Bl. Vasile Aftenie

  Posted on May 10, 2020  by admin  No comments

Born: 14 June 1899 in Lodroman, Valea Lungã, Alba, Romania 

Died: 10 May 1950 in the prison hospital in Vacaresti, Bucharest, Romania from the abuse from repeated torture sessions, possibly after being shot, body burned by order of the Communist authorities, and the remains were buried in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest, a white marble grave stone was erected on his grave in 1990; it has become the site of pilgrimage 

Beatified: 2 June 2019 by Pope Francis 

Drafted into the army in 1917, Vasile fought in the front in Galacia and Italy in World War I. In 1918 he began studying law in Bucharest, Romania, but in 1919 gave into a call to the priesthood and began studying theology at the Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius. Ordained a priest in the Romanian Greek-Catholic rite in Fagaras si Alba Iulia, Romania on 1 January 1926. Taught at the Theological Academy in Blaj, Romania from 1926 to 1934. Dean of the seminary in Bucharest in 1934. Cathedral canon in Blaj in 1937. Rector of the Theological Academy in 1939. Chosen auxiliary bishop of Fagaras si Alba Iulia, Romania and Titular Bishop of Ulpiana by Pope Pius XII on 12 April 1940. 

Apostolic administrator of Fagaras si Alba Iulia on 15 June 1941. Arrested on 28 October 1948 in the Communist persecutions, he was imprisoned first in the Dragoslavele work camp, and then in February 1949 placed in solitary confinement in the Caldarusani monastery outside Bucharest. Beginning on 10 May 1949, he was subjected to a year of repeated torture which left him mutilated and crippled, broken in his physical and mental health; his faith never flagged. Martyr.