In Romania, the list of “enemies” of the Communist totalitarian regimes included church representatives, and those who had connections with the Vatican (thus belonging to the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches) held a special importance. Decree 358 of 1 December 1948 declared the official end of Greek Catholic “cult” activities, and many officials, clergy and simple believers drew the attention of the Communist authorities and the Securitate. Among them was the Greek Catholic priest Ștefan Tătaru. In 1950, he accepted the position of clandestine Greek Catholic vicar general in Bucharest for Oltenia, Muntenia, Moldova and Dobrudja. For this, on 30 January 1951, he was arrested and sentenced to hard labour for life for the “the crime of high treason”/ “high treason to the nation in favour of the Vatican”. He served his sentence in some of the toughest prisons in the Communist prison system and was released on 3 August 1964. After his release, he remained under the surveillance of the Securitate until the fall of the Communist regime.

[1] The Archive of the National Administration of Penitentiaries (hereafter ANAP), penal registration papers, accessed August 13, 2023, https://www.iiccmer.ro/fise-matricole-nou/?drawer=Fise%20matricole%20penale%20-%20Detinuti%20politici*T*T%2004.%20Tataranu%20-%20Tenu*Tataru%20Stefan%20A/.

[2] The Archive of the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (hereafter ANCSSA), Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; file no. 235360, 4; Pr. Gheorghe Pătrașcu, Zile de încarcerare și de har [Days of imprisonment and grace] (Roman: Serafica, 2007), 106; Andrea Dobeș, Spații carcerale în România Comunistă. Penitenciarul Sighet (1950–1955) [Prison spaces in Communist Romania. The Sighet Penitentiary (1950–1955)], vol. 2 (Cluj-Napoca: Argonaut, 2021), 958.

[3] ANAP, penal registration papers.

[4] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; Iosif Diac (coord)., Franciscani în zeghe. Auto/biografii și alte texte [Franciscans in detainies uniforms. Auto/biographies and other texts], 2nd edition revised (Roman: Serafica, 2015) 234; Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 958; Dr. Dănuț Doboș, “Figuri ilustre: Pr. Ștefan Tătaru” [Illustrious figures: Fr. Ștefan Tătaru], accessed August 10, 2023, https://ercis.ro/lumina/numar.asp?an=2008&numar=7&id=157.

[5] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 5, 1 v.

[6] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 28.

[7] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 6649, vol. 5, 2.

[8] Pătrașcu, Zile de încarcerare, 106; Diac, Franciscani în zeghe, 234; “Pr. Tătaru Ștefan OFMConv - 26 de ani de la trecerea în veșnicie” [Fr. Tătaru Ștefan OFMConv - 26 years since passing into eternity], accessed August 13, 2023, https://www.egco.ro/2021/03/09/pr-tataru-stefan-ofmconv-26-de-ani-de-la-trecerea-in-vesnicie/.

[9] Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 958.

[10] Dr. Dănuț Doboș, “Pr. Ştefan Tătaru”, Lumina creștinului [The light of the Christian], no. 7 (July 2008): 11, cited by Silviu Sana, Prezența Franciscanilor în Eparhia de Oradea (1928–2021) (1) [The Presence of the Franciscans in the Diocese of Oradea (1928–2021) (1)], accessed August 13, 2023, https://www.egco.ro/2021/06/08/prezenta-franciscanilor-in-eparhia-de-oradea-1928-20211/.

[11] Antonel-Aurel Ilieș, Sfântul Francisc de Assisi și franciscanii din România. Provincia franciscană conventuală „Sfântul Iosif” [Saint Francis of Assisi and the Franciscans from Romania. “Saint Joseph” Conventual Franciscan Province], 2nd edition (Roman: Serafica/Casa Editrice Franciscana Assisi, 2013), 269, cited by Sana, Prezența Franciscanilor....

[12] Doboș, “Pr. Ştefan Tătaru”…, cited by Sana, Prezența Franciscanilor…; Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 958.

[13] Sergiu Soica, Clerici ai Eparhiei Greco-Catolice de Oradea în detenţie sub regimul comunist din România [Clerics of the Greek Catholic Diocese of Oradea in detention under the Communist regime in Romania] (Cluj-Napoca: Mega, 2014), 19.

[14] Silviu Sana, “Părinții franciscani din Eparhia de Oradea Mare în perioada prigoanei comuniste (1946–1964)” [Franciscan fathers from the Diocese of Oradea Mare during the communist persecution (1946–1964)], Mesagerul Sfântului XXI, no. 127, 11. According to the memorialist Cicerone Ionițoiu, he was a graduate of the Franciscan Roman Catholic Seminary in Oradea, the Theological Academy in Oradea and the Faculty of Theology in Cluj. In 1945, he was rector of the Franciscan Roman Catholic Seminary in Oradea and a Romanian language teacher at the Normal School in Oradea, a position he held until 1948. Cicerone Ionițoiu, Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestați, torturați, întemnițați, uciși. Dicționar. Ș, T, Ț, U, V, W, X, Y, Z [Victims of communist terror. Arrested, tortured, imprisoned, killed. Dictionary. W, T, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z] (București: Mașina de Scris, 2010), 143. I mentioned this last biographical information in the footnote because it does not match that from other sources. Consequently, there are some doubts about its veracity.

[15] “Pr. Tătaru Ștefan OFMConv”

[16] Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 958.

[17] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 28.

[18] Cristian Vasile, Între Vatican și Kremlin. Biserica Greco-Catolică în timpul regimului communist [Between the Vatican and the Kremlin. The Greek Catholic Church during the Communist regime] (București: Curtea Veche, 2003), 218.

[19] During that period, there were also other “espionage” trials that targeted high-ranking Roman Catholic clerics. For example, the trials against Márton Áron, Nischbach Joseph, Hieronymus Menges and Augustin Pacha. See William Totok, Episcopul, Hitler si Securitatea. Procesul stalinist împotriva “spionilor Vaticanului” din România [The Bishop, Hitler and the Securitatea. The Stalinist trial against the “Vatican spies” in Romania] (Iași: Polirom, 2008); Mihai Godo, Iezuit. Nu câinele comuniștilor. Surâsul nedeținutului [Jesuit. Not the dog of the communists. The neprisoner”s smile] (Oradea: Ratio et Revelatio, 2014), 118–121; Claudiu Călin, “Procesul episcopului Augustin Pacha și al membrilor Aulei Episcopale Romano‑Catolice de Timișoara - portrete şi destine din arhivele Episcopiei Timișorene” [The trial of Bishop Augustin Pacha and the Members of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Hall of Timișoara - Portraits and Destinies from the Archives of the Diocese of Timișoara], in Cosmin Budeancă and Florentin Olteanu, eds., Destine individuale şi colective în communism [Individual and collective destinies in communism] (Iași: Polirom, 2013), 112-130; Cosmin Budeancă and Jánosi Csongor, “Sándor Imre (1893–1956) - destinul unui preot romano‑catolic” [Sándor Imre (1893–1956): The Destiny of a Roman Catholic Priest], in Cosmin Budeancă and Florentin Olteanu eds., Identități sociale, culturale, etnice și religioase în communism [Social, Cultural, Ethnic and Religious Identities in Communism] (Iași: Polirom, 2013), 112–130.

[20] In May 1950, Archbishop Alexandru Cisar, who had been appointed apostolic administrator of the archdiocese of Bucharest, received mandatory domicile. No longer able to exercise his episcopal jurisdiction, he submitted his mandate. Marius Oanță, “Arhiepiscopul Romano-Catolic Alexandru Theodor Cisar, un opozant «înverșunat» al regimului comunist (1880–1954)” [Roman Catholic Archbishop Alexandru Theodor Cisar, a «fierce» opponent of the Communist regime (1880–1954)], in Florentin Olteanu et al., eds., Opoziție și solidaritate în communism [Opposition and Solidarity in Communism] (Cluj-Napoca: Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2018), 42.

[21] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11, 28 f-v; file no. 235360, 2.

[22] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; file no. 235360, 2; file no. 235368, vol. 1, 3; ANAP, penal registration papers.

[23] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 6649, vol. 5, 146–147, 173–174, 246–247, 303–306, 311.

[24] Clemente Gatti (1880–1952). Franciscan monk, Italian citizen, parish priest of the Italian church in Bucharest, in Romania since 1939. He was arrested on 8 March 1951 and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He served his sentence in Văcărești prison. Seriously ill, after high-level interventions, he was released and allowed to go to Italy. He died soon after, on 6 June 1952. ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 6649, vol. 1, 81; vol. 8, 307; Mihai Pelin, “Securitatea, pe urmele muribunzilor” [Security, in the footsteps of the dying] accessed August 14, 2023, https://mihaipelin.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/securitatea-pe-urmele-muribunzilor/.

[25] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; file no. 235368, vol. 1, 3.

[26] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; file no. 235360, 2, 4; Doboș, “Figuri ilustre…”; Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 958–959.

[27] Alexandru Todea (1912–2002) was a clandestine Greek Catholic bishop. He was arrested on 31 January 1951 and sentenced to hard labour for life, later reduced to twenty-five years hard labour. He served his sentence in Sighet, Râmnicu Sărat, Jilava, Pitești, Dej, Gherla and Văcărești prisons. He was released on August 4, 1964. ANAP, penal registration papers.

[28] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; file no. 235360, 4; file no. 235368, vol 1, 3, 4; Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 2, 64–76, 111–112; ANAP, penal registration papers.

[29] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 3, 84, 85; vol. 5, 1, 18, 24, 27, 93, 122, 127; vol. 6, 38; Informative Fund, file no. 235360, 4, 6; ANAP, penal registration papers; Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 859, 958, 960; See the list of penitentiaries with periods of execution and a description of the detention in Sighet in Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 959–960; the list of the prisons in Soica, see Clerici ai Eparhiei, 303.

[30] According to medical documents, he suffered from ulcer disease, chronic rheumatic polyarthritis, beginning in 1946. ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 5, 7.

[31] Doboș, Figuri ilustre.

[32] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 5, 73.

[33] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235360, 9.

[34] Underlining of the text in original.

[35] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 5, 71 f-v.

[36] Ibid., 62.

[37] Ibid., 37.

[38] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; file no. 235360, 2, 4; Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 2, 64–76, 111–112; ANAP, penal registration papers.

[39] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235368, vol. 2, 138–139.

[40] Idem, file no. 235360, 5, 10.

[41] Ibid., 10.

[42] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 2, 64–76, 111–112; vol. 5, 2; Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11; file no. 235360, 4; ANAP, penal registration paper.

[43] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235360, 2 v.

[44] Ibid., 7, 27; file no. 235368, vol. 1, 2; vol. 2, 197.

[45] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 12; file no. 235360, 38; Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 961–962.

[46] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235368, vol. 2, 4, 5.

[47] Ibid., 2, 3; vol. 3, 65; file no. 5806, 12.

[48] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235368, vol. 2, 21.

[49] Ibid., cover 2, 2.

[50] Ibid., 77.

[51] Ibid., 77, 194–196, 202; vol. 3, 370. Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 962–963.

[52] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235368, vol. 2, 202 v.

[53] Ibid., 28–32.

[54] Ibid., 202.

[55] Ibid., 77, 194–196, 202; vol. 3, 370. Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 962–963.

[56] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235368, vol. 1, 26; vol. 2, 26.

[57] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 11, 28.

[58] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 12; file no. 235368, vol. 2, cover 2, 2 v, 4, 5, 15–18; vol. 3, 65–66.

[59] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235368, vol. 2, 18 v, 19–23, 26, 77.

[60] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 5806, 28 f-v.

[61] Ibid., 28 v.

[62] Ibid., 63.

[63] Ibid., 77.

[64] Pătrașcu, Zile de încarcerare, 106; Diac, Franciscani în zeghe, 234; “Pr. Tătaru Ștefan OFMConv”.

[65] Pătrașcu, Zile de încarcerare, 106; Doboș, “Figuri ilustre…”; Diac, Franciscani în zeghe, 234; Cicerone Ionițoiu, Victimele terorii comuniste, 143; Interview with Gavril Buzași, made by Aurora Sasu, in Soica, Clerici ai Eparhiei, 49.

[66] Pătrașcu, Zile de încarcerare, 106; Diac, Franciscani în zeghe, 234; Doboș, “Figuri ilustre…”; Dobeș, Spații carcerale, 958, 965; “Pr. Tătaru Ștefan OFMConv”.

[67] ANCSSA, Penal Fund, file no. 197, vol. 10, 43–47; Doboș, “Figuri ilustre…”.

[68] Doboș, “Figuri ilustre…”.

[69] ANCSSA, Informative Fund, file no. 235360, 28.