Father Ioan Coliță, martyr for Christ during the communist regime

Gifted with a special voice and an inclination to study, all accompanied by a strong Christian life, he entered the Theological Seminary “St. Gregory the Decapolite” in Craiova, class of 1928, the year in which he married Floarea Ionescu Albu, who gave him 11 children, of whom 9[1] survived. In 1928, he was ordained priest by the Bishop of Râmnic, Vartolomeu Stănescu, for the parish of Cetate I Dolj, which had 665 families, or 2880 souls. Priest Ioan carried out his apostolic mission with dignity, without becoming politically involved in the disputes of the inter-war period. In 1930 he rebuilt the parish church, dedicated to St. George, for which he was awarded the rank of Sachelar[2].

In 1945 he managed the seasonal children’s home in the locality; from 1946 he was the founder of the mixed grammar school in Cetate; he was the director of the cultural centre (1949-1952); he contributed to literacy, electrification and radio-television in the commune. His impressive library was always at the disposal of his parishioners[3].

Although he had just undergone an operation for an ulcer, on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in 1952, Father Coliță was arrested by order of M.I. A. Cabinet No. 490, along with hundreds of other priests in Oltenia, thrown down the stairs of his house and into a lorry, together with the priests Gheorghe Chiriloiu, also from Cetate, and Ion Tudor from the neighbouring village of Moreni, Jud. Dolj, by Colonel Untaru, who had previously smashed his daughter Cornelia’s head against the wall[4].

At the same time, his house was searched and a collection of the magazine “Albina” from 9 February to 1 June 1934[5] was found.

After his arrest, Father Coliță was taken to the Craiova Security Police (UM 0113) and interrogated under the most terrible tortures: beatings with wet rope, pulling out nails and teeth with nail pliers, burning with red iron, hanging upside down. According to the interrogation report of 6 September 1952, during the investigation, the priest was asked about his real involvement in the Legionary Movement, whether he had organised “choirs of Legionary songs with the schoolchildren”, to which nest he had belonged, to which the priest replied: “I cannot answer: “I cannot answer”, etc. He admitted that he had celebrated a funeral service for the Legionaries Moța and Marin and a mass in the local Legionary headquarters, as all priests did at that time[6].

The reason for his arrest was that the Securitate suspected him of having participated in the organisation and activity of the local Legionary movement between 1937 and 1941. It should be noted that the whole situation in which Father Coliță found himself was provoked by his own colleague at the altar. The latter, as an informer, “convinced” the Securitate, between 30 September 1951 and 21 February 1952, that Father Coliță had been involved in Legion politics, that he had been a “leading member of the PNȚ – Maniu” after 1945, that he had promoted the idea of the immediate overthrow of the regime, and that he had denounced the very difficult material situation of the peasantry after collectivisation[7]. Added to this were the Securitate’s fears about the influence that Father Coliță had among his fellow countrymen, even his followers, as we can see from a file drawn up by the repressive authorities in March 1952: “He is an intelligent, refined element, he has influence among the masses […]; he has connections among the poor and middle-class peasantry”[8].

Father Coliță would elaborate on his political activities in a lengthy memo to the authorities while he was detained in Lugoj prison, in which he would say “As a result of unjust accusations, full of hatred and enmity, made by the priest […] from the commune of Cetate, Cujmir district, Craiova region, who wanted to remain alone in the church where we served together, I was accused of having carried out legionary politics, as head of the garrison. I declare that I was not a member of any political party, of any legionary movement or organisation; I was neither head of a nest, nor mayor, nor head of a garrison, nor head of a sector”, and he goes on to show who held these political positions. This truth – continues Father Coliță – that I was not part of the Legionary Movement, can be proved by the researches carried out in Com. Cetate, in the People’s Council, in the Collective Agricultural Household, as well as in the ranks of the former Legionary Movement[…][9].

However, the investigation came to the exact opposite conclusion, namely that the priest had been a member of the Legionary Movement since 1939, where his work had led him to become a garrison commander, a position he would have held until the Legionary rebellion of 1941, in which he did not take part. That after January 1941 he was no longer active in the legionary field, but after 23 August 1944 he joined the PNT-Maniu, “where he worked intensively and was also a member of the leading committee of this party”. However, “there is not enough evidence to prove that he organised a series of anti-democratic demonstrations of a belligerent nature in favour of the imperialists”. For this, the priest was sentenced to 60 months in a labour colony, the sentence expiring on 16 August 1957[10].

During his imprisonment, the priest was taken to the Security Police in Craiova, to the M.I.A. Dudu colony, to Galați Prison (19 November 1953 – 18 February 1954), to Jilava Prison and to Lugoj Prison (10 March 1954)[11].

After two years of prison visits, endless investigations and memos to the authorities (8 December 1953 and 1954) in which he declared his innocence of the charges against him, he was released on 23 June 1954, after having been “checked” by a sub-committee of the MAI at Lugoj Prison on 14 June. After his release, the priest returned to the parish of Cetate I[12].

As the culmination of the cynicism typical of the communist regime, the priestess Floarea Coliță was awarded the Order “Gloria Materna”, Class I, signed by Dr. Petru Groza, for having given birth to and brought up nine children, despite the fact that, during the imprisonment of the priest Ioan Coliță, the family had been deprived of all household goods and the children were fed with spices gathered from the fields and slept on planks. The elder sister, Cornelia, worked hard in Brăila, helping her brothers and mother with money, clothes and food, demonstrating the special unity of the Christian family in times of need. Particularly noteworthy was the help of former parishioners, who secretly gave food to the large family. In his memoirs to the authorities, Father himself said: “I am in a very difficult family situation, having 9 living children, 6 of whom are minors.”[13]

According to his children’s recollections, Father Colić returned home in a truck, frightened but happy to find his wife and children. Very often, Father Coliță would sit at the windows of the large room in the house and cry, sobbing, thinking of the torture he had endured in the communist prisons, which had left marks on his body. His teeth had been knocked out, his fingernails and toenails had been pulled out with pliers, his whole body was scarred and his bones ached from the many beatings. The doctors in the fortress thought he was suffering from tuberculosis of the bones, and part of his internal organs seemed to have been destroyed.[14]

This is what he wrote to his daughter Cornelia after his release from prison on 14 June 1954: “Faith in God, hope in His help and Christian love were the moral qualities, the spiritual forces that sustained my life, strengthened my heart and my patience, enlightened my conscience, adorned my soul with the spirit of purity, humble thought and Christian action. [Your dear little uncle will be 47 years old on the 6th of September this year! Pray to God that he may live many more years in peace, health and happiness to enjoy you all – good, honest and hard-working children, respectful, conscientious people. […] May you, my children, keep and use the good things in my life: honesty, respect, work, my love for you, conscientiousness, lack of hatred and enmity towards anyone. “[15]

During this time, he also had to endure the insults and threats of some Communists who had been illegal for a long time, led by Ion Bica, who was known throughout the Danube valley for the wrongs he had done to his fellow men, but for whom Father prayed that God would lead him to the right path. He amazed his countrymen because he always tried to justify his oppressors and, above all, he could not hate them, mentioning them whenever necessary.

On 24 June 1959 (the feast of St. John the Baptist) he was arrested again and interned in the Periprava labour camp. The reason for his arrest was his legionary and peasant “antecedents” and the fact that he had been imprisoned between 1952 and 1954. Thus, on 15 July 1959, by M.I.A. order no. 10.052, Father Coliță was sent to the labour camp for 60 months.[16]

From Periprava, on 3 October 1959, Fr. Coliță was transferred to the Ostrov labour camp in the former Măcin district, formation 0957, where he behaved in the same exemplary manner: fervent and repeated prayers and forgiveness of the torturers. As he was very ill, he was unable to fulfil his norm and was therefore constantly beaten, until one day, when he was trampled on, he was hit on the head with boots, so that shortly afterwards, on 26 October 1959, he died in the infirmary. The cause of death, according to the certificate issued by the Ostrov People’s Council, was “coronary arteriosclerotic myocarditis”. He was apparently buried in the Frecotea cemetery in the commune of Ostrov.[17]

(Toma Rădulescu – Martyrs for Christ in Romania during the Communist Regime, Publishing House of the Biblical and Missionary Institute of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, 2007, pp. 148-152)

[1] Ion Lucian Coliță, The Book of Love and Friends, Semne Publishing House, Bucharest, 2003, pp. 12-14, 82-87, 116-117.

[2] Church Life in Oltenia, p. 206-207

[3] AMO, Cetate I parish file, unpag. f.

[4] AMJDIM, Criminal fonds, file 19470, vol. I, f. 30; Toma Rădulescu, Priest-martyr Ioan F. Coliță (1907-1959), in “Cetatea Creștină”, year III, no. 10 (30), October 2004, p. 3. On the cover of the individual criminal file it says “[arrested] without legal forms”.

[5] AMJDIM, criminal file, file 19470, vol. I, f. 14.

[6] Ibid, f. 6-7v.

[7] Ibid, f. 19-28. We do not wish to specify the name of the informant priest, because, as we shall see, Father Coliță forgave him, a gesture which contributed greatly to his being declared a martyr.

[8] Ibidem, f. 17-18.

[9] Ibidem, f. 5-5v.

[10] Ibid, f. 3.

[11] Ibid, f. 33, 34, 37, 38

[12] Ibidem, f. 3, 31,36-36v, 40; Collection of the Oltenia Museum, Pr. Ioan Coliță; Orthodox Priests, p. 79.

[13] AMJDIM, Criminal fonds, file 19470, vol. 1, f. 5v; Toma Rădulescu, Priest-martyr Ioan F. Coliță, loc. cit.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ion Lucian Coliță, op. cit. p. 84-87.

[16] AMJDIM, Criminal fonds, file 19470, vol. I, f. 41-41v; vol. 2, f. 2-4. On the cover of the prison file is written: “Legionnaire”. In Orthodox Priests, loc. cit and Golden Book, p. 38, 316 – it is claimed that Father Coliță was arrested a second time on 15 June 1959.

[17] AMJDIM, Criminal fonds, file 19470, vol. 2, f. 7, 12. In the Golden Book, loc. cit. it is stated that the priest died on 6 October, and in Orthodox Priests, loc. cit. the date of 6 December is given, which is false. For the same date of death John F. Calotă is mentioned, of course a confusion, in The Burning Bush, p. 43-44.