- Anton Durcovici
Anton Durcovici (
May 17 ,1888 —December 10 ,1951 ) was an Austro-Hungarian-bornRomania n Roman Catholic clergyman, a victim of the Communist regime.Biography
Born in
Bad Deutsch Altenburg ,Austria , he left for the Romanian Kingdom together with his mother, a widow, and his brother Francisc, and settled inIaşi (1895). He completed his primary studies andlyceum in Iaşi and inBucharest , and, in 1906, joined the Roman Catholicseminary . [Borrelli; "Procesul Comunismului"] In 1906, he continued his studies inRome , attending the St. Thomas Aquinas College and theCongregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (earning degrees inCanon Law ,Philosophy andTheology , including twodoctorate s). [Borrelli; "Procesul Comunismului"]Ordained a priest in 1910, Durcovici returned to Romania, and was appointed, successively, schoolteacher at the Bucharest seminary and
parish administrator inTulcea . [Borrelli; "Procesul Comunismului"] After Romania enteredWorld War I on the Allied side, he was sent to an internment camp — being an Austrian citizen —, until being freed on the orders of King Ferdinand I. [Borrelli; "Procesul Comunismului"]Durcovici became
rector of the Bucharest seminary in 1924, and held the office until April 1948, when he was consecrated Bishop of Iaşi by theApostolic Nuncio to Romania, BishopGerald Patrick Aloysius O'Hara . ["Procesul Comunismului"]As a Catholic clergyman, Durcovici had become an adversary of the post-
World War II Communist Party authorities, who initially attempted to have him accept a decrease in Papal authority over Romanian Catholics. [Borrelli; "Procesul Comunismului"] Placed under surveillance in 1947, he was arrested by theSecuritate onJune 26 ,1949 , while he was visiting the congregation ofPopeşti-Leordeni . [Borrelli; "Procesul Comunismului"]He was held in
Jilava , then transferred toSighet prison together with his fellow clergymenÁron Márton andAlexandru Cisar , [Deletant, p.93] being the target oftorture and deprivations. [Borrelli; "Procesul Comunismului"] Stripped naked and exposed to the winter weather, and denied food and water, Durcovici died as a result of the treatment. ["Procesul Comunismului"] He was buried in an unmarked grave. ["Procesul Comunismului"] Communist authorities subsequently attempted to erase all evidence of his stay in prison, and most documents were destroyed. [Borrelli]A process of
beatification was begun in 1997. [Borrelli]Notes
References
*it icon [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92353 Antonio Borrelli, "Servo di Dio Anton Durcovici. Vescovo e martire"]
*Dennis Deletant, "Communist Terror in Romania", C. Hurst & Co.,London , 1999 ISBN 1-85065-386-0
*ro icon [http://procesulcomunismului.com/marturii/fonduri/ioanitoiu/biserici/episcopi_romano_catolici/episcopi_romano_catolici.pdf "Procesul Comunismului. Episcopii Romano-Catolici"]External links
*de icon [http://www.oe-journal.at/Aktuelles/!2004/1204/W2/51412stephanscom.htm "Rumänien: Hoffnung auf Seligsprechung eines Österreichers"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
