Note of the D.R.S.P. Oradea concerning the content of the sermons delivered by Bishop Nicolae of Oradea (6 May 1950)
Note,
Last month, Bishop Nicolae Popovici of Oradea made new anti-democratic manifestations:
On the first day of Easter, instead of reading his own pastoral, as the Patriarch had decided, he delivered a sermon with anti-democratic undertones in the cathedral of Oradea, from which we quote:
“Christ was surrounded by enemies recruited from his surroundings and by the civil and military authorities who persecuted him to the point of death, and after his death he was guarded by armed soldiers who fell to the ground before the truth, because no one can stand against the truth. The disciples of Christ, for the sake of righteousness and faith, were crushed, mocked, persecuted and subjected to the restrictions of the laws of the time, some even killed.
Just as Jesus buried all his enemies, so the Church will bury all those who fight against it.
In conclusion, Popovici urged the faithful to become fearless fighters for the truth preached by Christ. He also wished each believer the happiness of having his most secret thoughts and desires fulfilled. The Bishop’s last words were: “Fight to defend the faith of Christ. Fight for the defence of His Church. Do not be afraid, do not be sellers and betrayers of the Lord, love the Lord. Those who love Him suffer for Him and fear nothing”.
On the second day of Easter, instead of reading the Patriarch’s Pastoral, Nicolae Popovici read his own Pastoral, in accordance with the decision of Justinian Marina, which applied throughout the country except in Oradea.
Nicolae Popovici’s pastoral, full of subtexts and anti-democratic allusions, was only approved at the last moment by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and only after additions had been made to the chapter dedicated to the struggle for peace, because Popovici had threatened not to hold Easter services.
When he gave the Pastoral to the printers, Popovici distorted its meaning, making some passages particularly significant, such as “Feast of the Beatitudes”, “Feast of Mercy and Forgiveness”, “Let us say to our brothers and to those who hate us: let us forgive all for the Resurrection”.
Moreover, by reading his own pastoral instead of that of Patriarch Justinian on the second day of Easter, Popovici omitted to present the passages recommended by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, including:
“In view of this great and wide-ranging programme, I urge you, as good sons of the Church, to work together, priests and faithful, in the peace committees, as you have heard you say at length in the pastoral reading of the Holy Synod two weeks ago”.
In the second half of April this year, Nicolae Popovici completed the suspension of his advisor, Virgil Moldovan, a former Greek Catholic, which caused a great stir among the former Greek Catholic clergy.
With the support of Patriarch Justinian Marina, Nicolae Popovici tried to intimidate his vicar Andrei Coman, a former Greek Catholic priest, into accepting his transfer to the Patriarchate in the inferior position of councillor. When Coman refused, Nicolae Popovici publicly announced that he would suspend him and send him to disciplinary training in Arad.
This attitude towards Coman Andrei also caused deep concern among former Greek Catholic priests who had converted to Orthodoxy, and satisfaction among the resistant Greek Catholic clergy.
At the same time, Popovici refused to take steps to systematically occupy the offices of the diocese and the building of the former Greek Catholic diocese, thus allowing the “provisional state” to continue and giving the impression that he also regarded the unification of the churches as provisional.
It also refused to act against the resisting Greek Catholic priest Maxim Virgil, who, through Anuca Vartolomei, tried to steal some goods and manuscripts from the library of the former Greek Catholic bishopric.
Source: DRSP Oradea and Tică
Report no. 10460/1950
J1. no. 249046/1950
Observations: In recent months Nicolae Popovici’s anti-democratic agitation has become more widespread: we recall the inflammatory sermons delivered at Christmas 1949, at New Year’s and on the occasion of the centenary of Mihail Eminescu.
Suggestions: We propose to submit this note to those who have the authority to decide on the advisability of merging the Diocese of Oradea with the Diocese of Arad, under the leadership of Andrei Magieru, Bishop of Arad.
The dioceses in question are among the smallest: Ep. Arad includes the counties of Arad and Hunedoara, and Ep. Oradea the counties of Bihor, Sălaj and Satu Mare (jud. Maramureș was transferred from the Diocese of Oradea to the Diocese of Cluj at the Synod of February 1949). If, in this merger, the jud. Hunedoara would go to the Archdiocese of Sibiu, the new episcopate that would be created would not pose so many problems from the point of view of security and unrest, since Andrei Magieru generally applies the regulations that are transmitted to him.
Nicolae Popovici could then be retired like the other hostile archbishops (Partenie Ciopron, Emilian Antal, etc.) in order to avoid unfavourable comments.
(ACNSAS, Informative fund, file 2669, vol. 2, f. 21-23; document reproduced in the work On the Courage to Speak: Bishop Nicolae Popovici of Oradea, edited by George Enache and Adrian Nicolae Petcu, Partener Publishing House, Galati, 2009, pp. 132-134).