Catholic religious writings in the Pavlichean dialect existing at the time of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Bucharest

Charlton Laird’s assertion that “dialectal peculiarities […] can be used to describe how languages became what they are and which peoples went on to build what communities” suggests a deeper significance than the mere linguist’s fascination with the revelations of a semantic study. Indeed, he suggests that an archeology of language can prove extremely useful in conveying certain testimonies about a community that historical sources may have omitted. This aspect becomes even more evident when religious writings and communities are under discussion.
Although the official establishment of the Archdiocese of Bucharest occurred at the late 19th century, in 1883, it is appropriate to consider that this process had its origins in the early years of that century, when Bishop Francisco Ferreri, in collaboration with a substantial number of Bulgarian Pavlichean Catholics, founded the village of Cioplea. Despite its modest size, the locality soon became the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Nicopole, thereby paving the way for jurisdictional autonomy.
One of the pastoral urgencies of the clergy of foreign origin who served this community was to familiarise themselves with the dialect spoken by these believers and to fix it in written form. Consequently, this dialect became a prevalent medium for religious texts, including prayer books, catechisms, and brochures disseminated within the community. The Pavlichean dialect – associated with what were considered Illyrian language – was distinguished by its affiliation to the Slavic language, yet it is written using the Latin alphabet. Beyond the mystery that still surrounds, in some cases, their authors or the degree of accuracy with which the written forms reflected the spoken language, their analysis will reveal that the Pavlichean dialect constituted a lexical infrastructure capable of supporting a substantial Catholic theology. If we consider the phenomenon of inculturation – of which Catholic missionary work during the Counter-Reformation made use and proposed as a means of evangelisation – which sometimes raised questions about the orthodoxy of the teaching transmitted within new cultures and through new languages, the present study will attempt to demonstrate that the Pavlichean dialect – part of a minor culture – did not encounter such a problem.
Finally, the legacy of religious written sources in circulation at the time of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, which has hitherto been overlooked by researchers, constitutes a veritable antitypos of the universal character of Catholicism, as will be explored in depth in the future Second Vatican Council.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/LXOV9562

Dialog 56-8 Grigore

Roman Catholic Priests from the Diocese of Satu Mare Surveilled and Arrested During the Communist Period

At the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, out of the 71 priests in the Diocese of Satu Mare, 19 were imprisoned, and Bishop Scheffler János died in prison. This study aims to outline the destiny of one of the priests from the Diocese of Satu Mare, Fischer Pál, a remarkable example of intransigence, consistency, and fidelity to his religious convictions. The communist authorities did not recognize the clandestine ordinaries, which led to the promotion of a parallel diocesan leadership loyal to the regime. Refusing to acknowledge this authority, between 1951 and 1953, Father Fischer fought vehemently against the newly created situation. Labeled as “a fanatical religious element, defiant against the regime, who does not recognize the Diocese of Alba Iulia as a superior authority”, he was arrested on July 7, 1953, and convicted of “public incitement”. After his release, he was placed under strict surveillance by the Securitate (the secret police), during which time, according to his personal file, Father Fischer “sought to hinder the political and social work of local authorities”, forced youth to attend religion classes, through which “he instilled mysticism and hostile sentiments toward the country’s people’s democratic regime”. Since the first conviction failed to reeducate him, on February 26, 1959, he was re-arrested for “conspiracy against social order” and sentenced to 9 years in correctional prison. Released on July 31, 1964, he settled in his native village, living off financial aid from his sister. No longer permitted to serve as a priest, he remained under the political police’s surveillance.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/UZTU6656

Dialog 56-1 Giurgiu

 

Dialog Teologic XXVIII/55 (2025)

Dialog Teologic XXVIII/55 (2025)
186 p., 17×24, ISSN 1453-8075, 25 lei.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/IETF5509

Cumpără online de la Librăria Sapientia
Vizualizează online Dialog Teologic 55

Daniel GIURGIU
Fates of Roman Catholic Priests of the Diocese of Satu Mare Under the Survaillance of the Securitate
During the communist regime, the Securitate services paid special attention to the clergy of the Diocese of Satu Mare. Labeled as “enemies of the regime” or “hostile vipers of the regime”, they were closely monitored in the files named “the Roman Catholic issue”, “tax evasion issue” or “the Hungarian national irredentist issue (Roman Catholic)”. This study aims to present the fate of two priests, Galambos Ferenc and Fehér István, who were closely surveilled by the Securitate at different times and for different reasons. Galambos Ferenc came to the attention of the Securitate starting in 1946 when he was the parish vicar in Petrești. After 1948, he was closely monitored by the Securitate both for his loyalty to the diocesan leadership and for his pastoral activities, as he refused to accept a nationalized Roman Catholic Church. Especially in the 1980s, the increasing contacts between the clergy and the Western world became a sensitive point for the Securitate. Most of the parish priests came under surveillance due to their “suspicious relationships with foreign countries”. These relationships were nothing more than their efforts, either to manage their parishes (securing funds from charitable organizations) or to ensure the smooth running of their pastoral lives (risking the acquisition of religious literature). One such case was that of Father Fángli Eduárd, the parish priest in Rătești, who was monitored for more than a decade until his premature death at the age of 38.

Ilie-Cătălin Grigore
The mechanisms of religion assimilated into the political-economic culture of modernity
Can we axiomatically define that the Christian’s Sisyphean striving for reconciliation with the world is part of divine oikonomia, as the Fourth Gospel, that of St John, explicitly states? Or can we view the development of human history as a divine pedagogy of social cohesion, as some Pauline or Acts of Apostles readings might suggest? In order to avoid simplistic interpretations, the answer can only be nuanced, or even susceptible to a certain duplicity, if formulated within the paradigm of a superhuman understanding beyond the power of understanding.
It is not uncommon for secular researchers who have studied Council Vatican II to equate the change in attitude towards the world with a kind of theology of compromise. Aggiornamento, a neologism that would be adopted by almost every language on this occasion, appeared to denote an adaptation of the Church to the contents of the world, as E. Voegelin termed them. However, a more thorough investigation into the origins of modernity reveals a process that mirrors the developments of the latter half of the 20th century, albeit in the opposite direction. This earlier period can be characterised as a subversive appropriation of a series of cultural and symbolic elements that were specific to a world order based on a religious vision.
The present study will focus on investigating those elements in the economic field, which are considered to be among the innovative elements of modernity. The advent of the Industrial Revolution, concomitant with the rise of liberalism, signifies the initial phase in the genesis of the new economy. Consequently, both the centralized economy and autarchy, despite their inherent challenges to liberalism, will become avatars of the new economy. The concept of an intramundane ecclesia is proposed as a theoretical framework underpinning various proposals for reordering the world on new foundations, including the invisible hand, catallaxy, historical determinism, or variants of political-economic Gnosticism, and will constitute veritabile epiphanies of it.
Nevertheless, when considered within the overarching framework of the Economy of Redemption – a framework that is often overlooked – the newly proposed economic systems will expose their inherent limitations rather than demonstrating their efficacy.

Fabian Pitreti
La reciprocità come principio costitutivo della volontà: la prospettiva fenomenologica dell’opera Il volontario e l’involontario di Paul Ricoeur
The approach with which Marion approaches Thomas’s Aquinas theology at the beginning of his phenomenological journey bears the imprint of Heidegger’s critique of onto-theology, but also of his personal hostility to the conceptual idolatry and atheism manifested in Nietzsche’s philosophy. What Marion contrasts with the conceptual idol is the icon and iconic thought. If the idol comes from looking at it, the icon looks at us, calls forth the vision, letting the visible become saturated with the Invisible. According to Marion, conceptual idolatry still seems a dangerous temptation in our times. Metaphysical categories, concepts can function as idols if they are generated by thought as objects appropriate to ‘God’ on the basis of its divine founding function.

Luca Buzziol
Le Comunità Gerachiche “abituali”
At a time when the Italian Church is suffering from a drastic decline in the number of priests, when for decades the pastoral care of parish Units has been tried, when pastoral conversion is necessary to develop existing ministries and create new ones so as to witness a concrete synodality and active co-responsibility, this study on Hierarchical Communities fits in. Conceived by Prof. Valdrini, Hierarchical Communities, habitual and intermediate, become valuable tools for a structural organization of dioceses. Moreover, a characteristic feature of them is that they consider not only the territorial aspect, but also the theological aspect of Communities gathered around the Risen One. They help to set up an organization in “concentric circles” so as to make visible both the hierarchical and the co-responsible and synodal aspects. What the study attempts to do, besides reaffirming the substantial importance of dioceses and parishes, is to give a universal norm to Pastoral Zones, Foranies and Pastoral Units. This becomes, thus, a practical solution, not only for the decline in priests, but for a rethinking of Church as a Community of believers.

Petru Ciobanu
Il Figlio è «homooúsios del Padre» e «nato dal Padre». Analisi di alcuni testi biblici che esprimono questa realtà dogmatica in altri termini
Is Jesus Christ God or not? This is the great dilemma that has kept many people’s minds and hearts burning in the centuries that followed the appearance of Arius’ teaching in the 4th century. This article aims to analyse some biblical texts that support and express in other terms the truth proclaimed by the Council of Nicaea in 325 that the Son is homooúsios with the Father and is born of the Father, but not before briefly presenting the teachings of Arius.

Pallai Béla
Hungarian Greek Catholics During the Bishopric of the Blessed Alexandru Rusu
This study examines the episcopate of Blessed Alexandru Rusu from the perspective of the Hungarian Greek Catholic communities, focusing on the ecclesiastical and identity transformations of the interwar period. Between 1930 and 1948, Bishop Rusu led the Eparchy of Maramureș in a political and social environment where the Romanian national ideal and state centralization posed challenges to minority communities. The situation of Hungarian Greek Catholics was shaped by the bishop’s personal connections, ecclesiastical diplomacy in Rome and Bucharest, and the evolution of Hungarian-Romanian relations. Sources reveal that Bishop Rusu sought to balance loyalty to the Romanian state with the preservation of the Greek Catholic Church’s multilingual and multiethnic character, while the participation and representation of Hungarian faithful gradually diminished. The analysis offers new perspectives for the study of the 20th-century history and identity formation of Hungarian Greek Catholics in Romania.

Adina Bălan
Mary Ward (1585-1645) and the Ignatian Principle and Foundation. Historical Impact and Contemporary Implications
This article explores the formative influence of the Ignatian Principle and Foundation in the spiritual life of Mary Ward (1585–1645) and in the founding of her Institute and it evaluates its wider significance on contemporary spirituality. Drawing on primary sources and recent contributions, the study highlights how Mary Ward’s internalization of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises not only shaped her vision for an apostolic religious life for women but also offers invaluable resources on discernment, resilience, and capacity for action in the areas of spiritual formation and pastoral care today.

Davide Fiocco
Albino Luciani e Il Concilio Vaticano II. Padre conciliare, divulgatore, custode
Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I, attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. He had only one intervention, on episcopal collegiality, but he followed the proceedings with great attention and interest and shared the experience with the diocese through articles in the diocesan bulletin and letters sent to various groups. After the Council, he took care to implement in the diocese of Vittorio Veneto, moderately and gradually, the conciliar directives.

Iulian Budău
L’amitié avec Jésus dans les Évangiles. Une interprétation
This article offers a theological and exegetical examination of the relational dynamics between Jesus, his disciples, and the broader public, through the conceptual framework of friendship. Integrating a close reading of scriptural texts with speculative theological reflection, it contends that Jesus – fully human and fully divine – formed authentic friendships and remains open to friendship with every person. Central to this inquiry is the polyvalent Greek term „philos”, which conveys both “friend” and “beloved,” revealing deeper dimensions of relationality within Christology. This exploration posits that perceiving Jesus through the lens of friendship enriches the spiritual life of the believer and strengthens both personal and communal communion with God. On a psychological level, such a friendship can serve as a source of consolation, hope, and healing amid experiences of fear, alienation or loneliness. Ultimately, the article proposes that cultivating a lived friendship with Christ provides a meaningful pathway into the mystery of the Resurrection and an experiential entry into divine life.

Sorin Benescu
The Divine Attribute of Transcendence in Schopenhauer’s Work
This article undertakes an extensive examination of the concept of transcendence within the philosophical framework of Arthur Schopenhauer. While Schopenhauer is renowned for his immanent metaphysics, which posits the world as the self-objectification of a blind, striving Will, this paper argues that his system contains a unique and profound form of “immanent transcendence”. The analysis begins by establishing Schopenhauer’s explicit and trenchant critique of traditional, theistic notions of a transcendent Creator-God, which he dismisses as “popular metaphysics” incompatible with his Kantian- inspired epistemology. The core of the article then pivots to explore the three primary pathways through which Schopenhauer offers an escape, or a transcendence, from the suffering inherent in the phenomenal world governed by the Will and the principium individuationis. These pathways are: (1) aesthetic contemplation, where the subject becomes a “pure, will-less subject of knowledge,” momentarily transcending individuality to grasp the eternal Platonic Ideas; (2) ethical action rooted in compassion (Mitleid), which pierces the “veil of Maya” to recognize the shared suffering and fundamental unity of all beings; and (3) asceticism, the ultimate denial of the Will-to-live, which represents the final and most complete form of self-transcendence, leading to a state of nothingness or Nirvana. By analyzing these avenues, the article demonstrates that Schopenhauer does not merely negate transcendence but rather re-conceptualizes it, shifting its locus from an external, divine realm to an internal, experiential liberation from the deterministic chains of the Will. This secularized soteriology provides a powerful, albeit pessimistic, response to the fundamental human need to find meaning and relief from the existential condition.

Hungarian Greek Catholics During the Bishopric of the Blessed Alexandru Rusu

This study examines the episcopate of Blessed Alexandru Rusu from the perspective of the Hungarian Greek Catholic communities, focusing on the ecclesiastical and identity transformations of the interwar period. Between 1930 and 1948, Bishop Rusu led the Eparchy of Maramureș in a political and social environment where the Romanian national ideal and state centralization posed challenges to minority communities. The situation of Hungarian Greek Catholics was shaped by the bishop’s personal connections, ecclesiastical diplomacy in Rome and Bucharest, and the evolution of Hungarian-Romanian relations. Sources reveal that Bishop Rusu sought to balance loyalty to the Romanian state with the preservation of the Greek Catholic Church’s multilingual and multiethnic character, while the participation and representation of Hungarian faithful gradually diminished. The analysis offers new perspectives for the study of the 20th-century history and identity formation of Hungarian Greek Catholics in Romania.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/QCTB3872

Dialog 55-6 Pallai

Storia della residenza della Diocesi Romano-Cattolica di Bacău (1607-1818)

The article explores the history of the Diocese of Bacău and its bishop’s residence. A marble monument, located in the north-western part of the city of Bacău, and built in 2000 by the Diocese of Iași, summarizes – with its references – the historical memory of the existence of the Diocese of Bacău and serves as the starting point for this historical study. The beginnings and almost the entire existence of the Diocese of Bacău are linked to the monastery of the Franciscan Observants Friars of Șumuleu-Ciuc. Their church became the cathedral of the diocese and the monastery the residence for the bishop.

The bishops who led the Moldavian diocese – most of them of Polish origin – had a difficult life for various reasons: conflicts with the Franciscans of Șumuleu-Ciuc, political circumstances, the poverty of the country, Turkish incursions, and even the floods of 1676, which caused the destruction of the cathedral and monastery. Four of the bishops – Bernardino Quirini, Gerolamo Arsengo, Valerianus Łubieniecki and Marco Bandini – were buried in the cathedral of the city of Bacău. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the old cathedral, nor of the cemetery that was once around the church. However, various civil and religious documents of the time allow us to reconstruct the history of the Diocese of Bacău and to weave, even with unique details, the picture of the life of the Catholic community in Moldavia at that time.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/LNFX6434

Dialog 54-7 Dobos

 

Alexandru Theodor Cisar – The martyr pastor

The article is dedicated to one of the most representative figures of the Catholic Church in Romania, Archbishop Alexandru Theodor Cisar, and briefly presents the life of this Catholic hierarch until the establishment of the communist regime in Romania. Most of the study presents the persecution to which he was systematically subjected by the communists, our aim being to justify the title of the article: the martyr Pastor.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/WERD9799

Dialog 53-4 Ciobanu

Fabian Doboş: La beata Paolina Maria Jaricot (1799-1862) ed i cattolici della Moldavia

This Article deals with Pauline-Marie Jaricot. A nineteenth-century French Christian who contributed significantly to the building of the Universal Church through the history of man. She lived her faith in an exemplary manner. It is she who founded the Association “Propagation de la Foi”. The founding of this association marks today 200 years of existence. It was meant to support, both spiritual and financial, the evangelization missions of the Church. Pauline-Marie Jaricot was born in Lyon in 1799, and the years that followed have increased her life of faith through various experiences, both in spirit and missionary zeal. Her efforts for missions were not isolated but increased.
Thus, in 1822 the Association “Propagation de la Foi” appears. The actions of this association support a missionary spirituality, material solidarity, and an international network. Among its beneficiaries, throughout history, was the Roman-Catholic Diocese of Iasi. The Catholics of Moldova have started to be supported since the nineteenth century.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/UAHU9734

Dialog 49-3 Dobos

Fabian Doboş: Le risorse finanziarie della Diocesi di Jassy al tempo del vescovo Domenico Jaquet, OFM Conv. (1895-1903)

The present study presents briefly the main economic problems the Diocese of Iasi, which was founded on June 27, 1884, had been facing. At the end of the nineteenth century, the rapid increase of the number of Catholics led the diocese leaders to build new larger churches and enlarge the old ones. In this sense, the second bishop of Iaşi, Mons. Dominic Jaquet, a Swiss native, has sought funding in various Western countries. This bishop also took close care of the good progress of the Catholic schools within the diocese of Iaşi (the diocesan and Franciscan seminary, the Cipariu Institute, the Primary School of Iaşi, etc.). In order to cover all these expenses, Bishop Jaquet asked for financial help from both his church superiors and civil authorities. Thus, if the main financial support came from the superiors of the Congregation De Propaganda Fide in Rome, other aid for Catholics in Moldova came from France, through the Association Propagation de la Foi, which had its headquarters in Lyon. Also, the help of the Catholics from the diocese of Iaşi came both from the Romanian government and the one from Vienna.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.53438/AIFW7779

Dialog 47-7 Dobos

Petru Ciobanu: Il clero romano-cattolico di Bessarabia durante il periodo intebellico

The article provides the most important figures of Roman Catholic priests who, during the inter-war period, have been working or were born in Bessarabia. Firstly, there are provided shortly the biographies of the priests who during between two world wars took care of the spiritual well-being of the Bessarabian Catholics, the presentation of their life does not stop at 1940, when Bessarabia was occupied by the Soviets, but goes to the end of each one’s life. Next, there are provided the figures of four priests from the area between Prut and Nistru, who in the interwar period either were born or were ordained as priests. They operating farther within Diocese of Iaşi, even if they do not refer strictly to clergy, we considered it appropriate to provide, at the end, some figures of seminarians who did not reached the time of their ordination as priests, abandoning, from subjective or objective reasons, the path of sacerdotal formation.

Dialog 42-2_Ciobanu

Fabian Doboş: L’erezione del Vescovado di Jassy (27 giugno 1884) e gli inizi della nouva diocesi

This article deals with the establishment of the Episcopate of Iasi (June 27, 1884), with highligh on the personality of the first bishop (Nicolae Iosif Camilli) and his pastoral activity. Nicolae Iosif Camilli was an apostolic vicar for Moldavia at the time of his appointment as the first bishop of Iasi. The study also presents the first activity of the first bishop of Iaşi, with focus on his most important work: the establishment of the Diocesan Seminary „St. Joseph” in Iaşi, at the helm of which Bishop Camilli put in charge some Jesuits from Poland. However, this was not to the liking of his Franciscan brothers nor to that of the Superior General of the Franciscan Order. Therefore, after 10 years of pastorate, the first bishop of Iasi resigned in 1894, and the Catholics of Moldova were then led by Săbaoani parish priest Caietan Liverotti as an apostolic administrator until the following year when the Holy See appointed the Swiss Franciscan Dominic Jaquet as Bishop of Iaşi.

Dialog 41-4_Dobos