Forty years since the repose of Patriarch Iustin Moisescu: A founder of Romanian theological culture

The Romanian Orthodox Church on Friday marks 40 years since the repose of Patriarch Iustin Moisescu , one of its most distinguished scholars and a major contributor to Romanian theological culture.

Patriarch Iustin Moisescu was born on 5 March 1910 in the village of Cândești, Argeș County, Romania. He studied at the War Orphans’ Seminary in Câmpulung-Muscel, followed by the Faculty of Theology in Athens. He later continued his studies in Strasbourg and returned to Athens, where he earned a doctorate in theology with a dissertation titled “Evagrius Ponticus: His Life, Writings and Teaching.”

He enjoyed a distinguished academic career, teaching Latin at the Nifon Seminary in Bucharest and New Testament at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Warsaw, before becoming Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the theological faculties in Chernivtsi and Bucharest.

In 1956, he was ordained a celibate priest and elected Archbishop of Sibiu and Metropolitan of Transylvania. A year later, he became Archbishop of Iași and Metropolitan of Moldavia and Suceava, a position he held for two decades.

Patriarch of Romania On 12 June 1977, he was elected Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan…