36 Facts About Ghenadie Petrescu

Ghenadie Petrescu preserved an interest in politics, espousing a nationalist Orthodox agenda and finding himself allies on both sides of Romania's two-party system, Conservative and National Liberal.

Ghenadie Petrescu earned support from the opposition Conservatives, and was energetically defended in print by poet Alexandru Macedonski.

Ghenadie Petrescu was born in the Wallachian capital of Bucharest, in 1836.

Ghenadie Petrescu's parents were of lowly origins, and his native home was in Hagiului mahala.

In parallel, Ghenadie Petrescu trained for the priesthood, was received into its ranks in 1869, eventually serving as the Metropolitan's Ecclesiarch.

Ghenadie Petrescu was however noted for not having followed the academic path of theology, and for not having attended public school.

Ghenadie Petrescu's was vocal among the anti-reform clergy, at a time when the Church threatened to excommunicate those politicians who acted in favor of reforming the citizenship law.

Ghenadie Petrescu later expanded on such subjects, helping to enshrine the notion of communion between church, nation and state, and arguing: "The Church is the foundation stone of any State, and the State cannot exist without it".

In 1874, when Titu Maiorescu was Minister of Religious Affairs, Ghenadie Petrescu was unanimously voted an Archiereus by the Romanian Synod.

Ghenadie Petrescu was assigned to the Arges Bishopric in February 1875, when Petre P Carp was head of the Ministry.

Ghenadie Petrescu's selection coincided with a period of "consolidation", which cemented the reforms of the previous period, when the United Principalities had become the modern Romanian state and the church hierarchies had been fused together.

The former Bishop of Arges, named Ghenadie Petrescu, had taken part in the effort to consolidate the international prestige of Romanian Orthodoxy, by participating in bilateral meetings with the Old Catholic Church.

Ghenadie Petrescu oversaw the creation of a new reliquary to host the remains of Saint Filofteia.

Dobrescu-Arges credits Ghenadie Petrescu with having been an active participant in all public works done for the benefit of the region, from the boulevard cutting across Curtea de Arges to the railway network which connected it to the world.

From 1889, Ghenadie Petrescu published 8 volumes of anthology, Acte si documente privind renasterea Romaniei.

Bishop Ghenadie Petrescu was a candidate for the Metropolitan seat in 1885, and gained significant support.

Dobrescu-Arges later claimed that Ghenadie Petrescu withdrew from the race after the National Liberal lobby, who supported Iosif Gheorghidan for the position, asked him to do so; there was no grudge preserved between the two contestants, with Ghenadie Petrescu canvassing votes for Iosif.

When Metropolitan Iosif resigned in early 1893, Ghenadie Petrescu was one of the first choices for the seat: in May, the Synod and Parliament of Romania both voted him in as leader the Romanian Church.

Since Ghenadie Petrescu lacked formal training, the regulation on such appointments had to be modified.

Once ordained Metropolitan, Ghenadie Petrescu did not interrupt his activities as a scholar, and, in 1894, published Evangheliile.

Ghenadie Petrescu was still preoccupied with church art and architecture, and, in 1894, arranged for the restoration of Bucharest's Darvari Skete.

Ghenadie Petrescu held a de jure seat in the Senate of Romania, and was President of the Naturalization Commission, which mainly assessed requests made by non-emancipated Romanian Jews.

Ghenadie Petrescu was thus involved in the controversy surrounding Lazar Saineanu, a Jewish scholar whose application was repeatedly rejected by the antisemitic lobby.

The period brought another scandal: Ghenadie Petrescu found himself at odds with parts of the establishment, at a time when the Orthodox Church was being governed under a new statute, allowing for extended public control exercised by civilian members of the Synod.

The statute was hotly opposed by members of the clergy: as Protosyngel Miron Cristea noted in 1909, Ghenadie Petrescu's rule coincided with a nadir for the nation's clergymen.

Ghenadie Petrescu selected the baptismal font, a relic of the Domnita Balasa Church collection, and, following the ceremony, offered it as a gift to King Carol; he later tried to console Domnita Balasa priests by sending them a replica of the font.

On official visit to the Aromanians of Macedonia, Metropolitan Ghenadie Petrescu held mass in the Romanian vernacular, prompting the Patriarch to demand that the Romanian Synod sanction its leader.

Ghenadie Petrescu broke tradition when he invited Sturdza to attend a meeting of the Safta Brancoveanu Foundation, the church's main charity outlet.

Ghenadie Petrescu's dismissal was especially controversial: according to Familia, the event "shook temperaments" in Bucharest and made "a lively impression" on Transylvanian observers.

Ghenadie Petrescu was joined in this effort by Fleva and by various other public figures: journalist Eugen Vaian, poet Tudor Arghezi, writer and future priest Gala Galaction.

In June 1896, Ghenadie Petrescu received an order from the Attorney General to vacate the Metropolitan's Palace.

Ghenadie Petrescu objected, arguing that the Synod had broken the governing law, and stating that he would only leave if presented with a Royal Decree.

At that moment, the pro-Ghenadie Petrescu crowd attempted to storm into Senate and were met with excessive force by the Gendarmes, leading to a street battle in front of University quarters.

In Catholic circles, Ghenadie Petrescu's dismissal was reported as a clue that the Orthodox Church was in crisis.

In compensation for the loss of his see, Ghenadie Petrescu was appointed a lifetime Starets of his place of exile, with a special law passed in 1909.

Ghenadie Petrescu took an active part in restoring and refurbishing the monastery complex, which had been heavily damaged by time, and intervened on sites outside his jurisdiction.