Note on Bishop Nicolae Popovici on the Ministry of Worship’s Involvement in Church Affairs – April 4, 1950
131/4 April 1950
NOTE
Bishop Nicolae Popovici of Oradea came to Bucharest to obtain from the Ministry of Religious Worship “ready to print” for his Easter Pastoral, [and] in this connection stated on 28 March A.D. the following
“The sects are giving me a hard time. They say that I have not respected the norm given by them, that is, I have not dealt with the three subjects I was supposed to address:
1. The state plan;
2. The struggle for peace;
3. Spring planting.
I’d rather not give an Easter Pastoral than put things in it that will drive my faithful away from the Churches. The clever cults don’t know the realities on the ground; when the last pastoral of the Holy Synod on the struggle for peace was read in the churches, the faithful left the church when they saw what it was about. What’s more, there have even been incidents in some churches. In a village in Bihor, a young man began to shout: “Leave us alone, Father, with your fight for peace. We want war, not peace. Only war can save us from today’s torment, when everything is taken from us and our children die of hunger”.
“I – continued Bishop Nicolae Popovici – do not want such scenes to be repeated. I will not introduce anything political into the pastoral. Leave politics to the government! The Church has its own spiritual policy, which does not coincide with that of the regime.
Mr Stanciu Stoian once said to me: “I would like to see the Bishop of Oradea satisfied one day”. I replied: ‘The Bishop of Oradea would be happy to be able to say that he is happy one day'”.
“On the occasion of the separation of Maramureș from the diocese of Oradea, I said to Stanciu Stoian: “The act that was done without my knowledge and that of the faithful of Maramureș is always questionable. It is not based on the documents that exist in the Synod on this matter. Tomorrow, when I have the opportunity, I will publish these documents so that the injustice done to the Diocese of Oradea and to the faithful of Maramureș can be seen”.
“What tomorrow?” asked the Minister.
“Tomorrow” – I replied, still sibilant.
“Interesting,” said the Minister.
“I know my line doesn’t suit the regime. But I won’t betray my church as long as I know that the people are standing firm around me.”
Nicolae Popovici complained about this to Patriarch Justinian, who replied: “Listen to them, but do what you know, like me”.
SOURCES: “M. Stănescu” and “Matei”.
Value: serious
Bureau comments:
A report has been submitted to the Cabinet proposing, on the basis of the enclosed evidence, that Nicolae Popovici be brought to trial for his incitement against the present regime.
(ACNSAS, Informative fund, file 2669, vol. 1, pp. 42-43; document reproduced in The Courage to Speak: Bishop Nicolae Popovici of Oradea, edited by George Enache and Adrian Nicolae Petcu, Partener Publishing House, Galați, 2009, pp. 131-132).