August’s Time – Wikipedia

Posted on by
before-content-x4

Augustin pacha (Moriţfeld, November 26, 1870 – Timiōoara, November 4, 1954) was a Romanian Catholic Bishop.

after-content-x4

Monsignor Augustin Pacha was born in the village of Moriţfeld, today Măureni, on November 26, 1870 in a family of the banned Swabians. [first] He was one of Marian’s thirteen children, Calzolaio, and Elisabetha (born Halsdorf). Elisabetha’s grandparents and great -grandparents arrived in Moriţfeld between 1786 and 1796 from the Palatina, from Treviri and Bavaria. Father Augustin Pacchas was born in Petersdorf, near Königgrätz, Bohemia, and moved in 1838 due to the difficult economic conditions with his parents and three brothers from his native land.

Most of his brothers died at a young age from diseases such as chickenpox and diphtheria. In addition to Augustin, only two sisters and a brother, Stefan, who in turn became a priest.

Training and priestly ministry [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

From 1876 to 1881 he attended elementary schools. He completed his secondary studies in Kecskemét and Seghedino from 1881 to 1887 and Timi 2011 to 1887 to 1889. In this period he learned the Hungarian language in depth. He felt the vocation to the priesthood from an early age. He completed his theological studies in the Timiyondara seminary where he obtained his doctorate in theology.

On August 12, 1893, a presbyter was ordered for the diocese of Csanád in the church of San Giorgio to Timi 2011 by Monsignor Alexander Dessewffy. From 1893 to 1894 he was chaplain in Mezőkovácsháza. The fact that he spoke German, Hungarian, Romanian and Latin, facilitated his practice as a confessor and preacher in Bucharest and Briant carried out from 1896 to 1898. In 1900 he became secretary of the bishop and made several trips to Italy and Austria.

In 1906 he became honorary canon and councilor of the chapter. The Pope assigned him the Croce Pro Ecclesia and Pontifice. In 1911 he was appointed episcopal and canonical chancellor.

On February 10, 1923 in the part of the diocese of Csanád which fell under the reign of Yugoslavia the apostolic administration of the Yugoslav banato was erected, which later became the diocese of Zrenjanin, including 62 parishes. On February 17, 1923 for the 153 parishes of the diocese that fell into the Romanian territory, the Apostolic Administration of Timiyondoara was erected, entrusted to Monsignor Pacha, who on June 5, 1930 gave rise to the diocese of Timi 2011. The Hungarian diocese remained just over 30 parishes.

after-content-x4

On August 26, 1926 the “Banatia” educational institute in Timiyondara inaugurated.

Episcopal ministry [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

On April 3, 1927 Pope Pius XI appointed him the owner of Lebedo. He received episcopal ordination in the Cathedral of San Giorgio a Timiōoara from Archbishop Angelo Maria Dolci, apostolic nuncio in Romania, co-contenting the bishop of Transylvania Gusztáv Károly Majláth and Lugoj’s hepark Alexandru Nicolescu. The following year he received a doctorate Honorary from the University of Münster.

On June 5, 1930, shortly after the signature of the composition with the agreement between the Kingdom of Romania and the Holy See which took place on 11 July 1929, exactly 900 years after the foundation of the diocese of Csanád, Pope Pius XI raised the apostolic administration of Timięsetara to the diocese . On October 16 of the same year Monsignor Augustin Pacha became a bishop. On November 29, 1930 he was crowned in the Cathedral of San Giorgio in Timiōoara. In the same year he was decorated with the order of the crown. From 1939 to 1944 he was senator of the Kingdom.

Between the two world wars, the pastoral activity lived a period of rebirth and Monsignor Pacha recorded good progress in youth pastoral care, also favored by the arrival in 1927 of the Benedictine nuns of Santa Lioba. In the same period two pilgrimages were promoted to Diocesan Marian Sanctuaries, that of Maria Radna and that of Maria Ciclova. He consecrated several new churches: in 1925 that of Teremia Mare, in 1928 that of his hometown, in 1930 those of Jimbolia and Rešița, in 1933 that of Lugoj and the church of the Iosefin monastery, in 1938 that of Elisabetin and in 1939 that of ORōva.

In 1948 the diocese of Timiyondara had 360 000 faithful in 164 parishes and 236 priests, of which 195 diocesans and 43 religious. That year, the new communist regime degraded the diocese to the rank of praised. The religious activity of orders and associations were absolutely prohibited. The theological seminar, as well as all Catholic confessional schools, was confiscated.

Although particularly profitable, the work of Monsignor Pacha was shaded only by his relations with the National Socialists. Although it was not officially a sympathizer of this movement, after August 1944 he would have often been accused of having worked with the Nazis. Both during the investigation, and in the subsequent trial, Monsignor Pacha clearly explained that the purpose of his meetings with Adolf Hitler was to intervene against the Nazi anti-Catholic agitation in the banato: “I, in my quality of bishop of Catholic believers in Banato, the majority of which are of German origin and a large part were within the fascist organization German ethnic group in Romania , I could not remain passive and I did not participate in their demonstrations, because then the believers would have disregarded me. Thus, I participated in several events organized by the German fascist ethnic group. “Demonstrating a certain pastoral ambivalence, Monsignor Pacha in fact hoped to have found a way of life With the Nazi groups and therefore be able to save at least confessional religious education in German schools. In 1942 he had to leave these schools to the management of the German ethnic group of Romania.

In 1948 the communist government removed him from the position with a declaration issued by the principal of the great national assembly. On June 4, 1950, Monsignor Pacha issued a circular in Hungarian language for Catholic priests. In it he invited the priests not to participate in the meeting of Târgu Mureread, where several priests in favor of the regime would have supported the establishment of a Catholic Church separated from Rome.

The culmination of the persecution unleashed against the Bishop and the Catholic Church in the banato was the arrest of Monsignor Pacha, which took place on July 18, 1950. Between 9 and 10 March of the following year the canons, the archdiaconi and the decans were arrested.

During the harsh investigations and the trial, Monsignor Pacha recognized part of the absurd accusations brought against him: “I admit, as indicated in the declarations in the minutes, my intelligence activity against the Romanian state and for the Vatican. My espionage activity began In 1923, when the Vatican appointed me Catholic Bishop of Timi 2011. My espionage activity was based on the canonical law. In my role as a Catholic bishop he had to give occasional relationships to the Vatican on what was happening in my diocese “.

Between 10 and 17 September 1951, one of the most sinister Stalinist political processes in the history of Romania took place in Bucharest. The Ten defendants – The bishop of Timiyondra Augustin Pacha (arrested on July 18, 1950), the clandestine bishop Joseph Schubert (arrested February 17, 1951), the Italian priest Pietro Ernesto Clemente Gatti (arrested March 8, 1951), the rector of the Theological seminar of Timi 2011o and clandestine bishop Adalbert Boroš (arrested March 10, 1951), the secretary of the diocese of Timi 2011 Ioan Heber (arrested March 10, 1951), the head of the stationery of the bishop of Timi 2011 iosif Waltner (arrested March 13, 1951) , the official interpreter of the Legation of Italy in Bucharest Eraldo Pintos (arrested on April 27, 1951), the former inspector and former deputy of the National Assembly and Vice President of an illegal organization, the Christian-Socialist Party, Christian Laziant ștefănescu (arrested on May 4, 1951), the president of the same party and former inspector Gheorghe Sandulescu (arrested May 13, 1951) and the doctor of Bucharest Petre Topa arrested on May 14, 1951) – were involved in the so -called Vatican Spies “trial” . They were sentenced by a military court to particularly heavy penalties. [2] Monsignor Pacha, already eighty -year -old, was sentenced to eighteen years in prison in isolation, the loss of civil rights for ten years and a heavy fine. According to the sentence he would have been freed at the age of one hundred.

He was imprisoned in the prison of Sighetu Marmației, with other martyred bishops of the Catholic Church in Romania. On June 1, 1954, seriously ill with cancer and almost blind, it was pardoned. He returned to Timiōoara on 12 July of the same year knowing that he remained little to live. He did not want to die in prison. Back in the city, he visited the parish of the Cathedral several times with the priests of the place and his sister Ana.

His state of health worsened before the holiday of all the saints and so he had to be taken to the hospital. On November 3 at 11 he suffered surgery. In the best way, anesthesia did not exceed and was then brought to the rectory of the Iozefin district, where he died at 18:30 on November 4th. The funeral were held on November 8 and saw a great participation of faithful.

The Catholic Church includes Bishop Augustin Pacha in the witnesses of faith in the German martyrology of the twentieth century. [3]

Episcopal genealogy is:

Romanian honors [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Foreign honors [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

  • Hans Diplich: Pacha, Augustin . In: Biographical lexicon on the history of Southeast Europe . Volume 3. Munich 1979, pp. 378–380
  • Horst Fassel: Pacha, Augustin. In: Biographical-Bibliographical Church Lexicon (BBKL). Volume 6, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-044-1, col. 1407–1409.
  • Template:BBKL
  • Nikolaus Engelmann: Shepherd of his people. From the life and work of the Temesvar bishop Dr. Theol. H.C. Augustin Pacha. Verlag Christ on the way, Munich 1955.
  • FRANZ CARRY: Memories of Bishop Pacha. A piece of Banater Heimatgeschichte. Adz, Bukarest 1995.
  • FRANZ CARRY: Memories from my Christian-democratic service. Self -published, Freiburg 1967.
  • FRANZ CARRY: My “guilt” and my atonement. Mirton Verlag, Timișoara 1995, ISBN 973-578-038-0.
  • Anton P. Petri: Home book of the German municipality of Moritzfeld im Banat. Homelment local community, Moritzfeld 1986, ISBN 3-922046-53-3.
  • William Totok: The bishop, Hitler and Security. 2 parts. In: Cultural observer. (I): no. 252/253, December 21, 2004-January 3, 2005, ISSN 1454-9883 ( WC · Acnp ) ; (II): no. 254/255, January 4, 2005 – January 17, 2005.
  • William Totok: The bishop, Hitler and the securities. The Stalinist show process against the so -called “spies of the Vatican”, 1951 in Bucharest. 8 parts. In: Half -year script for Southeast European history, literature and politics (HJS). (I): 17. Jg., Nr. 1, 2005, ISSN 0939-3420 ( WC · Acnp ) , S. 25–41; (Ii): 17. jg., Nr. 2, 2005, S. 45–62; (Iii): 18. jg., Nr. 1, 2006, S. 23–43; (IV): 18. jg., Nr. 2, 2006, S. 21–41; (V): 19. jg., Nr. 1/2007, S. 27–41; (VI): 19. Jg., Nr. 2/2007, S. 34–50; (VII): 20. jg., Nr. 1/2008, S. 17–24; (VIII): 20. jg., Nr. 2/2008, S. 45–59.
  • William Totok: The forgotten Stalinist show process against the “spies of the Vatican” in Romania 1951. In: Yearbook for historical communism research. 2005, ISSN 0944-629X ( WC · Acnp ) , S. 233–259.
  • William Totok: Secondary aspects of the process filed for the “Vatican’s spies” in 1951. Unpublished materials from the archives of the repressive apparatus. In: Time. Year VII, no. 7/8, July-August 2006, S. 14–16, online (PDF; 1,23 MB) .
  • William Totok: “Security and Vatican.” In the: Historical store , XLVI. Jg., Nr. 8 (545), August 2012, S. 9–13.

after-content-x4