Hieromonk Vartolomeu Dolhan under the communist persecution

He had just finished painting the altar of the church in his native village of Pârcovacii, near Hârlău, where he had been baptised, on the eve of St. Nicholas’ Day 1958, when Father Vartolomeu Dolhan of the Metropolitanate of Iași was visited by the Security Service. Father Vartolomeu was arrested and his cell searched, accused of working against the regime. But who was Father Vartolomeu and what had he done?

He was born on 4 August 1912 into a large farmer’s family near Hârlău. He went to primary school in his native village, then to the Vorona monastery. From there he went to the school for church singers in Botoșani, then to the Academy of Fine Arts in Iași. He became a priest at the Boureni Hermitage, and in May 1940 he was appointed pastor of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iași.

During the refugee period of 1944-1945, Father Vartolomeu was in charge of the Metropolitan Chancellery. He was a confessor in constant demand by the faithful, showing many the way and others the joys of entering monastic life. Father Vartolomeu was also a painter. He painted the Church of the “Outpouring of the Holy Spirit” in Văratec and participated in the restoration of the Cathedral of Iași. At the same time, through Roman Braga, a hieromonk of the cathedral, he met Daniil Sandu Tudor at the inauguration of the cathedral in 1955. The Rarău hieromonk had been Roman Braga’s confessor during his life in Bucharest. Thus, Father Vartolomeu had spiritual discussions with the hieromonk Daniil, especially on the subject of some atheistic books that had just appeared and had been bought by the novice Roman Braga. Through a young aspirant to the monastic life, he cultivated relations with Sofian Boghiu from Plumbuita. He knew about the work of the Burning Bush and even took part in some religious meditations initiated by Sandu Tudor in Rarău in 1957. But the security service was monitoring these relations. It sent provocateurs, such as a young convicted “counter-revolutionary” with an Akathist to Father Vartolomeu, who managed to flee the country. No sooner had his comrades in the Burning Bush been sentenced than the inevitable happened: he was arrested and investigated by the Iași Security Service. He was accused of aggravated conspiracy, conspiring against the regime by harbouring and supporting ‘counter-revolutionaries’, hostile activity, praying for those who wanted to flee the country and making hostile speeches.

Despite being tortured during the investigation, the priest denied all the charges. On 9 March 1959, he was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour for the crime of “agitation against the social order”, by decision no. 155 of the military tribunal of Iași. The ordeal of imprisonment and forced labour followed: Iași (1959), Gherla (June 1959), Sălcia (1959, April 1960), Periprava (December 1959, May 1962), Giurgeni (May 1962, May 1963) and Jilava (August 1963). In Salcia prison, he received parcels from Mother Benedicta Braga, the sister of his student from Iași. On 11 September 1963, his appeal for supervision was accepted and his sentence was reduced to 4 years’ imprisonment and he was released. But on one condition: he was not allowed to “work in the same place”. With great difficulty he was appointed to the parish of Falcău-Straja. He painted the church and was very popular with the faithful. For this reason, he was transferred to the monastery of Râșca, then to Văratec.

In 1980 he passed away.

(Adrian Nicolae Petcu – Ziarul Lumina)