Romanian Archbishop Bartolomeu reposes in the Lord

The [Romanian Orthodox] Church says a senior Orthodox bishop who was imprisoned by the Communists and decades later narrowly missed out on being elected the leader of the Romanian Orthodox Church has died. He was 89.

Archbishop Bartolomeu Valeriu Anania of Vad, Feleac and Cluj has died late Monday from heart failure.

Anania was sentenced for political reasons in the 1950s and released in 1964. The Romanian Orthodox Church, to which more than 80 per cent of Romanians belong, later sent him to the United States for 12 years. In 2007, he was a candidate for patriarch, or church leader, but lost to current patriarch Daniel.

Anania publicly opposed to homosexuality, drugs and genetic engineering. He also spoke out against corruption. He will be buried Thursday in a cathedral in Cluj.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

2/3/2011

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