Alexandru Baltaga
Encyclopedia
Alexandru Baltagă was a Bessarabia
n Romanian Orthodox
priest, a founder of the Bessarabian religious press in the Romanian language, a member of Sfatul Ţării
(1917–1918), a Soviet political prisoner, and, according to the Orthodox Church, a martyr for the faith.
. On June 15, 1883, he graduated with distinctions from the Teological Seminary in Chişinău, the capital of Bessarabia, after which he worked for two years in the same city as a teacher at the Teological School for Boys. He was ordained on January 26, 1886 as a deacon, and on February 2, 1886 as priest, being given the parish in the village of Călăraşi-Sat, Lăpuşna County. In 1922, the village had 429 households. It was there that Fr. Baltagă adopted and raised two children, Vsevolod and Margareta.
In 1890-1905, he was inspector bisericesc in circumscripţia protopopială Orhei, in 1905-1926 he was protopop of the 5th cerc in the Orhei County
, in 1928-1935 protopop of the 3rd cerc in Lăpuşna County. In 1931, he became protoiereu and president of the cercul preoţesc Lăpuşna. Since 1925 till his death, he was member of the Adunarea Eparhială of the Archbishopric of Chişinău, and from 1932, he was eparhial representative in the National Church (bisericesc) Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Church. In 1904-1922, Fr. Baltagă was the president of a revisory commeettee, and in 1922-1935, president of the Administrative Council of the "Union of Orthodox Clerics of Bessarabia". On July 1, 1935, he was retired, but the Metropolis of Bessarabia and the Romanian Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, through a special decree, offered him the exceptional right of serving until death in the Călăraşi-Sat parish. He had the rank of iconom-mitrofor.
In 1893-1895, 1898, 1902, 1919–1925, he was president of the School Congresses of Bessarabia. From 1903 till 1918 he was elected each year as president of the Annual Eparhial Congresses of Bessarabia. From 1908 on, he was one of the key aides of Gurie Grosu
in the editing and printing of the Romanian language Bessarabian religious journal Luminătorul. In the first period, this journal served also as the eparhial bulletin of Bessarabia. Baltagă made crucial contributions to the establishment and functioning of the diocesan printing press in 1906-1917. Also in 1906-1917, he was a member of the Council of the Birth of Christ Brotherhood, and in 1911-1918, director of the 6-year school for church singers in Călăraşi-Târg.
. He also co-represented the Social Democratic Party-the Mensheviks. As an MP, on March 27, 1918 (OS April 9, 1918), he voted in favor of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania
.
.
officers broke in and attempted to arrest him. Baltagă refused, saying he would follow them only after the mass. The political police had to retreat empty-handed. The following night, they snatched him from his bed, and without allowing him to dress, took him to Chişinău, where he was subjected to interrogation in the cellars of the NKVD building. His interrogator was NKVD lieutenant Cherepanov, a superior interrogator of the NKVD of the MSSR, who accused Alexandru Baltagă that "[...] in 1918, having an enemy attitude toward the Soviet Russia, he actively participated in the Sfatul Ţării, and voted for the estrangement of Bessarabia from the Soviet Russia and for its Union with Romania [...] In the following year, as an active clerik, he fought against the revolutionary movement [...]" There exist reports that during his interrogation, Baltagă was subjected to physical and psychological pressure. It is reported that to investigators' questions "Show us your God!", he was replying "When you show me your mind, then I [would] show you my God!" (literal translation). After Romanian Army crossed back into Bessarabia, the Soviets moved him to the interior of the USSR. He died what some Orthodox texts refer to as a martyr's death in Kazan, on August 7, 1941.
Baltagă received numerous clerical and lay distinctions, including the Golden Cross
of the Russian Holy Synod
(April 18, 1903), St. Anna Order of third (May 6, 1907) and second class (May 6, 1912), St. Vladimir Order of the 4th degree, in gold (May 6, 1915), Star of Romania Order in the rank of officer (May 31, 1923), Order of the Romanian Crown in rank of commander (June 13, 1928), Order Ferdinand I in rank of knight (June 8, 1935). In reference to his authority among the clergy, and his work for the church, Gala Galaction
considered him "patriarch of the Bessarabian priests".
In October 1995, the Adunarea Eparhială of the Metropolis of Bessarabia proposed investigative research on Alexandru Baltagă's life, with a view toward canonisation.
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
n Romanian Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
priest, a founder of the Bessarabian religious press in the Romanian language, a member of Sfatul Ţării
Sfatul Tarii
Sfatul Țării was, in 1917-1918, the National Assembly of the Governorate of Bessarabia of the disintegrating Russian Empire, which proclaimed the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic in December 1917, and then union with Romania in April 1918.-Russian participation in World War I:In August...
(1917–1918), a Soviet political prisoner, and, according to the Orthodox Church, a martyr for the faith.
In Russia
Son of Ştefan Baltagă, a priest, Alexandru followed the primary school in his home village of Lozova, Lăpuşna County, Bessarabia, then under the Russian ruleRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. On June 15, 1883, he graduated with distinctions from the Teological Seminary in Chişinău, the capital of Bessarabia, after which he worked for two years in the same city as a teacher at the Teological School for Boys. He was ordained on January 26, 1886 as a deacon, and on February 2, 1886 as priest, being given the parish in the village of Călăraşi-Sat, Lăpuşna County. In 1922, the village had 429 households. It was there that Fr. Baltagă adopted and raised two children, Vsevolod and Margareta.
In 1890-1905, he was inspector bisericesc in circumscripţia protopopială Orhei, in 1905-1926 he was protopop of the 5th cerc in the Orhei County
Orhei County
Orhei was a county of Moldova from 1998 to 2003. Its population in 2003 was 300,400. Its capital was Orhei.-External links:* , Statoids.com...
, in 1928-1935 protopop of the 3rd cerc in Lăpuşna County. In 1931, he became protoiereu and president of the cercul preoţesc Lăpuşna. Since 1925 till his death, he was member of the Adunarea Eparhială of the Archbishopric of Chişinău, and from 1932, he was eparhial representative in the National Church (bisericesc) Congress of the Romanian Orthodox Church. In 1904-1922, Fr. Baltagă was the president of a revisory commeettee, and in 1922-1935, president of the Administrative Council of the "Union of Orthodox Clerics of Bessarabia". On July 1, 1935, he was retired, but the Metropolis of Bessarabia and the Romanian Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, through a special decree, offered him the exceptional right of serving until death in the Călăraşi-Sat parish. He had the rank of iconom-mitrofor.
In 1893-1895, 1898, 1902, 1919–1925, he was president of the School Congresses of Bessarabia. From 1903 till 1918 he was elected each year as president of the Annual Eparhial Congresses of Bessarabia. From 1908 on, he was one of the key aides of Gurie Grosu
Gurie Grosu
Gurie Grosu was a Bessarabian priest and the first Metropolitan of Bessarabia.- Biography :Gurie Grosu was born on January 1, 1877 in Nimoreni and died on November 14, 1943 in Bucharest...
in the editing and printing of the Romanian language Bessarabian religious journal Luminătorul. In the first period, this journal served also as the eparhial bulletin of Bessarabia. Baltagă made crucial contributions to the establishment and functioning of the diocesan printing press in 1906-1917. Also in 1906-1917, he was a member of the Council of the Birth of Christ Brotherhood, and in 1911-1918, director of the 6-year school for church singers in Călăraşi-Târg.
Political career
On the background of the dissolution of the Russian Empire, the Diocesan Congress in Chişinău (November 21–27, 1917 / December 4–10, 1917), elected him as a representative of the Bessarabian priesthood in Sfatul ŢăriiSfatul Tarii
Sfatul Țării was, in 1917-1918, the National Assembly of the Governorate of Bessarabia of the disintegrating Russian Empire, which proclaimed the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic in December 1917, and then union with Romania in April 1918.-Russian participation in World War I:In August...
. He also co-represented the Social Democratic Party-the Mensheviks. As an MP, on March 27, 1918 (OS April 9, 1918), he voted in favor of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania
Union of Bessarabia with Romania
On , the Sfatul Ţării, or National Council, of Bessarabia proclaimed union with the Kingdom of Romania.-Governorate of Bessarabia:The 1812 Treaty of Bucharest between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empires provided for Russian annexation of the eastern half of the territory of the Principality...
.
Awards
Baltagă was held in high esteem, loved, and regarded as a spiritual father by his enoriaşi. It is being reported that he repeated many times "I would not allow my flock to be swallowed by the red wolves" (an allusion to the Bolshevik danger). When the Kazan Mother of God Icon was being shown around Bessarabia, his church was among those that displayed it. With the onslaught of the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia, Alexandru Baltagă remained to serve in his church, despite the fact that it was well-known that the former Sfatul Ţării members were prime targets of the SovietsSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
The soviet persecution
On August 31, 1940, while he was saying mass in St. Alexander's Church in Călăraşi, NKVDNKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
officers broke in and attempted to arrest him. Baltagă refused, saying he would follow them only after the mass. The political police had to retreat empty-handed. The following night, they snatched him from his bed, and without allowing him to dress, took him to Chişinău, where he was subjected to interrogation in the cellars of the NKVD building. His interrogator was NKVD lieutenant Cherepanov, a superior interrogator of the NKVD of the MSSR, who accused Alexandru Baltagă that "[...] in 1918, having an enemy attitude toward the Soviet Russia, he actively participated in the Sfatul Ţării, and voted for the estrangement of Bessarabia from the Soviet Russia and for its Union with Romania [...] In the following year, as an active clerik, he fought against the revolutionary movement [...]" There exist reports that during his interrogation, Baltagă was subjected to physical and psychological pressure. It is reported that to investigators' questions "Show us your God!", he was replying "When you show me your mind, then I [would] show you my God!" (literal translation). After Romanian Army crossed back into Bessarabia, the Soviets moved him to the interior of the USSR. He died what some Orthodox texts refer to as a martyr's death in Kazan, on August 7, 1941.
Baltagă received numerous clerical and lay distinctions, including the Golden Cross
Golden Cross
Golden Cross may be:* Golden Cross, Oxford, a shopping arcade* Golden Cross, Shrewsbury, a public house* Golden Cross, Coventry, a public house* Golden Cross mine, New Zealand...
of the Russian Holy Synod
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
(April 18, 1903), St. Anna Order of third (May 6, 1907) and second class (May 6, 1912), St. Vladimir Order of the 4th degree, in gold (May 6, 1915), Star of Romania Order in the rank of officer (May 31, 1923), Order of the Romanian Crown in rank of commander (June 13, 1928), Order Ferdinand I in rank of knight (June 8, 1935). In reference to his authority among the clergy, and his work for the church, Gala Galaction
Gala Galaction
Gala Galaction was a Romanian Orthodox clergyman and theologian, writer, journalist, left-wing activist, as well as a political figure of the People's Republic of Romania...
considered him "patriarch of the Bessarabian priests".
In October 1995, the Adunarea Eparhială of the Metropolis of Bessarabia proposed investigative research on Alexandru Baltagă's life, with a view toward canonisation.
Further reading
- Elena Postică, Maria Praporscic, Vera Stăvilă, coordinators, Cartea Memoriei: catalog al victimelor totalitarismului communist, Editura Ştiinţa, Chişinău, vol. 1, 1999, vol. 2, 2001, vol. 3, 2003
- Iurie ColesnicIurie Colesnic- Biography :Iurie Colesnic has been a member of the Parliament of Moldova since 2009 and has been a member of the European Action Movement since 2010...
, Basarabia Necunoscuta, 5+ volumes, Editura Museum, Chişinău, 1993- - Alexandru Chiriac, Mic dicţionar al membrilor Sfatului Ţării din Chişinău, in Patrimoniu, revistă de lectură istorică, 2 / 1991, Chişinău
- Alexandru Baltagă, Situaţia catastrofală a băncii clerului ortodox din Basarabia, Chişinău, 1926
- Luminătorul (periodical of the Metropolis of Bessarabia), 1908-