Father Constantin Galeriu at the beginning of the communist regime
He was one of the greatest Romanian Orthodox preachers and theologians of the 20th century. His work is studied and known, but his biography, often marked by the pressure of the communist authorities, is less well known. He was born on 21 November 1918 in Răcătău-Răzeși, Bacău County, into a family of simple, hardworking and faithful people. After primary school in his native commune, the young Constantine attended the St George Theological Seminary in Roman from 1930 to 1938. He continued his priestly studies at the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest, where he graduated in 1942.
During his studies he was cantor at the Zlătari Church in the capital. On 1 November 1942 he was sent to the front as a temporary soldier. He was discharged in May 1943, when he was ordained priest in the parish of Podul Văleni, Poenarii Burchii, Prahova County. Here he served until 15 July 1947, when he was transferred to the parish of St Basil the Great in Ploiesti. In the meantime, he became a member of the “Union of Democratic Priests”, founded at the beginning of 1945. On 1 September of that year, he even published a manifesto entitled “Our Mission”. Although at first sight it seems reprehensible that he should have joined the group of priests who were supposed to support the so-called democratic formations, Constantin Galeriu’s manifesto does not in any way abandon the pastoral creed that must dominate every servant of the altar. He seeks the common ground between political manifestations and the needs of society in order to preserve moral principles in the Christian model. Father Galerius writes of “love between the social classes”; that “the priest must reconcile the doctrines of the party and sublimate them in the spirit of the Gospel, which is the politics of Christ”; that “the Church must frighten the party, curb excesses and the lust for violence”; that “the priest is the link between the classes, between intellectuals, workers and peasants” and that “true intellectuals are no longer deceived by materialistic error” and that it is their duty “to collaborate with priests in preaching moral religion” and that “fools are those who try to create a new world by destroying the old one”. Galeriu believes that “through the power of the Christian mission, materialist socialism will be undermined, shrunk”, which means “the bankruptcy of materialism”. It was a courageous speech in a political context still disoriented after the change of 23 August 1944 and the growing pressure of the Soviet factor. His speech was not well received by the group of “democratic priests”, most of whom were preoccupied with recycling their more or less tainted past through their activity in various inter-war political parties.
As a result, on 12 November 1949, Father Galeriu was arrested by the Securitate and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for hiding a liberal political leader from Prahova. For this reason, the authorities were faced with protests from the faithful of the “Saint Vasile” church in Ploiești. A Securitate memo described how ‘a state of excitement was created among the faithful… first by statements that the priest would be arrested and imprisoned because of his religious preaching’. This state of mind – the document continues – was also created among the faithful in the parishes of the Prahova district, who regularly came every Sunday to listen to his sermons”. The priest’s pastors and priests drew up a signed memorial and presented it to the authorities. In response, the Securitate suggested that the Church authorities sanction the priest and “carry out a work of enlightenment” among the faithful. However, the priest was released from Ploiesti prison on time.
Another difficult time for Father Constantin Galeriu came in 1952. On the famous night of the “Assumption of the Virgin Mary”, Father Galeriu was arrested and sent to Ploiesti for investigation by the security police. He was accused because of his work in the PNL-Bejan, as a member of the permanent delegation in 1946. In fact, his political activity was limited to his participation as a delegate in the 1946 elections. For this reason, he was sentenced to 60 months of administrative detention. From 16 January 1953, he was forced to work in the Peninsula-Valea Neagră colony on the canal, and from 13 October 1953 he was transferred to the Văcărești sorting centre in Bucharest. On 23 October of the same year, however, he was released and returned to his family and his pastors at the Church of St. Basil the Great in Ploiești.
(Adrian Nicolae Petcu – Ziarul Lumina)