AUTHOR: Pr. Eugen DRĂGOI
TBISHOP MELCHISEDEC ŞTEFĂNESCU AND ARCHPOPE IOAN SEVERIN. UNPUBLISHED LETTERS
Danubius, XLII, Galati, 2024, pp. 511-520.
Abstract
It is well known, from previous publications, the outstanding personality of the Archpriest of Covurlui, Ioan Severin, as well as the close connection between him and Bishop Melchisedec Ştefănescu. Bishop Melchisedec’s appreciation of his former apprentice from the Theological Seminary in Huși – whom he appointed, in 1863, archpriest at the First Deanery of Covurlui, where he admirably pastored for almost a quarter of a century, and recommended him for the post of serving priest at the Romanian Chapel from Paris, with the support of the poet Vasile Alecsandri, Minister Plenipotentiary of Romania in France. He honored this assignment for 7 years – it did not stop even after the eminent bishop of the Lower Danube moved to the throne of the Episcopate of Roman (in 1879).
This can be seen from the unpublished letters, preserved in „Mihai Eminescu” Central University Library in Iași, which we publish in this work (in case of some, only the extracts that refer to the subject we approach in the present study), the epistolary testimonies offering a more detailed portrait of the great archpope, burried in „Eternity” cemetery, in Galați. They also testify about his respect and love for his hierarch and model of servant, even while he was leading the ecclesiastical destinies of another diocese than that of the Lower Danube.