Dumitru Stăniloae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dumitru Stăniloae (29 November [O.S. 16 November] 1903 Vlădeni, Braşov County - 5 October 1993) was a Romanian Eastern Orthodox priest, theologian, academic and professor. Father Stăniloae worked for over 45 years on a comprehensive Romanian translation of the Philokalia, a collection of writings by the Church Fathers. His masterpiece, The Dogmatic Orthodox Theology (1978), makes him one of the most reputed Christian Theologians of the second half of the 20th century. He produced valuable comments on the works of the Fathers of the Church, such as Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, or Athanasius the Great.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Works 3 Quotes 4 External links 5 Notes

[edit] Biography

• 1903. Dumitru Stăniloae is born on 16 November, in Vlădeni, Braşov County. He is the last of five children of Rebeca (mother) and Irimie (father). His mother was a priest niece.
• 1917. On 10 February he goes to Braşov to study at the Andrei Şaguna Confessional Humanist Lyceum.
• 1918. In the 4^th grade, he receives a fellowship from Gojdu Foundation.
• 1922. He receives a fellowship from Cernăuţi University.^[1] Deceived by the quality of the manuals and the teaching methods, he quits the University after one year.
• 1923-1924. He attends courses of the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Letters.
• 1924. During the Easter Fast, he meets Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan who offers him a fellowship at the Metropolitan Center in Sibiu.
• 1927. He graduates from Cernauţi University.^[1] His graduating thesis is Baptizing Children (supervisor: Prof. Vasile Loichiţă). He receives a fellowship to study theology in Athens.
• 1928 (fall). He earns his doctor's degree in Cernăuţi^[1] (thesis: Life and work of Dosoftei of Jerusalem and his connections with Romanian Pricipalities). The Metropolitan Center in Sibiu offers him a fellowship in Byzantology and Dogmatics. He goes to Munchen to attend the courses of Prof. August Heisenberg (father of physicist Werner Heisenberg).
• 1929. He goes to Berlin and Paris to study and document on the original work of Gregory Palamas. Returning in Romania, he works as substitute teacher, then as provisional teacher.
• 1930. He goes to Constantinople to study and copy the theological work of Gregory Palamas. On 4 October he marries Maria (English, Mary), born Mihu.
• 1931. On 10 May he is born twins: Dumitru (who dies in September 1931) and Maria. On 8 October he is ordained deacon.
• 1932. On 25 September he is ordained priest.
• 1933. On 8 October his daughter Lidia is born, baptized by transylvanian historian Ioan Lupaş.
• 1934. Since 1 January he is the director of Telegraful Român (Romanian Telegraph) newspaper (until 1945). He meets Nichifor Crainic who became a close friend.
• 1936. In June he became rector of the Theological Academy in Sibiu (until 1946).
• 1940. In summer Romania enters World War II. At the initiative of poet Sandu Tudor the Rugul aprins (Burning altar) group is founded. It was composed of hieromonk Ivan Kulighin (confessor of Russian Metropolitan of Rostov, refugee at Cernica), hieromonk Benedict Ghius, hieromonk Sofian Boghiu, Prof. Alex. Mironescu, poet Vasile Voiculescu, architect Constantin Joja, father Andrei Scrima, Ion Marin Sadoveanu. The group, gathering regularly at the Cernica and Antim monasteries, constitutes a rejuvenation of the Christian life in Bucharest.
• 1945. At the end of April, his daughter Maria (called Mioara) dies.
• 1946. He is asked by Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan (against his will, but forced by Petru Groza^[2]) to reseign as rector of the Theological Academy in Sibiu. He remains professor until 1947.
• 1947. He is transferred to the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Theology, at the Ascetics and Mystics chair. He lives with his wife and daughter in the parochial house of Sf. Gheorghe Vechi church.
• 1949. The Misctics chair at the Faculty is abolished. He is still professor of Dogmatics, teaching doctoral graduands.
• 1950. He attends the meetings of Rugul aprins group of which he's not a member.
• 1955. There is a great conference of Orthodox priests in Sibiu. Petru Groza,^[2] member of the presidium, refuses to talk to Father Stăniloae. This will have bad consequences later. St. Calinic of Cernica is consecrated.
• 1958. There is a new massive wave of political arrests in Romania as condition for Soviet Army to retreat from the country.^[3] The members of Rugul aprins group are arrested. Stăniloae is pursued by Securitate.^[4] There is a search on 4 September, conducted by the secret police, at his house in Bucharest. On 5 September, at 4 AM, he is carried to the prison in Uranus St. where he stays for a month. Then he's carried to the Plevnei St. where he stays another months. On 4 November his political trial begins.
• 1959. Stăniloae is in Aiud prison. He is kept in total isolation for a few months. His daughter Lidia give birth to his only granchild, Dumitru Horia. Lidia, assistant teacher at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Physics, is asked to leave the Faculty.^[5]
• 1961. In autumn he is brought to Bucharest for new penal inquiries.
• 1962. In March he is again in Aiud prison.
• 1963. He is freed from the prison and starts working as functionary at the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. In October he begins teaching again.
• 1965. He is asked by those who censored him earlier to write articles and studies (State Department of Cults wants to show to the Western world the image of religious freedom).
• 1968. He is invited to conferences in Freiburg and Heidelberg by Prof. Paul Miron. He receives the approval for the trip from the State Department of Cults who wants to change the image of Romania.^[6]
• 1969. He lectures at Oxford University. He became friend with theologian Donald Allchin.
• 1971. He goes to Vatican as member of a delegation of Romanian Orthodox Church.
• 1973. He retires, but remains consultant professor in doctoral studies.
• 1976. He became Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Thessaloniki.
• 1980. He is awarded Dr. Leopold Lucas prize of the Faculty of Theology in Tübingen.
• 1981. He became Doctor Honoris Causa of the Saint-Serge Orthodox Institute in Paris. He is awarded in London with the Cross Sf. Augustin in Canterbury for theological and Christian merits.
• 1982. He became Doctor Honoris Causa of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade. In November he lectures in New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Washington.
• 1990. He became correspondent member of the Romanian Academy.^[7]
• 1991. He is elected acting member of the Romanian Academy. He became Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Theology in Athens.
• 1992. He became Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Bucharest.
• 1993. On 5 October, Dumitru Stăniloae dies at the age of 90.

[edit] Works

• Catholicism after the War, Sibiu, 1932
• Life and teachings of Gregory Palamas, Sibiu, 1938
• Orthodoxy and Romanianism, Sibiu, 1939
• The standing of Mr. Lucian Blaga on Christianity and Orthodoxism, Sibiu, 1942
• Jesus Christ or man's restoration, Sibiu, 1943
• Philokalia (translation); vol. 1: Sibiu, 1946; vol. 2: Sibiu, 1947; vol. 3: Sibiu, 1948; vol. 4: Sibiu, 1948; vol. 5: Bucharest, 1976; vol. 6: Bucharest, 1977; vol. 7: Bucharest, 1978; vol. 8: Bucharest, 1979; vol. 9: Bucharest, 1980.
• Uniatism in Transylvania, an attempt to dismember the Romanian people, Bucharest, 1973
• Treaty of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Bucharest, 1978
• Dieu est Amour, Geneve, 1980
• Theology and the Church, New York, 1980
• Praying, freedom, holiness, Athens, 1980
• Priere de Jesus et experience de Saint Esprit, Paris, 1981
• Orthodox Spirituality, Bucharest, 1981
• Moral Orthodox Theology, vol. 2, Bucharest, 1981
• St. Gregory of Nyssa - Writings (translation), Bucharest, 1982
• Orthodoxe Dogmatik, 1985
• Le genie de l'orthodoxie, Paris, 1985
• Spirituality a communion in Orthodox lithurgy, Craiova, 1986.
• God's eternal face, Craiova, 1987
• St. Athanasius the Great - Writings (translation), Bucharest, 1987
• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Studies (Christology of St. Maximus the Confessor, Man and God, St. Symeon The New Theologian, Hymns of God's love), Craiova, 1991
• St. Cyril of Alexandria - Writings (translation), Bucharest, 1991

[edit] Quotes

• "The glory to which man is called is that he should grow more godlike by growing ever more human."^[8]
• "Love for God, or more strictly, thought taken for God, represents a continuous contribution toward more and more authentic relations among humans."^[8]
• "Humans, must work and think in solidarity with regard to the transformation of the gifts of nature. Thus it is through the mediation of nature that solidarity is created among humans, and work, guided by thought, is a principle virtue creative of communion among humans."^[8]

[edit] External links

• (Romanian) Dumitru Stăniloae article in Dictionary of Romanian Theologians [1]
• (Romanian) Freely ownloadable interviews (audio and video) can be found at www.sfaturiortodoxe.ro and www.ortodox.tv
• (Romanian) From East to West, interview with Sorin Dumitrescu on eastern vs. western spirituality [2]
• (Romanian) Dacă n-ar fi iubirea Tatălui şi a Duhului, n-ar fi nici Hristos, interview [3]
• (Romanian) Teologie Dogmatică Ortodoxă freely downloadable at Bilioteca Teologică Digitală (Digital Theologic Library)
• (Romanian) Scurtă interpretare teologică a naţiunii by Dumitru Stăniloae [4]
• (Romanian) Învierea Domnului şi importanţa ei universală by Dumitru Stăniloae [5]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Cernăuţi (Romanian) = Чернівці, Chernivtsi (Ukrainian). This article uses the Romanian form for the name of this city in northern Bukovina.
2. ^ ^{a b} First communist Premier of Romania.
3. ^ The Soviet Army, also called Liberating Soviet Army, stayed in Romania since 1944. The decision of the Romanian Communist Party to restrict the Soviet Union's interference in Romania's internal affairs was motivated by power desire only, and divided the communism in Romania into a Stalinist period and a nationalist communist one.
4. ^ Political police force of Communist Romania.
5. ^ Having a relative political detainee was a bad mark for someone in Communist Romania. That means refusal of ascension in social status.
6. ^ In Communist Romania a trip to Western countries was not possible without approval from the regime structures.
7. ^ After the fall of communism in 1989, it is possible his work to be publicly recognized.
8. ^ ^{a b c} From "The Experience of God", Holy Cross Orthodox Press