Fr. Grigorie Băbuș (en)

Archimandrite Grigorie Băbuș in the clutches of the Communist Securitate

At the beginning of 1958, the communist authorities, through the Securitate and the Department of Religious Affairs, launched a campaign of defamation and intimidation against the Romanian Orthodox Church in order to force it to implement the plan to drastically limit the monastic phenomenon. The communist regime considered monasticism to be a real threat to the construction of socialism in Romania, on the grounds that it involved “intense legionary activity under a religious mask”. Among those targeted were particularly trusted clerics around Patriarch Justinian Marina, such as Bartholomew Ananias and Gregory Băbuș. The latter was targeted by the Securitate because […]

Dialogue with Father Grigorie Băbuș from Cheia Monastery

Archimandrite Grigorie Băbuș, librarian of the Holy Synod Library at Antim Monastery in Bucharest, is now retired at Cheia Monastery. Fr. Grigorie is in his venerable 90s. He was a classmate of Father Sofian Boghiu and a classmate of His Beatitude Teoctist. A survivor of communist prisons, he is still a strong and determined man. He entered the monastery as a child. Also in Cheia, where he now spends his old age. – I was born in Teișani, Prahova County, the third of ten children. At the age of 13 I finished the 5th grade. At Cheia Monastery we had […]

Memories about Father Grigore Băbuș

[…] Right now, I can recall many memories that come to mind of my uncle, who gave me so much useful advice from the time we first met (around the age of 10) until he went to be with the Lord. I am grateful to all of them, as I am to my parents. At first, as a child, when I went to the Patriarchal Cathedral with my father (a cousin of Father’s) and saw him approaching the Patriarch of the venerable memory of Justinian, I did not dare to approach him, but very soon the child of that time […]