On This Day: Metropolitan Nicodim Munteanu elected Patriarch of Romania in 1939

Eighty-seven years ago today, Metropolitan Nicodim Munteanu was elected Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, succeeding Patriarch Miron Cristea.

Nicodim Munteanu was born Nicolae on 6 December 1864 in the village of Pipirig, Neamț County, into a devout farming family.

At the age of fourteen, he entered the monastic community of Pocrov Skete near Neamț Monastery, where one of his uncles served as abbot. His parents also embraced the monastic life in their later years.

In 1894, he was tonsured a monk at Neamț Monastery, receiving the name Nicodim (Nicodemus). He was ordained to the diaconate at Iași and, in 1896, to the priesthood as hieromonk.

That same year, he was appointed Great Ecclesiarch and preacher of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iași, and in 1898, he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite and appointed Administrative Vicar of the Metropolis.

Between 1902 and 1909, he served as Administrative Vicar of the Diocese of the Lower Danube before becoming Rector of St Andrew’s Theological Seminary in Galați. In 1909, he was elected Auxiliary Bishop of the Metropolis of Moldavia with the title Bishop of Băcău. From 1912 to 1923, he served as Bishop of Huși,…