitanate of Craiova, awarded him the "Cultural merit First Class for the Church".
leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
to hide in the parish house at St. George's after the latter's escape from the Târgu Jiu
internment camp in 1944. As the prominent Communist Ion Gheorghe Maurer
later recalled, "After we passed Craiova by car, about 30 kilometers on, we stopped in a village where we were kept by a priest who was himself the Communists' man. The car went back to Craiova and we stayed in that village about three days until another car from Bucharest
came, to take us to the capital."
There are 15 references to Justinian in the book "In God's Underground" by Richard Wurmbrand
, a Lutheran Pastor imprisoned by the communist regime. Wurmbrand was in constant trouble with the authorities because of his outspokenness toards the regime but he credits Justinian on using his influence in the early days of his Patriarchate to ensure he was allowed to keep his license to preach. However later he describes Justinian as having become "wholly a tool of the Party".
The Metropolitan
of Moldavia
, Irineu Mihălcescu, who had been elected to his position on November 29, 1939, was ill and in serious need of a young, energetic and capable person to help him rebuild the diocese, gravely affected by war
damage. The vicar bishop Valeriu Moglan Botoşăneanul was old and could barely handle the administration of Spiridonia, a large hospital in Iaşi
. In the spring of 1945, Metropolitan Irineu asked the Ministry of Religion to set up another post of vicar bishop for the Metropolitanate of Moldavia. Once the request was granted, Metropolitan Irineu, as bishop of the place, proposed Fr. Ioan Marina for election to the post. At this point Marina was still at St. George's, a widower for almost a decade, and the metropolitan knew him well, having had him as a student and having encountered him while he was a bishop's assistant at Râmnic and then a metropolitan's assistant at Craiova.
At Metropolitan Irineu's proposal, the Holy Synod, in its July 30, 1945 session, after a canonical investigation and examination, approved Fr. Marina's election to the second, newly-founded post of vicar bishop, at the Iaşi Metropolitan Cathedral, and accorded him the rank of bishop, with the title "Vaslui
anul".
On August 11, 1945, at Cetăţuia Monastery in Iaşi, the priest Ioan Marina was tonsured a monk, receiving the patronymic Justinian and being ordained an archimandrite
as well. He was consecrated a bishop on Sunday, August 12, 1945, in the Iaşi Metropolitan Cathedral. Metropolitan Irineu consecrated him, along with Bishops Antim Nica of Cetatea Albă
and Valeriu Moglan Botoşăneanul
.
On August 16, 1947, the aged and sick Metropolitan Irineu retired from his position and Patriarch Nicodim
named Vicar Bishop Justinian Vasluianul as locum tenens until a permanent successor was elected. On November 19, 1947, the Ecclesiastical Electoral College met at Bucharest, with Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan of Transylvania presiding (the Patriarch was resting at Neamţ Monastery
). Justinian Marina was elected Archbishop of Iaşi and Metropolitan of Moldavia.
He was enthroned on December 28, 1947 at the Iaşi Metropolitan Cathedral, during a Divine Liturgy
celebrated by an assembly of bishops, priests and deacons, in the presence of members of the Holy Synod
, of representatives of the central and local governments (two days before the Romanian People's Republic
was proclaimed), and of numerous clergy and laymen.
In the three years that he spent at Iaşi as vicar bishop and then Metropolitan of Moldavia
, Justinian put in tremendous efforts to rebuild the diocese, heavily damaged by war and scorched by drought. He reorganised the economic section of the diocesan centre, so as to ensure better administration and control over resources, while he established clear objectives for the other sections (administrative and cultural).
He restored the cathedral and the metropolitan's residence, as well as the nearby buildings, which had been marred by bullets and shells and left without windows, with cracked walls and holes in their roofs, and with the objects inside scattered and partly lost. He brought these buildings back into a well-functioning state, including the diocesan candle factory, which had almost ceased its activity during the war. At the same time, he hired young, virtuous monks to serve at the cathedral, naming the Archimandrite Fr. Teoctist Arăpaşu
to the post of ecclesiarch.
A severe drought in 1946-47 affected Moldavia, adding to the misery left by the war. Metropolitan Justinian permitted the first procession featuring the coffin containing the relics of Saint Parascheva, kept at Iaşi since then. The relics wended their way through the drought-deserted villages of Iaşi, Vaslui, Roman
, Bacău
, Putna
, Neamţ, Baia and Botoşani Counties. The offerings collected on this occasion were distributed, based on Metropolitan Justinian's decisions, to orphans, widows, invalids, school cafeterias, churches under construction, and to monasteries in order to feed the sick, and old or feeble monks.
On February 27, 1948, Patriarch Nicodim died at the age of 83 under conditions viewed as suspect by some historians. He left vacant the seat of Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, Patriarch of All Romania. To head the church in these uncertain times, a man was sought who had a lucid and penetrating mind, an organising spirit, and who was young, sufficiently energetic to defend the Church from the attempts of the Communist regime to dismantle it.
On June 6, 1948, at the investiture ceremony in the hall of the Palace of the Parliament and the installation ceremony in St. Spiridon the New Church, Bucharest, Patriarch Justinian presented the agenda of his patriarchate. Among his objectives were: to prepare the clergy in the spirit of Orthodoxy and of the demands of the times; to restore Romanian monasticism; to reorganise theological education; to reunite the Church by returning the Greek-Catholics
to Orthodoxy (their ancestors having left it in the Union of 1700); to strengthen brotherly relations with all Orthodox churches; to promote ecumenical relations with other Christian churches, etc.
In response to Patriarch Justinian's call to Greek-Catholic believers, on October 1, 1948, 37 Greek-Catholic priests and archpriests assembled in a gymnasium in Cluj
to sign a declaration that they would convert to the Romanian Orthodox Church, as they no longer wished to receive orders from "imperialist Rome
". Two days later, their emissaries presented themselves at Bucharest under police escort before the Holy Synod, asking to be received into Orthodoxy. Prior to that, they had been laicized by their superior, Bishop Iuliu Hossu
.
On October 21, 1948, a large popular assembly took place at Alba Iulia
, organised by the Interior Ministry. 20,000 Greek-Catholic clergy (including those who had signed the declaration at Cluj) and laity from across Transylvania participated; they were solemnly received into the Romanian Orthodox Church.
On October 19-20, 1948, the Holy Synod approved the Statute that determined the organisation and functioning of the Romanian Orthodox Church; henceforth there would be just five metropolitanates, with thirteen suffragan dioceses, to which were added two Romanian dioceses for the diaspora.
In 1950 the Holy Synod decided, for the first time, to canonize
several Romanian hierarchs, monks and pious believers, and to generalize the cult of certain saints whose relics are found in Romania. Their solemn canonization took place in 1955.
He created a nursing home for elderly priests and monks (Dealu) and for elderly nuns and priests' wives (Viforâta). In 1948, Orthodox theological education was reorganised along lines that would last until 1989: two university-level theological institutes existed (at Bucharest and Sibiu
), as well as six theological seminaries (at Bucharest, Buzău
, Neamţ Monastery, Cluj, Craiova and Caransebeş).
He maintained links with the other Orthodox churches and with other Christian churches. At the head of synodal delegations, he visited the following Orthodox churches: Russian
(several times), Georgian
(1948), Serbian
(1957), Bulgarian
(1953, 1966 and 1971), the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
(1968), the Churches of Alexandria
(1971) and Jerusalem (1975) and the Church of Greece
(1963, 1971 and 1975).
He began relations with Oriental Orthodox
churches, through reciprocal visits. Justinian travelled to the Armenian
Patriarchate at Echmiadzin
(1958 and 1966), to the Ethiopian Church
(1969 and 1971), to the Coptic Church (1969 and 1971) and to the Indian Orthodox Church
(1969). Relations were begun and maintained with a number of national Roman Catholic Church
es, some visited by Justinian at the head of synodal delegations: Austria
(1969), Germany
(1970) and Belgium
(1972), with the Old Catholic Church
and the Church of England
(1966).
In return, delegations from all these churches visited Patriarch Justinian and his church. In 1961 the Romanian Orthodox Church re-entered the World Council of Churches
and has since participated in other ecumenical organisations, such as the Conference of European Churches
.
Patriarch Justinian published 12 volumes entitled Apostolat social ("Social Apostolate", Bucharest, 1948-76), containing all his pastoral letters, speeches and articles. New church periodicals appeared, or old ones continued to be published: Biserica Ortodoxă Română (from 1874), Ortodoxia, Studii Teologice, Glasul Bisericii (of the Metropolitanate of Ungro-Vlachia), Mitropolia Moldovei şi Sucevei, Mitropolia Ardealului, Mitropolia Olteniei, Mitropolia Banatului and a series of periodicals edited by Romanian Orthodox communities abroad.
The synodal Bible
was re-edited, in two editions (1968 and 1975); the New Testament
; all devotional books, each in multiple editions; nearly all textbooks needed for higher and seminarial theological education; and there appeared a series of theological or historic works written by bishops, professors of theology, and priests, as well as doctoral theses.
During Justinian's reign, 302 new churches were built, 2345 others were repaired or restored. Of these, 999 were historic monuments, and of these 128 were monasteries, skete
s and other monastic communities. The new churches were painted as well, while a further 271 churches had their paintings restored.
Justinian protested against Decree 410 of November 19, 1959, which ordered that new monks must be at least 55 years old and nuns at least 50, and due to which some 5,000 monastics were removed from their monasteries. In response, the Patriarch was forcibly sent to Dragoslavele
skete for six months.
Patriarch Justinian died on the evening of March 26, 1977, aged 76, after a painful illness and a long period of hospitalisation. He was laid to rest in the grave which he carefully prepared for himself in the interior wall of Radu Vodă Monastery
, Bucharest (the monastery, dating from the 16th century, had been extensively renovated during 1969-1974, on his initiative). On the cross fixed into the wall, the Patriarch asked that the following inscription be engraved: "I fought the good fight. I guarded the faith. I have reached the end of life's road. From now on, the reward of righteousness awaits me; the Lord, the righteous Judge shall give it to me on that day
".
Vâlcea County
Vâlcea is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia...
– March 26, 1977, in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
) was a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
. He was the third patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
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...
, serving between 1948 and 1977.
Parish priest in the Râmnic Diocese
Ioan Marina was born in the village of Suieşti, in the former commune of Cermegeşti, Vâlcea CountyVâlcea County
Vâlcea is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia...
, to a family of hard-working ploughmen. As his mother wanted him to become a priest and he had a natural tendency toward learning, in 1915 he entered the St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
Theological Seminary in Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea is the capital city of Vâlcea County, Romania .-Geography and climate:Râmnicu Vâlcea is situated in the central-south area of Romania...
. He graduated in 1923, that year also obtaining a teacher's diploma, after taking an examination at the Normal School in the same city.
He began his social work on September 1, 1923, as a teacher at the primary school in Olteanca, Vâlcea County. A year later, on September 1, 1924, he was transferred, also as a teacher, to the primary school in Băbeni, Vâlcea County (then a commune, now a city). Then, on October 14, 1924, he married Lucreţia Popescu, daughter of the priest Pavel Popescu, from the Braloştiţa commune, Dolj County
Dolj County
Dolj -Jiu, "lower Jiu", toward Gorj ) is a county of Romania, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova .- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 734,231 and a population density of 99/km²....
. After this he became a priest in Băbeni, continuing to teach as well.
In 1925 he enrolled as a student at 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:...
's Faculty of Theology, receiving a licentiate in theology in 1929. The next year he quit work as a schoolteacher, becoming a full-time priest. Noticing that the talents of the young priest exceeded those meant for a village priest, Vartolomeu Stănescu, Bishop of Râmnic, called Marina to him and on November 1, 1932 named him director of the St. Nicholas Theological Seminary in Râmnicu Vâlcea. That day he was also assigned as a priest at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Râmnicu Vâlcea.
On September 1, 1933, he was transferred, at his request, to serve as a priest at the parish of St. George, Râmnicu Vâlcea, whose pastorate was then vacant. In 1935 he was named confessor to Râmnicu Vâlcea's scouts
Cercetasii României
Cercetaşii României is the primary national Scouting organization of Romania...
, and the next year he became catechizer to the pre-military boys of the city.
Marina's wife died on November 18, 1935 at the age of 27. Left a widower at 34, he did not remarry, raising his children, Silvia and Ovidiu, by himself.
On August 25, 1939, Fr. Marina was moved from the seminary headmastership to be the director of the diocesan printing press. In eight months, he surpassed expectations by paying off all debts to creditors of years past and re-establishing his printing press's credibility on the market. In the spring of 1940, he handed over the printing press, now debt-free, to the newly-established Metropolitanate of Craiova
Craiova
Craiova , Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians and the River Danube . Craiova is the chief...
. He refused to go to Craiova, being aggrieved at the disestablishment of the Râmnic Diocese on November 7, 1939.
In recognition of his merits, achieved over a decade and a half as a priest, the authorities of the Râmnic Diocese awarded him all priestly honorifics (sakellarios
Sakellarios
Sakellarios is an official entrusted with administrative and financial duties . The title was used in the Byzantine Empire with varying functions, and remains in use in the Eastern Orthodox Church....
, iconon and iconom stavrofor with the right to wear a red girdle); he was also elected to the Central Council of the General Association of Romanian Clergy. The Minister of Religion, upon the proposal of the Metropolitanate of Craiova, awarded him the "Cultural merit First Class for the Church".
Archbishop and Metropolitan of Iaşi
The future Patriarch Justinian owed his ascendancy within the church hierarchy to the fact that he had helped the CommunistRomanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965.-Early life:Gheorghe was the son of a poor worker, Tănase Gheorghiu, and his wife Ana. Gheorghiu-Dej joined the Communist Party of Romania in 1930...
to hide in the parish house at St. George's after the latter's escape from the Târgu Jiu
Târgu Jiu
Târgu Jiu is the capital of Gorj County, Oltenia, Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight villages are administered by the city: Bârseşti, Drăgoeni, Iezureni, Polata, Preajba Mare, Româneşti, Slobozia and Ursaţi.-History:The city takes its name...
internment camp in 1944. As the prominent Communist Ion Gheorghe Maurer
Ion Gheorghe Maurer
Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer was a Romanian communist politician and lawyer.-Biography:Born in Bucharest to a Saxon father and a Romanian mother of French origin, he completed studies in Law and became an attorney, defending in court members of the illegal leftist and Anti-fascist movements...
later recalled, "After we passed Craiova by car, about 30 kilometers on, we stopped in a village where we were kept by a priest who was himself the Communists' man. The car went back to Craiova and we stayed in that village about three days until another car from Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
came, to take us to the capital."
There are 15 references to Justinian in the book "In God's Underground" by Richard Wurmbrand
Richard Wurmbrand
Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian Christian minister of Jewish descent. He was a youth during a time of anti-Semitic activity in Romania, but it was later, after becoming a believer in Jesus Christ as Messiah, and daring to publicly say that Communism and Christianity were not compatible, that he...
, a Lutheran Pastor imprisoned by the communist regime. Wurmbrand was in constant trouble with the authorities because of his outspokenness toards the regime but he credits Justinian on using his influence in the early days of his Patriarchate to ensure he was allowed to keep his license to preach. However later he describes Justinian as having become "wholly a tool of the Party".
The Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, Irineu Mihălcescu, who had been elected to his position on November 29, 1939, was ill and in serious need of a young, energetic and capable person to help him rebuild the diocese, gravely affected by war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
damage. The vicar bishop Valeriu Moglan Botoşăneanul was old and could barely handle the administration of Spiridonia, a large hospital in Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
. In the spring of 1945, Metropolitan Irineu asked the Ministry of Religion to set up another post of vicar bishop for the Metropolitanate of Moldavia. Once the request was granted, Metropolitan Irineu, as bishop of the place, proposed Fr. Ioan Marina for election to the post. At this point Marina was still at St. George's, a widower for almost a decade, and the metropolitan knew him well, having had him as a student and having encountered him while he was a bishop's assistant at Râmnic and then a metropolitan's assistant at Craiova.
At Metropolitan Irineu's proposal, the Holy Synod, in its July 30, 1945 session, after a canonical investigation and examination, approved Fr. Marina's election to the second, newly-founded post of vicar bishop, at the Iaşi Metropolitan Cathedral, and accorded him the rank of bishop, with the title "Vaslui
Vaslui
Vaslui , a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Moldavia.The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu and Viişoara.-History:...
anul".
On August 11, 1945, at Cetăţuia Monastery in Iaşi, the priest Ioan Marina was tonsured a monk, receiving the patronymic Justinian and being ordained 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...
as well. He was consecrated a bishop on Sunday, August 12, 1945, in the Iaşi Metropolitan Cathedral. Metropolitan Irineu consecrated him, along with Bishops Antim Nica of Cetatea Albă
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi is a city situated on the right bank of the Dniester Liman in the Odessa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Bessarabia...
and Valeriu Moglan Botoşăneanul
Botosani
Botoșani is the capital city of Botoșani County, in northern Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu and Nicolae Iorga.- Origin of the name :...
.
On August 16, 1947, the aged and sick Metropolitan Irineu retired from his position and Patriarch Nicodim
Nicodim Munteanu
Nicodim Munteanu also known as Patriarch Nicodim was the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church between 1939 and 1948.-Biography:...
named Vicar Bishop Justinian Vasluianul as locum tenens until a permanent successor was elected. On November 19, 1947, the Ecclesiastical Electoral College met at Bucharest, with Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan of Transylvania presiding (the Patriarch was resting at Neamţ Monastery
Neamt Monastery
The Neamţ Monastery is a Romanian Orthodox religious settlement, one of the oldest and most important of its kind in Romania. It was built in 14th century, and it is an example of medieval Moldavian architecture...
). Justinian Marina was elected Archbishop of Iaşi and Metropolitan of Moldavia.
He was enthroned on December 28, 1947 at the Iaşi Metropolitan Cathedral, during a Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
celebrated by an assembly of bishops, priests and deacons, in the presence of members of the Holy Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
, of representatives of the central and local governments (two days before the Romanian People's Republic
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
was proclaimed), and of numerous clergy and laymen.
In the three years that he spent at Iaşi as vicar bishop and then Metropolitan of Moldavia
Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina
The Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina, in Iaşi, Romania, is one of the main bishoprics of the Romanian Orthodox Church.-History:Recognised, in 1401, by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Metropolis of Moldavia united, in 1872, with the Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia to form the...
, Justinian put in tremendous efforts to rebuild the diocese, heavily damaged by war and scorched by drought. He reorganised the economic section of the diocesan centre, so as to ensure better administration and control over resources, while he established clear objectives for the other sections (administrative and cultural).
He restored the cathedral and the metropolitan's residence, as well as the nearby buildings, which had been marred by bullets and shells and left without windows, with cracked walls and holes in their roofs, and with the objects inside scattered and partly lost. He brought these buildings back into a well-functioning state, including the diocesan candle factory, which had almost ceased its activity during the war. At the same time, he hired young, virtuous monks to serve at the cathedral, naming the Archimandrite Fr. Teoctist Arăpaşu
Teoctist Arapasu
Teoctist was the Patriarch of the 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...
to the post of ecclesiarch.
A severe drought in 1946-47 affected Moldavia, adding to the misery left by the war. Metropolitan Justinian permitted the first procession featuring the coffin containing the relics of Saint Parascheva, kept at Iaşi since then. The relics wended their way through the drought-deserted villages of Iaşi, Vaslui, Roman
Roman, Romania
Roman is a mid-sized city, having the title of municipality, located in the central part of Moldavia, a traditional region of Romania. It is located 46 km east of Piatra Neamţ, in the Neamţ County at the confluence of Siret and Moldova rivers....
, Bacău
Bacau
Bacău is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. It covers a land surface of 43 km², and, as of January 1, 2009, has an estimated population of 177,087. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and on the Bistriţa River...
, Putna
Putna
Putna can refer to several entities in Romania:* Putna, Suceava, a commune in Suceava County* Putna, a village in Prigor Commune, Caraş-Severin County* Putna, a village in Boloteşti Commune, Vrancea County* the Putna Monastery...
, Neamţ, Baia and Botoşani Counties. The offerings collected on this occasion were distributed, based on Metropolitan Justinian's decisions, to orphans, widows, invalids, school cafeterias, churches under construction, and to monasteries in order to feed the sick, and old or feeble monks.
On February 27, 1948, Patriarch Nicodim died at the age of 83 under conditions viewed as suspect by some historians. He left vacant the seat of Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, Patriarch of All Romania. To head the church in these uncertain times, a man was sought who had a lucid and penetrating mind, an organising spirit, and who was young, sufficiently energetic to defend the Church from the attempts of the Communist regime to dismantle it.
Elected Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
The Great Ecclesiastical Electoral College, meeting in Bucharest on May 24, 1948, elected Justinian Marina Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, Patriarch of All Romania. A statement of the Synod said that he had "shown himself worthy through his devotion to Orthodoxy, through his tireless ministry work until now, through a fruitful labour on behalf of the people and the Church, through a rather well-known parental tenderness, showing through the fulfillment of all the tasks and duties which he was assigned an unflappable obedience toward the Holy Synod and the laws of the country".On June 6, 1948, at the investiture ceremony in the hall of the Palace of the Parliament and the installation ceremony in St. Spiridon the New Church, Bucharest, Patriarch Justinian presented the agenda of his patriarchate. Among his objectives were: to prepare the clergy in the spirit of Orthodoxy and of the demands of the times; to restore Romanian monasticism; to reorganise theological education; to reunite the Church by returning the Greek-Catholics
Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic
The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic is an Eastern Catholic Church which is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. It is ranked as a Major Archiepiscopal Church and uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Romanian language....
to Orthodoxy (their ancestors having left it in the Union of 1700); to strengthen brotherly relations with all Orthodox churches; to promote ecumenical relations with other Christian churches, etc.
In response to Patriarch Justinian's call to Greek-Catholic believers, on October 1, 1948, 37 Greek-Catholic priests and archpriests assembled in a gymnasium in 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...
to sign a declaration that they would convert to the Romanian Orthodox Church, as they no longer wished to receive orders from "imperialist Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
". Two days later, their emissaries presented themselves at Bucharest under police escort before the Holy Synod, asking to be received into Orthodoxy. Prior to that, they had been laicized by their superior, Bishop Iuliu Hossu
Iuliu Hossu
Iuliu Hossu was a Romanian Greek-Catholic bishop of the Cluj-Gherla Diocese and later cardinal and victim of the Communist regime...
.
On October 21, 1948, a large popular assembly took place at Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
, organised by the Interior Ministry. 20,000 Greek-Catholic clergy (including those who had signed the declaration at Cluj) and laity from across Transylvania participated; they were solemnly received into the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Achievements as Patriarch
Despite many difficulties, during the 29 years of Justinian's reign, a series of events and changes took place which greatly raised the prestige of Romanian Orthodoxy in the Christian world and made him a representative figure for all of Orthodoxy.On October 19-20, 1948, the Holy Synod approved the Statute that determined the organisation and functioning of the Romanian Orthodox Church; henceforth there would be just five metropolitanates, with thirteen suffragan dioceses, to which were added two Romanian dioceses for the diaspora.
In 1950 the Holy Synod decided, for the first time, to canonize
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
several Romanian hierarchs, monks and pious believers, and to generalize the cult of certain saints whose relics are found in Romania. Their solemn canonization took place in 1955.
He created a nursing home for elderly priests and monks (Dealu) and for elderly nuns and priests' wives (Viforâta). In 1948, Orthodox theological education was reorganised along lines that would last until 1989: two university-level theological institutes existed (at Bucharest 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...
), as well as six theological seminaries (at Bucharest, Buzău
Buzau
The city of Buzău is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Wallachia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain.The city's name dates back to 376 AD when the name...
, Neamţ Monastery, Cluj, Craiova and Caransebeş).
He maintained links with the other Orthodox churches and with other Christian churches. At the head of synodal delegations, he visited the following Orthodox churches: Russian
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
(several times), Georgian
Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church
The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church is an autocephalous part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since the 4th century AD, Georgian Orthodoxy has been the state religion of Georgia, and it remains the country's largest religious institution....
(1948), Serbian
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
(1957), Bulgarian
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
(1953, 1966 and 1971), the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
(1968), the Churches of Alexandria
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
(1971) and Jerusalem (1975) and the Church of Greece
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
(1963, 1971 and 1975).
He began relations with Oriental Orthodox
Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon...
churches, through reciprocal visits. Justinian travelled to the Armenian
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
Patriarchate at Echmiadzin
Echmiadzin
Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin is a 4th century Armenian church in the town of Ejmiatsin, Armenia. It is also the central cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church....
(1958 and 1966), to the Ethiopian Church
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the predominant Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Church was administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when it was granted its own Patriarch by Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All...
(1969 and 1971), to the Coptic Church (1969 and 1971) and to the Indian Orthodox Church
Indian Orthodox Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church centred in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the churches of India's Saint Thomas Christian community, which traces its origins to the evangelical activity of Thomas...
(1969). Relations were begun and maintained with a number of national Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
es, some visited by Justinian at the head of synodal delegations: Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(1969), Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(1970) and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
(1972), with the Old Catholic Church
Old Catholic Church
The term Old Catholic Church is commonly used to describe a number of Ultrajectine Christian churches that originated with groups that split from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, most importantly that of Papal Infallibility...
and the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
(1966).
In return, delegations from all these churches visited Patriarch Justinian and his church. In 1961 the Romanian Orthodox Church re-entered the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
and has since participated in other ecumenical organisations, such as the Conference of European Churches
Conference of European Churches
The Conference of European Churches was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions. It is an ecumenical fellowship of Christian churches in Europe; its membership consists of most...
.
Patriarch Justinian published 12 volumes entitled Apostolat social ("Social Apostolate", Bucharest, 1948-76), containing all his pastoral letters, speeches and articles. New church periodicals appeared, or old ones continued to be published: Biserica Ortodoxă Română (from 1874), Ortodoxia, Studii Teologice, Glasul Bisericii (of the Metropolitanate of Ungro-Vlachia), Mitropolia Moldovei şi Sucevei, Mitropolia Ardealului, Mitropolia Olteniei, Mitropolia Banatului and a series of periodicals edited by Romanian Orthodox communities abroad.
The synodal Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
was re-edited, in two editions (1968 and 1975); the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
; all devotional books, each in multiple editions; nearly all textbooks needed for higher and seminarial theological education; and there appeared a series of theological or historic works written by bishops, professors of theology, and priests, as well as doctoral theses.
During Justinian's reign, 302 new churches were built, 2345 others were repaired or restored. Of these, 999 were historic monuments, and of these 128 were monasteries, skete
Skete
A Skete is a monastic style community that allows relative isolation for monks, but alsoallows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection...
s and other monastic communities. The new churches were painted as well, while a further 271 churches had their paintings restored.
Conclusion
From his enthronement to his death, as Mihai Urzică writes, "faced with the adversities to which the Church was subjected, Patriarch Justinian proved himself an able diplomat and tried, as much as he could, to withstand the attacks launched against the house of the Lord. He maintained a close unity among the ranks of the clergy, he provided support for priests who were political detainees and monks released from prison and restored many churches and monasteries, resisting the sanctions, threats and even the house arrest to which, for a time, he was subjected".Justinian protested against Decree 410 of November 19, 1959, which ordered that new monks must be at least 55 years old and nuns at least 50, and due to which some 5,000 monastics were removed from their monasteries. In response, the Patriarch was forcibly sent to Dragoslavele
Dragoslavele
Dragoslavele is a commune in the northern part of Argeş County, Romania, located by the former border between Wallachia and Transylvania, on the Wallachian side. It is a relatively important location for boarding house tourism...
skete for six months.
Patriarch Justinian died on the evening of March 26, 1977, aged 76, after a painful illness and a long period of hospitalisation. He was laid to rest in the grave which he carefully prepared for himself in the interior wall of Radu Vodă Monastery
Radu Voda Monastery
-Paleolithic:Because of its favorable environment and the elevated terrain close to a big river, the area of the monastery was inhabited starting from the Paleolithic . It is the site of the oldest known settlement on the territory of Romania...
, Bucharest (the monastery, dating from the 16th century, had been extensively renovated during 1969-1974, on his initiative). On the cross fixed into the wall, the Patriarch asked that the following inscription be engraved: "I fought the good fight. I guarded the faith. I have reached the end of life's road. From now on, the reward of righteousness awaits me; the Lord, the righteous Judge shall give it to me on that day
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
".
Offices held
- Teacher in Olteanca (1923-1924)
- Teacher in Băbeni (1924-1930)
- Parish priest in Băbeni (1924-1932)
- Director of the theological seminary and priest at the Râmnicu Vâlcea Cathedral (1932-1933)
- Parish priest at St. George's Church in Râmnicu Vâlcea (1933-1945)
- Vicar Bishop (called "Vasluianul") of the Iaşi Archdiocese (1945-1947)
- Locum tenens Metropolitan of Iaşi (from August 1947)
- Archbishop of Iaşi and Metropolitan of Moldova and Suceava (elected 19 November 1947, enthroned 28 December 1947)
- Locum tenens Patriarch of Romania (from February 1948)
- Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlachia, Patriarch of All Romania (elected 24 May 1948, enthroned 6 June 1948)