people of faith. people of justice
DESCRIPTION
Short biographies of women and men of God - from antiquity, Medieval and modern times - who did justiceTRANSCRIPT
People of Faith | 1
Dănuț Mănăstireanu, General Editor
PeoPle of faithPeoPle of Justice
Adoramus Publishers
Iași, Romania – 2010
People of Faith | 5
Dănuț Mănăstireanu, General Editor
PeoPle of faithPeoPle of Justice
Adoramus Publishers
Iași, Romania – 2010
Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a RomânieiPeople of Faith: People of Justice / Marcelin Blaj, Marcel Bulai, Adina Petric, ... ; general ed.: Dănuţ Mănăstireanu; translators: Stuart and Dorothy Elford. - Iași: Adoramus, 2010 ISBN 978-973-87908-4-1
I. Blaj, MarcelinII. Bulai, MarcelIII. Petric, AdinaII. Mănăstireanu, Dănuţ (coord.)IV. Elford, Stuart (trad.)V. Elford, Dorothy (trad.)
28(100):929
Authors: Blaj, Marcel Bulai,Adina Petric, Narcis Stupcanu,Cristian Zaharia and Monica Zaharia
Theological editors: Cornel Cadar,Constantin Naclad,Danut Manastireanu
Literary editor: Ovidiu Bișog
Illustrations: Cristi Bandi
Translators: Stuart and Dorothy Elford
Editor of English version: Rebecca Russell
Typesetting and cover: Daniel Condurachi
Project administrator: Monica Zaharia
© 2010 World Vision International. All rights reserved.Adoramus PublishersIași, Romaniawww.adoramus.ro
‘St. Nicholas Project’ was initiated by Sharon Payt, Director of Advocacy, Middle East & Eastern Europe Region of World Vision International (http://meero.worldvision.org) and was financed by this organisation.
People of Faith | 9
‘At the LAst Judgment, I wILL not be Asked whether I sAtIsfActorILy prActIced AscetIcIsm, or how mAny genufLectIons I hAve mAde before the dIvIne ALtAr. I wILL be Asked whether I fed the hungry, cLothed the nAked, vIsIted the sIck And the prIsoner In hIs JAIL. thAt Is ALL thAt wILL be Asked’.
st. mArIA skobtsovA
contents
prefAce 6
st. LAwrence († 258) 8
st. AnAstAsIA († 304) 10
st. gregory the ILLumInAtor (250–325) 12
st. nIchoLAs (3rd–4th cent.) 14
st. bAsIL the greAt (330 – 379) 16
st. mArtIn of tours (316 - 397) 18
st. styLIAnos of pAphLAgonIA (4th cent.) 20
st. John the ALmsgIver (550-619) 22
st. frAncIs of AssIsI (1182 – 1226) 24
bL. Jeremy of vALLAchIA (1556 – 1625) 26
nIkoLAus von ZInZendorf (1700 – 1760) 28
wILLIAm wILberforce (1759 -1833) 30
st. gIovAnnI bosco (1815 – 1888) 32
st. dAmIen de veuster (1840 – 1889) 34
george müLLer (1805- 1898) 36
Contents | 5
st. ILIA the rIghteous (1837- 1907) 38
st. John of kronstAdt (1829 - 1908) 40
JeAn henrI dunAnt (1828 – 1910) 42
cAtherIne And wILLIAm booth (1829-1890) (1829-1912) 44
evA von tIeLe-wInckLer (1866 – 1930) 46
bL. ZeffIrIno JImeneZ mALA (1861 – 1936) 48
st. dImItrI kLepInIn (1904 – 1944) 50
st. mArIA skobtsovA (1891- 1945) 52
dIetrIch bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) 54
fr. dumItru sAndu-mAteI (1913 – 1951) 56
mArtIn Luther kIng, Jr. (1929 – 1968) 58
oscAr romero (1917 – 1980) 60
bL. mAIcA tereZA of cALcuttA (1910 – 1997) 62
rIchArd wurmbrAnd (1909 – 2001) 64
desmond tutu (born 1931) 66
Afterword 68
Preface
All the great stories of every
culture begin with a brave adventure
undertaken by someone who dared
to transform their own life, and
thereby transform the lives of others
around them.
In the Christian faith, through
the ages, stories have been handed
from generation to generation of
women and men, young and old, who
have dared to live a great adventure
through the power of the Holy Spirit,
for the glory of God, and for the
benefit of all mankind, for whom
Christ came to earth. Their stories
raise the hopes of all of us that we,
too, can live a more meaningful life
– that by daring to give our life away,
we may find it anew, more significant
and dramatic than anyone around us
could have ever imagined!
This collection you are reading
resulted from a World Vision
project to present people of God
committed to justice, mercy, and
service to mankind, from a variety
of faith traditions through Christian
history – men and women, Catholics,
Orthodox and Protestants, who by
their lives and works illustrated the
words uttered by the Saviour in the
synagogue of Nazareth: ‘The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me, as he anointed
me to bring good news to the poor.
He sent me to proclaim release to
the captives and sight to the blind, to
free the oppressed and to proclaim
the year of the Lord’ (Luke 4:18-19,
quoted from Isaiah 61:1-2a).
Called the ‘St. Nicholas Project’,
we chose as our model of charity and
justice the famous Bishop Nicholas
of Myra, who lived in the 3rd-4th
century.
Throughout the entire history of
Christianity – the patristic period, the
Middle Ages and our own modern
times – holy women and men of
God showed their spiritual inner
life by active engagement for social
justice and in defence of the poor
and oppressed. Some were sanctified
(declared ‘saints’) or beatified
(declared ‘blessed’), according to their
traditions.
These texts address especially
teenagers, who are the same age
as many of these heroic men and
Preface | 7
women when they determined to live
bigger lives for God than perhaps had
been previously expected of them.
We hope that young people in every
culture will be motivated to explore
the social implications of faith in God.
For, as Maria Skobtsova, a modern
promoter of social justice, rightly
said from a Christian perspective,
‘at the Last Judgment, I will not
be asked whether I satisfactorily
practiced asceticism, or how many
genuflections I have made before the
divine altar. I will be asked whether I
fed the hungry, clothed the naked,
visited the sick and the prisoner in his
jail. That is all that will be asked.’
The St. Nicholas Project was
initiated by Sharon Payt, World Vision
International’s Advocacy Director for
the Middle East and Eastern Europe,
and was developed and administrated
by Monica Zaharia. Truly this is an
ecumenical project, part of efforts by
World Vision to serve the Church by
inspiring more true imitators of Jesus,
who likewise inspired all these co-
labourers’ work on behalf of the poor
and marginalised. Of the six authors
of these brief biographies, two are
Catholics (Marcelin Blaj and Maricel
Bulai), two are Orthodox (Narcis
Stupcanu and Monica Zaharia), and
two are Protestant (Adina Petric and
Cristian Zaharia). Three theological
editors (the Catholic priest Fr. Cornel
Cadar, the Orthodox priest Fr.
Constantin Naclad, and the Protestant
theologian Dr. Danut Manastireanu)
reviewed the texts describing the
personalities coming from their
respective ecclesiastical traditions.
Literary editing was provided by
Ovidiu Bisog, a Catholic believer, to
harmonise style and language. The
illustrations were made by Cristi
Bandi, a very talented Orthodox
illustrator. Typography and design
were done by Daniel Condurachi, an
Evangelical believer.
May God grant us all opportunities
to move beyond religious theory and
ritual towards ways of living modelled
in these pages.
Dănuț Mănăstireanu
st. lawrence († 258)
the sAInt who gAve the goods of the church to the poor
Lawrence is a third-century saint
who opposed injustice by helping
the poor and destitute. He was
martyred by Roman authorities after
distributing the possessions of the
Church to the poor.
Tradition recounts that St.
Lawrence was born at Huesca, in the
province of Aragon in north-eastern
Spain.
The fact that he was a brave
and capable young man won him
the confidence of Pope Sixtus II,
who entrusted him with the task
of administering the goods of
the Church community in Rome.
Lawrence was a deacon – that is, an
exemplary man chosen and ordained
to help the bishops and priests meet
community members’ needs.
In the early days of the Church
in Jerusalem, there had been seven
deacons responsible for administering
the practical aid contributed for the
relief of widows, orphans and the poor.
Following this example, the Roman
Church too appointed a large number
of deacons, and the Pope placed
them under Lawrence’s supervision
as archdeacon. As in Jerusalem, the
deacons’ ministry collected what was
given by the faithful and distributed it
to the poor.
These were extremely testing
times for the Church. Emperor
Valerian ordered a persecution in
the course of which the Bishop of
Rome himself, under arrest and
under sentence of death, instructed
Lawrence to distribute to the poor all
the goods he was still holding.
The year was 258. Emperor
Valerian issued an edict that all
bishops, priests and those who
worked with them were to be arrested
and condemned. Pope Leo the Great
(400-461), an important personality
in Church history, later wrote, ‘the
wicked persecutor’s ire burned
against this servant of the Church
and he pursued him both on account
of his sacred office and because he
was responsible for administering the
possessions of the Church’.
St. Lawrence | 9
Four days before he was
arrested, Lawrence distributed the
goods in his stores to the poor to
prevent them from being taken by
the Roman authorities. When the
Emperor ordered Lawrence to hand
over everything informants had said
the Church possessed, Lawrence
responded by summoning the large
number of poor people whom he had
helped. As they arrived, Lawrence
said to the Emperor: ‘These are our
treasures! They never decrease,
always bring in an income and can
be found anywhere!’. These were the
martyr’s last words. He was burnt to
death on a gridiron over lighted coals.
Lawrence’s body was buried in
the catacombs on the Via Tiburtina
in Rome. Many churches were built
in his honour, including – on the
initiative of Pope Damasus – one right
on the ruins of the Theatre of Pompey.
St. Lawrence, or San Lorenzo,
is venerated by Catholics and
Orthodox on 10 August. In the West
he is honoured as the patron saint of
deacons and also of cooks and fire-
fighters.
Lawrence’s enduring message
for all Christians is doubtless one of
especial love and care for the poor and
of responsibility in the administration
of possessions.
Maricel Bulai
st. anastasia(† 304)
the sAvIour of the poIsoned, And comforter of cAptIves
Anastasia is a saint who dedicated
her life to the service of prisoners
and in particular to Christians in the
Roman Empire who were thrown into
jail because of their faith.
She was born in Rome in the third
century during the reign of Domitian,
an emperor notorious for his
persecution of Christians. Anastasia
came from a wealthy family. Although
her father was a pagan, her mother
was a Christian, and Anastasia was
given a good education by a Christian
scholar named Chrysogonus.
After the death of her mother,
Anastasia’s father decided to marry
his daughter to a Roman soldier
called Publius, even though this was
against her wishes. After her marriage,
Anastasia regularly made secret
visits to Christians held in Roman
prisons, dressed in clothes below
her station in life. She attempted to
alleviate the prisoners’ sufferings by
taking them food, tending injuries
caused by torture they had suffered,
encouraging them and praying with
them.
After a while, Publius found out
about Anastasia’s clandestine visits
to the prisons and gave orders for
her to be confined to the house.
Her response was to begin a secret
correspondence with her old teacher,
Chrysogonus, who sent her words of
encouragement and also prophesied
that her husband would shortly die
at sea. This prophecy was fulfilled: a
ship on which Publius was travelling
sank, and Anastasia, now on her own,
distributed her fortune to the poor
and dedicated herself to the service
of those in need.
Together with Theodota, a young
widow with three sons, Anastasia
went from town to town caring for
imprisoned Christians. Using her
medical knowledge but also the
power of prayer, she healed wounds
and relieved suffering. She became
particularly well known for her ability
to save the lives of people who had
been poisoned.
Following an edict of Diocletian
St. Anastasia | 11
against Christians, Anastasia, along
with Theodota and her children,
were arrested. They were promised
that they would be released if they
renounced their Christian faith.
When they all refused, Theodota
and her three sons were burnt alive
while Anastasia was condemned to
death by starvation. But after 60 days
without food, Anastasia was still alive.
At this point a Roman judge
ruled that Anastasia should be put
on board a ship together with some
other prisoners who were going to be
put to death by drowning. The ship
was abandoned on the open sea by
Roman soldiers and had begun to sink,
when St. Theodota appeared to the
people on the ship and brought it to
shore. Witnessing this miracle, the 120
people on the ship believed in Christ
and were baptised by Anastasia and
another Christian called Eutychianus.
Shortly afterwards, they fell into the
hands of soldiers again, and all of
them were burnt alive in Sirmium
(modern Mitrovica, in Kosovo).
Monica Zaharia
st. GreGory the illuminator(250–325)
the ApostLe of ArmenIA buILt monAsterIes And provIded the poor wIth food And sheLter
Gregory was born in Vagharshapat,
capital of the Armenian province of
Ararat. His family were not Christians,
but were kind and upright. His father,
Anak, was one of the most important
landowning nobles in Persia. He
was related to Artaban, the Persian
emperor, and to Cursar, brother of the
king of Armenia.
Gregory’s father was killed as a
result of political intrigues, and his
young sons were sent to different
places. Gregory went to Rome,
where he grew up, and then lived
in Cappadocian Caesarea, where he
learned about Jesus Christ. Gregory
married in Caesarea, and had two
sons, Ortan and Arostan, both of
whom he devoted to the service of
the Lord while they were still children.
During his time in Rome, Gregory
entered the service of Tiridates, son of
Cursar, who had meanwhile died. He
served faithfully, and Tiridates grew
attached to Gregory. Some years
later, Tiridates was appointed King of
Armenia by the Roman emperor and
invited Gregory with him.
But King Tiridates sacrificed
to idols, especially the goddess
Artemis. He often asked Gregory to
join him. Gregory always refused
and proclaimed his faith in Jesus the
Christ, the incarnation of the one God,
beside whom there is no other either
in heaven or on earth. Over time, this
infuriated Tiridates, who ordered that
Gregory be subjected to all kinds of
cruel punishments. But God took care
of Gregory and prevented him from
dying, even from torture no unaided
human could survive. Finally the King
of Armenia commanded that Gregory
be thrown into a deep pit in the
fortress of Artaxata. There the saint
of the Armenian people remained for
14 years. God enabled a widow from
the city to bring him a piece of bread
every day, and this kept him alive.
When King Tiridates fell gravely ill,
and doctors could do nothing more
for him, the king sought out Gregory
to seek forgiveness and prayers.
Healing came, and Tiridates believed
St. Gregory the Illuminator | 13
in God. At that moment, Gregory’s
apostolic work began. He asked the
king to build a church and some
monasteries, around which the poor
and the homeless could be fed and
housed.
After this, Gregory was sent by
the king to Archbishop Leontius
to be consecrated bishop. Once
consecrated, he baptised thousands
of Armenians at a time, beginning
with the king, around the entire
nation. He thus went down in history
as the apostle to the Armenians.
The Armenian Apostolic Church
celebrates his feast on 30 September.
Narcis Stupcanu
st. nicholas(3rd–4th cent.)
frIend of chILdren, orphAns And those sufferIng InJustIce; A modeL of sAInthood for ALL chrIstIAns
St. Nicholas is without doubt one
of the best-loved saints in the whole
world. In nearly every culture the
Church has touched, many people
know that St. Nicholas set an example
of kindness towards suffering people,
and especially of love towards
children.
He was born sometime near the
end of the third century at Patara in
Lycia, a town in present-day Turkey.
His childhood was not a happy one, as
his parents died when he was young.
Nicholas withdrew to a monastery
near Myra in Lycia, a port town on
the Mediterranean. Here he learned
as much as he could about God and
about God’s greatest commandment:
love for Him and for one’s neighbour.
He gave away much of the wealth he
inherited.
Word spread of his holiness and
wisdom, and Nicholas was elected
Bishop of Myra in Lycia, a position that
gave him opportunities to help even
more people. It was recorded that a
poor man of Myra had three daughters
who had all reached marriageable
age. At that time, a bride’s dowry was
extremely important in arranging
marriages. The larger the dowry,
the greater were the girl’s chances
of getting married. Because the
unfortunate man was not able to give
his daughters substantial dowries,
local custom dictated that the father
sell unmarriageable daughters as
slaves. But St. Nicholas secretly gave
each daughter a bag of gold coins,
without the family knowing who had
given this valuable present. And so he
saved the girls from a life of slavery.
Nicholas obeyed the Saviour’s
words: ‘Sell your possessions and give
to the poor’. He devoted his entire
income to relief for the poor, the sick
and the suffering. He made many
secret donations without expecting
anything in return. On many
occasions he took up defence of the
innocent, even risking his life to do so.
For this reason, St. Nicholas was exiled
and imprisoned during the rule of the
Roman Emperor Diocletian.
St. Nicholas | 15
Christianity was a banned religion
at that time. Christians were punished
and even put to death for the simple
fact that they were Christians.
After Constantine became Roman
Emperor, and Christianity became
officially tolerated all over the Empire,
St. Nicholas was freed from prison. He
returned to his flock in Myra in Lycia,
where he remained until the year 342
when he passed into eternity. After
his death, when people inspired by
the Bishop of Myra gave anonymously
to the poor, they began a tradition of
attributing their gifts to St. Nicholas.
Even though so many centuries
have gone by since the death of St.
Nicholas, he is still remembered by
Christians everywhere as a friend
of children, orphans and those
suffering injustice. He is venerated
by both Orthodox and Catholics
and honoured by Protestants, on
6 December, and continues to be
a shining example of love to one’s
neighbour and a model of holiness
for the entire Christian world.
Narcis Stupcanu
st. Basil the Great(330 – 379)
founder of hospItALs, housIng for orphAns And the eLderLy, schooLs, And hosteLs for ‘strAngers’
St. Basil was born in 330 in
Cappadocian Caesarea, a city in
Asia Minor. His family is one of the
most famous in the entire history of
Christendom, since it produced no
fewer than seven saints: St. Macrina
the Old, Basil’s grandmother; his
father, a famous orator, St. Basil the
Elder; St. Emilia, his mother; St. Basil
himself and his brothers St. Gregory
of Nyssa and St. Peter of Sebaste; and
his sister St. Macrina the Young.
From his earliest years, Basil
benefitted from an excellent
education. Studying in the renowned
schools of Constantinople and
Athens, he gained fame as a brilliant
scholar and administrator, and briefly
practiced law. Influenced by his sister’s
work against poverty, Basil took
monastic vows and devoted himself
to living in community amongst the
poor.
In 370 Basil was elected Bishop of
Caesarea, a position which made it
much easier for him to develop social
justice projects such as the then-
world-famous ‘Basiliad’ or ‘Basilry’ – a
complex of houses and dwellings
where orphans, widows and the
elderly could live and be cared for.
In addition, the complex included
hospitals and hospices, academic
schools and vocational training
for the unskilled (including former
thieves), as well as guesthouses for
visitors to the city.
St. Basil thus brought into being
around his church a little town
in which no one was overlooked.
Children were educated by well-
trained teachers, the elderly were
cared for by monks and nuns, widows
were provided for and could pursue
dignified work helping to meet
others’ needs. Foreigners or ‘strangers’
passing through could find food
and safe overnight accommodation.
Doctors, nurses and everyone
involved lived on site, within the
community.
St. Basil the Great’s Basilry was an
ideal world governed by kindness,
compassion, mutual help, love
St. Basil the Great | 17
for one’s neighbours, and a desire
for God to be glorified. During a
time of famine and drought, Basil’s
administrative genius ensured
distribution of enough food to spare
the lives of most of the poor in his
region.
Construction of the Basiliad was
only part of Basil’s social work project.
After he had laid the foundations of
regular monastic life, establishing
numerous monasteries in all parts of
his diocese, he went on to build more
hospitals and homes for the sick and
the poor.
St. Basil the Great passed into
eternity on 1 January 379, at the age
of only 49 and is celebrated by the
Church on that day. Public grief at his
death included Jews, atheists, and
foreigners. In a violent world and a
time of great divisions and conflicts
in Christendom, Basil was fearless of
state and political leaders in taking
up the causes of those who could not
speak out for themselves. His words
live on in importance: ‘We should
work not for food that perishes but for
food that is eternal. This food is to do
the will of God’. The will of the Father
is ‘to feed the hungry, to give drink to
the thirsty and to clothe the naked’.
St. Basil exemplified a life of work that
is not an end in itself, but is focussed
eternally on others, especially the
poor and suffering.
Narcis Stupcanu
st. martin of tours(316 - 397)
chAmpIon of the poor And destItute
Martin of Tours devoted his life to
helping the poor and the sick.
He was born in 316 in Sabaria in
Pannonia (modern Hungary) into the
family of a Roman tribune. Although
his parents were pagans, he enrolled
himself on the list of catechumens
(those preparing to receive baptism)
at the age of 10.
Since the Emperor had decreed
that all sons of Roman officers had to
follow a military career, Martin joined
the cavalry and swore the military
oath. Unlike other officers, he was
content with a single servant and
treated him like a brother. He stayed
away from fellow officers’ parties and
excesses and, within a short time, won
everyone’s respect for his kindness.
One particular incident imprinted
itself on the memories of all his
contemporaries: As Martin was
carrying out military operations in
Gaul (France), he passed through
the French town of Amiens and
encountered a beggar trembling
with cold. Officers in front of him did
not so much as look at the man, but
Martin felt that God had planned this
meeting to give him an opportunity
to do good. He drew his sword and
cut the long cloak he was wearing
into two pieces; one he gave to the
beggar, and the other he wrapped
around himself. That night, according
to accounts of the saint’s life, Martin
had a dream in which Jesus Christ,
clothed in the half-cloak he had given
to the poor man, said to the angels
surrounding him, ‘Martin, who is only
a catechumen, clothed me with this
garment’.
At age 18 Martin abandoned his
military career and was baptised
by Bishop Hilary of Poitiers. This
same bishop was later to ordain him
priest, although Martin attempted to
prevent him doing so and asked to
live a life of extreme simplicity and
solitude dedicated to prayer and
preaching.
Martin’s reputation grew so wide
that in 371 he was elected a bishop,
against his will. He was asked one day
St. Martin of Tours | 19
by local Christians to go to a person
at the point of death. Martin swiftly
set out with them, when on the way
a group of armed men appeared and
forced him to go with them. They had
been sent by the Christian community
of Tours who were without a bishop
and had chosen him. The cries of the
people persuaded Martin of their
need for a spiritual leader.
As bishop, Martin continued to
live frugally, championed the poor
and destitute, and refused to tolerate
injustice and oppression. When
occasion required, he could withstand
even emperors and prevent them
from making unjust decisions that
disadvantaged the weakest members
of society. He spoke on behalf of
condemned prisoners, even those he
disagreed with doctrinally.
As soon as he died, Martin became
the best known and most venerated
saint in Europe. What is known of
his humble life gives an inspiring
example of someone who loved the
poor and defended the weak. He is
the patron saint of soldiers, of the
poor and of the unjustly treated, and
is celebrated by the Orthodox Church
on 11 October and by the Catholic
Church on 11 November.
Maricel Bulai
st. stylianos of PaPhlaGonia(4th cent.)
protector of the newborn And of chrIstIAn fAmILIes
Stylianos was born at Adrianopolis
in the province of Paphlagonia in Asia
Minor (modern-day Turkey). He came
from a poor family, and worked hard
to earn a living. But his family taught
him to love God, the One Who had
never abandoned him when he was
in need.
St. Stylianos lived in the ‘golden
century’ of Christianity, marking
the ending of Roman persecution,
systematisation of the truths of the
faith, and flowering of the ascetic
life. Attracted by the idea of solitude,
Stylianos became a desert hermit, but
Stylianos’ great love for others led him
to seek opportunities in surrounding
communities to do good wherever he
could and only after this to return to
his cave cell for rest and prayer.
Praying one night, Stylianos was
overwhelmed by the presence of God.
What took place in his cell on that
occasion is not known, but witnesses
the following day reported that his
face radiated a deep joy and peace.
Encountering a sick child, he tried to
console the child, and when he put
his hand on the child’s head he felt the
power of God pass through his hand.
The child recovered immediately.
From that time onwards Stylianos
seemed acutely aware of any human
pain, even from a great distance.
Stylianos’s cell became a place of
pilgrimage for the sick and suffering,
many of whom regained health.
These pilgrimages were known not
only for St. Stylianos’ healing but for
the great faith of the pilgrims.
Although he was not highly
educated, Stylianos proved to be a
knowledgeable teacher. It is reported
that many families entrusted their
children to him so that he could lead
them to God. This was perhaps the
very first crèche in history – a nursery
school where mothers could leave
their smallest children while they
completed household duties.
Thus St. Stylianos became the
patron saint of newborns, children,
and families in general. He was
unfailingly benevolent and full of
St. Stylianos of Paphlagonia | 21
love, according to contemporaries.
His smile was famous, even more so
as old age came to him.
St. Stylianos passed over to
the Lord in a state of exceptional
peace, his face shining ‘like the sun’,
giving glory to God for all things. St.
Stylianos is honoured as protector of
young children and of the Christian
family in general. His life of prayer and
spiritual zeal brought about miracles,
and the healings he is most credited
with involved children suffering
from all kinds of diseases. He is
commemorated on 26 November in
the Christian Orthodox calendar.
Narcis Stupcanu
st. John the almsGiver(550-619)
chAmpIon of the poor – shArIng not onLy hIs goods, but ALso the goods of the church
John was born around the year
550 at Amathos in Cyprus, into the
family of Epiphanius, governor of
the island. John’s generosity towards
the unfortunate and needy – whom
he called his ‘masters’ because of
their influence ‘at the Court of the
Most High’– earned him the title ‘the
Merciful’.
John married, but his wife and
his children died, and he turned to
religious life, using his resources to
assist poor families with gifts small
and large. Eventually he was called
to occupy the patriarchal seat of
Alexandria, left vacant by the death
of Patriarch Theodore. His installation,
in the year 611, made him the fifth
Patriarch of Alexandria to bear the
name of John.
At that time the Patriarchate
of Alexandria had at its disposal
abundant material resources derived
from commercial activities. John
generously distributed to the poor not
only possessions of the Patriarchate,
but what remained of his own
possessions too. Once, when he was
given a richly embroidered blanket,
he could not sleep until he sold it
and distributed the money to the
poor. On another occasion, someone
expressed amazement at his great
generosity towards the destitute.
Patriarch John told him he had seen
a vision in which Mercy appeared
in the form of a beautiful young girl
encouraging him to pursue her, since
she was ‘the eldest daughter of the
Lord’.
In his role of Patriarch, John freed
many slaves, re-organised the system
of weights and measures to benefit
the poor, battled corruption, and
multiplied the number of churches
in Alexandria 10 times. He took
a personal interest in individuals
needing help, but also performed
acts of mercy that touched thousands
of lives at once. Sometimes his
charity served a specifically Christian
purpose, but on other occasions
everyone benefitted, whatever their
faith, class or nationality. When
St. John the Almsgiver | 23
Muslims invaded Jerusalem, Patriarch
John helped to save inhabitants of
the city by providing large sums
of money and huge quantities of
wine, corn, oil and clothing, besides
baggage animals to transport the
desperately needed goods.
Often St. John’s generosity
seemed excessive. A close associate
realised that a certain man was
trying to cheat John by coming back
to him again and again in different
disguises for alms. When the Patriarch
was informed of this, he replied that
the man in disguise might be Christ
Himself. When a serious argument
sprang up between him and the
imperial prefect Nichita, a good
friend, because Nichita wanted to
appropriate some Church resources
for troops of Emperor Heraclius in his
struggle against Muslims, John stood
firm against these attempts, and in
the end Nichita apologised.
In 619, when Muslims invaded
Egypt, Patriarch John was forced to
flee from Alexandria. He returned
to his native Cyprus and died soon
afterwards, many years after asking
a servant to daily remind him ‘My
lord, your tomb is unfinished. Pray
give orders for its completion, for
you know not the hour when death
may seize you’. The Orthodox Church
remembers St. John the Almsgiver
every 12 November.
Narcis Stupcanu
st. francis of assisi(1182 – 1226)
chAmpIon of the poor And the sIck
Francis of Assisi is a 13th-century
saint who lived amongst the poor
and nursed the sick. He founded the
Franciscan Order, widely influencing
the spiritual life of the Middle Ages.
He was born at Assisi in Italy in 1182,
son of a wealthy merchant named
Pietro Bernardone.
Francis was a spirited young man
who wanted to become a knight. The
city-states of Assisi and Perugia were
at war, and Francis went to fight. But
Assisi lost, and Francis was held as a
prisoner for two years.
After his release, Francis began
to help the needy, taking cloth from
his father’s shop and distributing it
amongst the poor. Pietro Bernardone
was worried by his son’s behaviour
and extremely angry that Francis was
taking money and material from the
shop. One day the father complained
to the bishop, who summoned Francis
to appear before him, with his father
present. Francis returned the money
to his father, took off his clothes and
placed them at his feet, saying, ‘From
now onwards this is how I am going to
pray: Our Father who art in heaven…’.
The bishop gave Francis a tunic to
cover himself. From that moment,
Francis was free to serve Christ in the
poor and sick. Some considered him
mad, but his joyful and authentic love
for Christ, all nature and all people
attracted many, both from wealth and
power and from poverty, to embrace
his way of life.
If Francis and his followers saw a
poor woman with many children who
could not manage her housework,
they helped her. They worked with
labourers in fields, and sang simple
hymns as they did menial labour for
food. They wore tunics of the poorest
peasants, tied with rope, and their
feet were usually bare.
For Francis, poverty was his ‘lady’
and his sister. He visited hospitals,
nursed the sick, preached in the streets
in the language of the poor and lower
classes, and considered all people his
brothers and sisters He laboured with
his own hands at cleaning churches
St. Francis of Assisi | 25
and rebuilding squalid dwellings and
places for worship. Few medieval lives
were more thoroughly documented,
in both public and private contexts.
He spoke out for justice, reconciliation
and kindness towards ‘friend or foe,
thief or robber’.
At Vittorina, not far from Assisi,
was a leprosarium. Passing it, Francis
would close his eyes and stop his
nose, unable to bear the stench. One
day he was walking nearby when
a leper appeared in his path and
asked for alms. Compelled, Francis
approached the leper, gave him alms
and kissed his sores.
‘When I withdrew from amongst
them [the wealthier companions he
was born to]’ – he said the day before
his death on 3 October 1226 at age
45 – ‘what had seemed to me up to
then to be bitter changed, as far as I
was concerned, into sweet spiritual
consolation’.
Francis was declared a saint by
Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228
and is celebrated by Catholics on 17
September. He is the patron saint of
birds, animals and ecology, and of
Italy.
Maricel Bulai
Bl. Jeremy of vallachia (1556 – 1625)
pAtron sAInt of nurses, of the sIck, And of ImmIgrAnts
Jeremy was born 29 June 1556
at Sasca in northern Moldova, into a
very godly family. At his baptism he
was given the name Ion. He was a
simple man, upright and full of the
fear of God.
One day a beggar said, ‘Ion, you
will go beyond the mountains to a
country called Italy. Then, when you
have reached the end of your journey,
you will enter the service of a great
lord. You will serve him with much
love and joy and will be abundantly
repaid’.
At age 18 Ion did set out for Italy
with a desire to become holy. His
mother, Margareta, had told him of
good people and holy monks from
this faraway Italy, and her words
fascinated Ion. In 1578 he reached
Naples and entered a Capuchin
monastery. (The Capuchins are a
Catholic monastic order, a branch of
the Franciscan Order founded by St.
Francis of Assisi.) There he took the
name Jeremy.
For 40 years, Brother Jeremy
cared for the sick of Naples with
great gentleness and self-sacrifice.
He reached out to build enduring
friendships with everyone: the small
and the great, the poor and the rich,
the healthy and the sick. When he
was not in surrounding communities
seeking out poor people to help, he
could be found serving in the homes
of the sick.
Brother Salvatore, a monk whose
arms and legs were misshapen, was
incapable of most movement. Jeremy
raised him tenderly from his bed and
washed him as a mother washes
her infant. No night passed in which
Salvatore did not call for his nurse,
until one day he was reprimanded by
another brother. But Jeremy came to
Brother Salvatore’s defence, saying,
‘The poor man! He can’t do anything
for himself. He’s like a little child!’.
Jeremy was known to often say that
love shown to the poor and the sick
brings the mercy and blessing of God.
Bl. Jeremy of Vallachia | 27
Jeremy spent 4 1/2 years looking
after another sick monk, Brother
Martin. No one else would touch
Martin, because he was covered with
sores. But Jeremy gladly washed
Martin’s wounds as often as 10 times
a day. He underlined the fact that God
wanted him at Martin’s side, saying,
‘I felt God while I was praying’, as
he tended the monk’s sores. When
Brother Martin died, Jeremy burst out
weeping, ‘Poor Brother Martin, he was
my recreation…’.
Jeremy died at Naples on 5 March
1625. He was beatified by Pope John
Paul II on 30 October 1983.
He is known today as Blessed
Jeremy of Vallachia and is celebrated
by the Catholic Church on 8 May.
Marcelin Blaj
nikolaus von ZinZendorf(1700 – 1760)
protector of chrIstIAn refugees from bohemIA, InItIAtor of the modern mIssIonAry movement And pIoneer of ecumenIsm
Count Nikolaus (sometimes spelled
Nicolaus) Ludwig von Zinzendorf was
born into an aristocratic family in
Dresden, Germany. After his father’s
death, the young count was raised
by his maternal grandmother and
an aunt, who gave him a privileged
education.
Even as a child Zinzendorf showed
particular interest in religious life.
Later, influenced by his family, he
studied law in preparation for a career
as a diplomat. Yet he continued to
be more interested in theological
literature. Completing his studies,
he returned to Dresden, where his
position as a lawyer and the king’s
judicial counsellor enabled him
to travel a great deal. On one of
these journeys, he was viewing the
art gallery in Düsseldorf when his
attention was arrested by a painting
titled Ecce homo (Latin for ‘Behold
the man!’), depicting the sufferings of
Jesus Christ. Below the painting was
written: ‘See what I did for thee! What
wilt thou do for me?’ Zinzendorf stood
in front of this picture a long time,
deeply affected both by the painting
and its accompanying words. This
experience profoundly affected his
future.
Zinzendorf inherited an estate
from his grandmother, and opened it
as a haven for refugees from Bohemia
and Moravia who were members of
the persecuted Unitas fratrum church
(the Moravian Brethren). This new
settlement was named Herrnhut
(‘The Protection of the Lord’).
Giving up his legal position,
Zinzendorf moved with his family
to Herrnhut to facilitate unity within
the diverse community of oppressed
religious minorities forming there.
Zinzendorf did not wish to leave
the Lutheran church in moving to
Herrnhut (he himself had become
an ordained Lutheran priest), but he
did advocate reform, and attempted
reconciliation between Christian
traditions whenever possible. Many
Herrnhut refugees were unwilling
to give up their own doctrines, and
Nikolaus von Zinzendorf | 29
when the Lutheran church became
aware of these differences it wanted
to exercise complete authority over
the Herrnhut community.
Zinzendorf was exiled for more
than 10 years, during which he
undertook missionary journeys in
Europe and America. A meeting
with Daniel Jablonsky, bishop of the
Moravian Brethren, led to Zinzendorf
being ordained as a minister of that
church.
In 1747 Zinzendorf received
permission to return to Herrnhut, and
there he spent the final years of his
life.
Zinzendorf was one of the first
religious leaders to use the word
‘ecumenism’. He has gone down in
history as a champion of religious
liberty. Emphasising prayer and Bible
reading, he preached a ‘religion of the
heart’ in which faith and love counted
for more than doctrine. He was a
passionate sponsor of and participant
in Christian mission, and by the time
he died in 1760 the Moravians had
more than 200 missionaries scattered
throughout the world.
Today he is celebrated for
exhorting people of divergent
doctrines to live together in peace
and in imitation of Christ Jesus, and
for tirelessly modelling this in his own
life. Von Zinzendorf is commemorated
by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America on 9 May.
Adina Petric
william wilBerforce(1759 -1833)
fAmous brItIsh poLItIcIAn And socIAL reformer; chrIstIAn phILAnthropIst And LeAder of the movement for the AboLItIon of sLAvery
William Wilberforce was born
in 1759 in Yorkshire in the north of
England. After studying at St John’s
College, Cambridge, he began his
political career in 1780, entering
Parliament as an independent.
Wilberforce became an
evangelical Christian in the context
of a powerful spiritual awakening
taking place in England during the
18th century. After his conversion
Wilberforce became actively involved
in numerous campaigns for a wide
range of social causes. He was one of
the founders of such organisations
as the Society for the Suppression of
Vice, the Society for the Reformation
of Manners [morals], the Charity
Schools, the Church Missionary
Society, and the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
In addition, he supported Christian
missionary work in India and helped
the needy in countless ways.
Christianity’s teachings led the
young member of Parliament to his
conviction that all people share equal
value in the sight of God and to his
ensuing struggles to bring about
abolition of slavery. Wilberforce was
supported in this endeavour by John
Newton, an Anglican minister who
had formerly been a slave trader.
When Wilberforce faced personal
crisis regarding whether to remain
in politics or devote himself to
church affairs, Newton advised him
to do both, noting that a Christian
involved in politics can contribute to
transforming the world.
From the second half of the
17th century onwards, British ships
transported 3,415,000 African
slaves across the Atlantic. More than
500,000 died at sea, as a consequence
of appalling conditions on board ship
(lack of food, hygiene, medical care
and rest).
In 1787, Wilberforce, together with
Thomas Clarkson, a prominent anti-
slavery campaigner, and the lawyer
Granville Sharp, formed the group
which became known as the Clapham
Sect. They set out to gather evidence
William Wilberforce | 31
needed to bring about change in the
law to abolish the inhumane Slave
Trade. For more than 30 years they
carried on a modern-style political
campaign, organising petitions and
boycotts, making speeches and
holding meetings. They set up the
Committee for the Abolition of the
Slave Trade, organised propaganda
campaigns all over the country,
and made their voice heard in the
British Parliament. Although more
and more people came to agree
with Wilberforce, and he and his
associates even won the support
of the Prime Minister, they failed to
achieve change in the law. Every
petition brought before the House of
Commons was opposed by economic
interests upholding continuance of
slavery.
Not until 1807 did they
achieve their first victory, when
the government of Charles James
Fox passed a law abolishing the
slave trade anywhere within British
jurisdiction. Wilberforce and friends
spent another 26 years amassing
documentary evidence, pleading
the cause and organising annual
petitions. Finally, in 1833, three days
before he died, William Wilberforce
learned that Parliament had legislated
for abolition of slavery itself in every
part of the British Empire.
Cristian Zaharia
st. Giovanni Bosco(1815 – 1888)
defender of orphAns, pAtron sAInt of young peopLe, And founder of the sALesIAn order
Giovanni Bosco was born at Becchi
in Italy on 16 August 1815. His mother
Margareta, who was left a widow
with four children, gave him a sound
humanistic and Christian education.
Don Bosco was the name by which his
acquaintances called him.
From his ordination as priest at
Turin in 1841, Giovanni Bosco set as
his principal aim the education of
the young, above all those who were
poor and abandoned.
The first child to benefit from
Don Bosco’s help was an orphan boy
whom the priest took into his own
home.
Over time, Don Bosco opened
his home to a growing group
of abandoned boys, who were
sometimes otherwise imprisoned.
He needed a larger place for them
all to live, and found a barn, where
he formed his first oratory (a home
for poor children). Every morning
Don Bosco celebrated the Liturgy
together with the boys, after which
he would eat with them. After the
meal, the boys would set off for work:
some were apprentices in factories or
in carpentry or metal workshops, and
others were shop boys or waiters.
In that era, employers kept labour
costs low by taking on women and
children as workers. In 1844, 7,184
children worked in factories in the
Piedmont region of Italy. The working
day lasted 16 to 18 hours. When
Don Bosco’s boys left the house, he
would leave too, to solicit alms from
wealthier members of the community
so that he could support the boys, as
well as improve their training and
education to enable them to leave
the most dangerous industries. He
said of these boys, ‘Their faces were
black [from work], but how beautiful
their souls were!’.
Helped by his mother Margareta,
Don Bosco opened the Oratory
of St. Francis of Sales – a place for
Sunday meetings, and a complex of
schools offering training in crafts and
trades for young workers, along with
classical subjects). Night classes were
St. Giovanni Bosco | 33
offered to children and adults after
local factories’ working hours.
Don Bosco kept bringing more
boys home every day, prompting his
mother to say, ‘All you ever do is look
for more boys, and I can’t think where
I’m going to put them’.
One little boy called Carligo was
crying when Don Bosco met him.
‘What’s happened to you?’ Don Bosco
asked. ‘My mother’s died. I don’t know
where to go’. ‘Come with me. I am only
a poor priest, but so long as I have a
morsel of bread I will share it with you’.
Don Bosco’s work helping
disadvantaged children and young
people continued after the founding
of the Society of St. Francis of Sales
(by which future priests were trained
to educate disadvantaged youth)
and founding of the Order of the
Daughters of Mary the Helper (which
provided poor girls an education).
These orders opened 250 homes for
more than 130,000 children.
Giovanni Bosco died on 31
January 1888 and was canonised by
Pope Pius XI in 1934. He is the patron
saint of youth, being celebrated by
the Catholic Church on 31 January.
Marcelin Blaj
st. damien de veuster (1840 – 1889)
mIssIonAry to hAwAII’s Lepers
St. Damien de Veuster, Apostle
of the Lepers, was a 19th-century
missionary priest who devoted
himself to the needs of lepers on the
island of Molokai, in Hawaii.
He was born on 3 January 1840
at Tremelo in Belgium, the son of a
farmer, and was baptised Jozef. His
family was loving, he received an
excellent education, and he made
numerous friends.
Following in the footsteps of his
brother Augustin, Jozef wanted to
become a missionary priest. At age
19 he entered the Congregation
of the Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus and Mary and took
the name Damien. Not yet a priest,
Damien arrived in Honolulu in 1864
after a voyage lasting 138 days. Once
ordained, he was sent to preach the
Gospel in the east of Hawaii, a region
where native religious superstitions
and cultural differences posed
enormous challenges. He stayed
for nine years, and often found the
isolation unbearable.
In Hawaii, many diseases were
taking a terrible toll on the native
population, including leprosy. Fearing
further spread of the disease, the
government quarantined all lepers on
the island of Molokai, separating the
sick from their families and those who
could care for them. In 1873 Damien
volunteered to go to the island’s leper
colony, then home to 816 sufferers. In
all, 8,000 would be sent to Molokai.
The first leper Damien met was a
young man who was dying. Despite
the almost unbearable smell, Father
Damien prayed at his bedside for
half an hour. This scene remained
with him for all the 16 years he lived
amongst the lepers.
Molokai was nicknamed ‘Death
Island’. In the first eight months after
Damien’s arrival, there were 183
deaths. Damien built coffins and
dug graves. He carried on unceasing
efforts with authorities to persuade
them to improve living conditions,
nutrition and medical care. He
founded chapels, constructed huts,
St. Damien de Veuster | 35
organised bands and choirs, and tried
all possible means to bring order and
peace amidst the chronic, long-term
suffering.
Damien was loved by the local
people and became known as Makna
(father) Kamiano. As well as being the
lepers’ priest, he was also their doctor.
He bandaged their sores, carried
them in his arms and cared for them
as best he could.
There came a day when his
preaching took a new turn and he
addressed his congregation with the
words ‘We lepers…’. He wrote in a
letter, ‘I make myself a leper with the
lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ’.
After contracting leprosy, Damien
died on 15 April 1889 at age 49, cared
for at the end by nuns and other
priests who had arrived to help him in
his work. His story became known all
over the world. Mahatma Gandhi said
that Father Damien’s example had
been a source of inspiration when he
himself was campaigning to improve
conditions in India.
As a direct result of Father
Damien’s work, humanitarian aid
reached the island of Molokai, and
with the advent of the 20th century,
hospitals, children’s homes and other
resources were built.
Damien was beatified by Pope
John Paul II in 1995, and canonised
by Pope Bernedict XVI on 11 October
2009. He is the patron saint of Hawaii,
and the unofficial patron of HIV and
AIDS sufferers, and is celebrated by
the Catholic Church on 10 May.
Maricel Bulai
GeorGe müller (1805- 1898)
mAn of fAIth And fAther of orphAns
Born in Germany in 1805, George
Müller became widely known as ‘the
father of orphans’ for his help to more
than 10,000 children who had lost
their parents. He provided homes and
an education, along with experiences
preparing them for integration into
society. Faith and prayer formed the
base of his philanthropic work.
Müller studied theology at
university, as his father had wished,
but was not converted until age
21. After graduation he moved to
England, where he worked for a
missionary society and later as a
preacher. He refused to be paid for
his work, insisting that God would
provide for his financial needs. Müller
began work in local communities on
his own initiative in 1834 by founding
The Scripture Knowledge Institution
for Home and Abroad, with the goal
of spreading the message of the Bible
and supporting missionary activity.
In 1835 he and his wife opened
their first orphanage, inspired by the
example of a Lutheran pastor, August
Hermann Francke, who 128 years
earlier had founded a number of
homes in Germany entirely supported
by money received in response to
prayer.
When Müller began this work he
had neither financial resources nor
a building. He rented a house and
with his wife took in, cared for and
began educating 30 young girls. Eight
months later he rented another house
and opened a second orphanage, for
36 children, followed shortly by a
third home with room for another 36
children.
As the orphans made so much
noise that they disturbed the
neighbours, Müller had to find more
suitable accommodation for them.
After praying, he decided to build a
number of houses on the edge of the
city of Bristol, and began construction
on the first house, large enough
to hold 140 girls, 80 boys and 80
younger children. He later built four
more houses, each with room for up
to 450 children. By 1870, the Müller
George Müller | 37
orphanages housed 2,250 children
and employed 112 staff. Their
education was high quality, causing
local critics to complain he was
‘raising the poor above their natural
station in life’.
Müller frequently confronted
financial crises, since costs of caring
for and educating the children
exceeded resources at his disposal.
But he never went in debt. On one
occasion, when there was no money
at all, he prayed that God would open
the heart of a well-known London
merchant to help him. Within a short
time a cheque arrived from the man
in question. Many similar situations
allowed God to reward Müller’s faith
and prayers, always providing him
with a way out of crisis.
In the last years of his life, George
Müller undertook a large number
of missionary journeys to Egypt,
Palestine, Russia, India and other
countries. Everywhere, he spoke to
people about the way in which God
answers prayer and encouraged them
to become involved in charitable work
for the good of their neighbours.
Adina Petric
st. ilia the riGhteous (1837- 1907)
fAther of the georgIAn nAtIon; defender of cuLture And georgIAn conscIousness
Ilia Chavchavadze, canonised in
1987 as St. Ilia the Righteous, was
a well-known writer, journalist and
jurist who led the movement for
Georgian national independence in
the second half of the 19th century.
He was born Prince Ilia
Chavchavadze in Kvareli in Georgia,
which at that time was part of the
Russian empire. He was the third
child in a cultivated noble family.
Patriotism, the guiding principle of his
life, was something he learned from
both his parents: his father, a career
soldier, and his mother, who was
very interested in classical Georgian
literature. He grew up amidst poems
and historical stories, read to him by
his mother, telling of heroic deeds of
his forefathers.
During high school, after the
deaths of his parents and of his
brother Constantin, Ilia began to write
poetry and immerse himself further
in books and literature. In 1857 he
enrolled in the Faculty of Law of the
University of St. Petersburg in Russia.
He made a habit of spending a great
deal of time in the archives, searching
for documents regarding the history
of Georgia.
In 1861, after completing his
studies, Ilia returned to Georgia
at a time when ‘Russification’ was
threatening Georgia’s national and
cultural identity. Ilia embarked upon
an intensive programme of political,
social and cultural activities. He
founded two of the most popular
political newspapers of the time,
using them to argue for freeing the
country from Russian domination, for
the founding of a modern Georgian
state and for autocephalous (or self-
governing) status for the Georgian
Orthodox Church. Believing rebirth of
the Georgian language to be essential
to awakening national consciousness,
he campaigned for Georgian
schoolchildren to be taught in their
mother tongue and for dissemination
of Georgian literature. His founding
of the Society for the Promotion
of Literacy amongst the Georgians
St. Ilia the Righteous | 39
was a means to this end. He likewise
established an archive for protecting
ancient manuscripts, objects of
historical significance and also works
representative of national folklore.
Besides founding a number of cultural
organisations and being a member of
others, he translated works of British
literature into Georgian.
Ilia cited three great guiding
principles in his life: his country, his
native language, and his faith. His
loyalty to these principles made him
many enemies, especially amongst
supporters of Marxist ideology, who
were atheists and opposed to the idea
of a Georgian ‘nation’. He also publicly
opposed revolutionary violence.
In 1906-1907 Ilia Chavchavadze
served as a member of the Russian
Council of State. He returned to
Georgia, and was assassinated by
a criminal band while on a journey
with his wife, Olga. Circumstances
of his death remain surrounded by
controversy to this day.
After Georgia was incorporated
into the Soviet Union, Ilia became the
symbol of the freedom of the Georgian
people. Today he is considered the
father of the Georgian nation and is
celebrated by the Georgian Orthodox
Church on 2 August.
Monica Zaharia
st. John of kronstadt (1829 - 1908)
precursor of urbAn mIssIon; founder of the ‘phILAnthropIc cIty’
Ivan Ilyich Sergeyev, later known
as St. John of Kronstadt, was born
on 19 November 1829 in the hamlet
of Sura in the distant region of
Archangel in northern Russia. He was
the son of Ilya Mihailovich Sergeyev
and Feodora Vasilyevna.
John attended the parish school
in Archangel and later the Theological
Seminary in that city. He obtained
a scholarship to the Theological
Academy in St. Petersburg, graduating
in 1855. On 12 November that year,
he was ordained priest for the parish
of St. Andrew in Kronstadt. There he
served for 53 years, dedicating himself
heart and soul to the cultural and
spiritual growth of the community of
believers.
His initial experiences made John
keenly aware of difficulties he would
face in his pastoral mission. It took
almost 19 years for the foundation of a
charitable building to be laid. The first
step (in 1874) was creation of a parish
centre (an administrative institution)
designed to help the poor. Next came
the first ‘love of work house’, which
developed into ‘a town within the
town’. It contained a spinning factory
and workshops for production of
men’s caps. More than 7,000 people
found employment here.
John’s institution set up a free
public library and established a free
elementary school (259 children
enrolled there in 1903), along with
training workshops for a variety of
trades, a tailoring workshop for girls, a
shoemaking workshop, an art studio,
a children’s library (with 2,687 books in
1896), and a Sunday school attended
by more than 150 young people.
Public lectures and conferences were
available to the community.
John of Kronstadt’s ‘philanthropic
city’ also included charitable
residential institutions: a home for
orphan children, a day centre for pre-
school children, a children’s holiday
centre outside the town, a home for
poor women, and a night shelter for
travellers.
St. John of Kronstadt | 41
Besides this, Father John took
care of health needs amongst
his parishioners, and founded a
canteen where 400 to 800 poor
people were given a hot meal every
day. The same institution provided
the poor with money, clothing,
shoes and other necessaries. A
significant development in St.
John’s administration was that his
‘philanthropic city’ targeted aid: each
needy person’s situation was carefully
assessed before aid was distributed.
In 1908, at age 79, St. John of
Kronstadt stepped into eternity as one
of the most beloved Russian clerics,
leaving as his legacy an example
of how generosity towards one’s
fellow men can multiply many times
over. The Russian Orthodox Church
celebrates him on 20 December.
Narcis Stupcanu
Jean henri dunant(1828 – 1910)
wrIter, phILAnthropIst And socIAL ActIvIst; founder of the InternAtIonAL commIttee of the red cross
Jean Henri Dunant was born in
Geneva, Switzerland, into a family
of wealthy Reformed Christians for
whom involvement in charity work
was a significant part of life. His father
concentrated on helping orphans,
while his mother aided the poor.
At age 28, on a business trip to
Algeria, Henri started a company
to trade in cereals. Finding that his
rights to land he had bought and to a
water supply were not clearly defined
by law, he resolved to go direct to
Emperor Napoleon III to defend his
interests.
That year, 1859, Napoleon was
in the middle of a war against Franz
Josef of Austria and had established
military headquarters at Solferino in
Italy, where armies of the two sides
were drawn up ready to fight. Dunant
arrived in Solferino in the evening
after the battle (24 June 1859), and
confronted the aftermath of war:
38,000 dead, dying and wounded left
lying on the battlefield.
Appalled, young Henri took the
initiative of organising the civilian
population, particularly women
and girls, to provide medical help
to the wounded soldiers. Taking
as their motto ‘We are all brothers’,
Henri’s teams aided all the wounded,
irrespective of which side a soldier had
fought for. The medical teams were
short of materials and supplies, but
donations and Dunant’s leadership
and excellent organisational skills
prevailed, and many were saved.
Dunant documented these
experiences in a book (A Memoir of
Solferino, published in 1862), which
led in the following year to formation
of a committee later called the
International Committee of the Red
Cross. In 1864, 12 countries influenced
and encouraged by Dunant met to
sign the first Geneva Convention.
Dunant’s vision of founding a
neutral organisation to offer medical
assistance in situations of armed
conflict has proved to be one of the
ideas that have changed the world.
For this, he was awarded the Nobel
Jean Henri Dunant | 43
Peace Prize in 1901.
Although Dunant’s company
went bankrupt in 1867, he continued
to advocate for his humanitarian
ideas and plans. He appealed for
disarmament and for founding of a
tribunal to mediate in international
conflicts. He worked to develop
an international library – an idea
later taken up by UNESCO – and
campaigned for the establishing of a
Jewish state in Palestine.
Jean Henri Dunant suffered from a
number of health problems and spent
the last years of his life in a hospital
in the town of Heiden, Switzerland.
Before his death, he gave all the
money he had left to endow a ‘free
bed’ for poor patients in that hospital.
Cristian Zaharia
catherine and william Booth(1829-1890) (1829-1912)
founders of the reLIgIous humAnItArIAn orgAnIsAtIon sALvAtIon Army
William and Catherine Booth,
a British couple, were Methodist
missionaries involved in helping
poor and marginalised people.
They founded the Salvation Army,
organised along military lines, which
today is one of the humanitarian
organisations represented most
widely around the world.
William Booth came from a rich
family whose business had gone
bankrupt. After being converted
during his time of apprenticeship
in a pawnbroker’s shop, he began
to preach the Gospel to the poor of
Nottingham.
Catherine Booth came from a
family which gave her a thorough
Christian education. She had read
the Bible eight times by age 12. As an
adolescent, she became involved in
the fight against effects of alcoholism
(especially domestic violence and
neglect) and published many articles
on the subject. When William and
Catherine married, they organised
a modest wedding so that money
available for them could instead be
used to help the poor.
One night, when William could
not sleep, he went out for a walk
and ended up in an outlying part of
town, where he saw people sleeping
on pavement. He returned home and
said to his wife, ‘I have been in hell!’
Within a short time the two of them
had founded the organisation later
called the Salvation Army (1878).
Convinced that poverty was
rooted in the values and beliefs by
which people lived, and equally
convinced of the change that
Christianity could bring about, the
Booths addressed their efforts to the
poor and needy. William preached in
streets and areas of town in which
there were more public houses than
shops, while Catherine, in spite of
conventions of the time discouraging
women from speaking in public, gave
addresses at women’s meetings,
worked with young people and
visited those dependent on alcohol.
The Booths’ love for others and their
Catherine and William Booth | 45
rejection of contemporary notions
that the poor ‘deserved their lot’
motivated their efforts, even after
William repeatedly came home cut
and bruised from stones thrown at
him as he was preaching in the slums.
One day walking along the street,
Catherine saw a drunkard being taken
off to prison by a policeman. Passers-
by jeered. Indignant, Catherine began
walking alongside the man to show
him that someone was interested in
what happened to him.
Later, she and William founded
a counselling centre for alcoholics
and a refuge for poor people who
were sleeping on the streets, and
gathered funds to help criminals
and prostitutes. They also started
the Food for a Million programme,
providing soup and bread to the poor
for a penny, or for nothing at all if they
had no money.
In the last days of his life, William
Booth was asked what message he
had for the soldiers of the Salvation
Army. He replied: ‘Others’, underlining
again that a real Christian must always
help those around by all means
available.
Cristian Zaharia
eva von tiele-winckler(1866 – 1930)
LutherAn deAconess; founder of frIedenshort, A sheLter for AbAndoned chILdren, sIck And eLderLy peopLe
Eva von Tiele-Winckler, known as
Mother Eva, was born in 1866 into a
wealthy family who had a castle on
the Polish-German border.
Even as a child she felt called to
help the poor and needy. Although
she belonged to the aristocracy, Eva
did not consider it beneath her to
cook food for the poor and share
it amongst them. One day a dirty,
hungry little boy came to the castle.
Eva washed him and made him a
pair of trousers out of an old dress of
hers. When her father found out what
she had done, he became angry and
forbade her to go into the kitchen or
to talk to inhabitants of the nearby
village. But in her heart Eva began to
trust in God more deeply.
At age 19 Eva went to Bielefeld
to take a course in nursing. Upon
returning home she was allowed
to invite eight young girls to the
castle and teach them sewing and
handicrafts. Her father’s attitude
gradually softened, so much so that
his Christmas present to her in 1888
was the plan of a house to be called
Friedenshort (Home of Peace).
As soon as the new house was
opened, Mother Eva began her social
outreach. Sick children, abandoned
babies, elderly people and invalids
without family support all found
refuge and comfort at Friedenshort.
In the years that followed, Eva,
under the guidance of Pastor Friedrich
von Bodelschwingh and with the
agreement of her father, founded a
community of deaconesses, whom
she trained for different kinds of social
work. The Friedenshort project soon
expanded, with construction of two
more buildings, one for the incurably
sick and the other for children.
In 1910 Eva founded in Breslau
her first children’s home. Heimat
für Heimatlose (Home for the
Homeless), which expanded until
the organisation maintained 40
such homes, developed from this
beginning.
Eva also established ‘family
homes’, in which 10-15 children of
Eva von Tiele-Winckler | 47
different ages were brought up and
educated in a family setting, often led
by a nurse.
Between 1910 and 1923, more
than 14,000 children found a family
in these homes. The number of
deaconesses grew to 800. The
Friedenshort project was from the
beginning characterised by absence
of denominational boundaries,
leading to further development and
mission work.
Eva von Tiele-Winckler’s
concern extended to prisoners,
initially through a prison visitation
programme and later by establishing
homes in which ex-prisoners could be
helped to reintegrate into society.
Mother Eva died in 1930 in
Miechowitz, Poland, after a life
devoted to the service of the poor,
the sick and the destitute.
Adina Petric
Bl. Zeffirino JimeneZ mala(1861 – 1936)
gypsy mArtyr, executed for defendIng A prIest who wAs mALtreAted
Zeffirino Jiminez Mala, later
nicknamed ‘El Pelé’, was born at
Benavènt de Segrià in Spain on 26
August 1861. He was baptised a
Catholic at Fraga where his parents
Giovanni and Giuseppa, who were
travellers, were staying for a time. He
started going out begging from his
earliest years, just like any gypsy child
of his age.
One of his descendants recalled of
him: ‘He was not easily frightened. He
would intervene fearlessly to uphold
the right when it was necessary. He
lived according to gypsy law, by force
and justice’. He was not a racist. He was
a kind of bridge between two worlds,
that of the travelling or migratory
gypsy communities and that of
people groups who stayed within one
area. He had a gift for embracing the
best aspects of both types of cultures.
As well, ‘El Pelé’ possessed a special
love for children, helped the poor and
needy, and visited the elderly and the
sick.
‘El Pelé’ married at age 18 in
accordance with gypsy law. He and
his wife, Tereza, had no children, and
adopted her niece, Pepita. He lived
the life of a traveller until he was 40,
and although he dealt in horses he
was an honest man. At age 50, after
32 years of gypsy-style matrimony,
he and Tereza celebrated a Christian
wedding.
One day Zeffirino came across
a man suffering from TB who was
lying on the ground where he had
collapsed. Everyone else was walking
around him, but Zeffirino overcame
his fear of contamination and
hastened to help him.
On another occasion, a young
mother was unable to breastfeed her
child. El Pelé gave her money every
day so that she could buy milk. Anyone
who did not have a beast of burden
to carry his produce to market would
speak to El Pelé, who consistently
replied, ‘Go into my stable and take
whichever animal you like. You can
pay me when you get your money at
the end of seasonal work’.
Bl. Zeffirino Jimenez Mala | 49
Zeffirino often visited old people
and the sick. He went daily to a home
for the severely disabled. He belonged
to the Fellowship of St. Vincent
de Paul, a charitable organisation
devoted to the relief of the poor.
Beggars were taken to his room
and fed. He spoke to children about
Jesus, and in the evenings he invited
families into his house and would
kneel down and pray with them.
When people were arguing,
Zeffirino worked to bring about
reconciliation. He had a special gift
for taking the heat out of arguments
between gypsies or between gypsies
and the local non-gypsy population.
People would run to him and invite
him to bring about a fair resolution of
conflicts.
Towards the end of his life he
prayed daily, at home, in the street, at
the old people’s home, in prisons.
In 1936 Zeffirino was arrested and
condemned to death for taking up
the cause of a priest who had been
maltreated [by anti-Catholic elements
during the Spanish Civil War]. On 9
August that year he was executed in
the cemetery at Barbastro. On his way
to execution he kept shouting, ‘Long
live Christ the King!’.
On 4 May 1997, Zeffirino Jiménez
Malla was beatified by Pope John Paul
II, and is celebrated by the Catholic
Church on 4 May.
Marcelin Blaj
st. dimitri klePinin (1904 – 1944)
A ‘rIghteous Amongst the nAtIons’ who sAved mAny Jews from sure deAth durIng the second worLd wAr
Dimitri Klepinin was a priest, a
Russian émigré living in France, who
saved many Jews from death during
the Second World War. The Yad
Veshem Jewish memorial foundation
in Jerusalem gave him the title of
‘righteous Gentile’ in 1984.
Dimitri was born in Pyatigorsk
in Russia, into a family with three
children. His father was an architect
and his mother did charitable work
for the poor. After the Bolshevik coup
d’etat of 1917, the Klepinin family left
Russia, settling first in Constantinople
and subsequently in Yugoslavia.
At age 19, Dimitri tragically lost his
mother and, in his own words, found
in Jesus Christ his only light and
consolation. In 1925 he embarked
upon theological studies in Paris,
and after graduating, was awarded
a scholarship to the Protestant
Theological Seminary in New York.
Returning to Europe, he worked in
Yugoslavia before settling in France,
where he married and was ordained
priest in 1937.
Two years later he was sent to
serve as chaplain of the guest house
founded in Paris by his compatriot
Maria Skobtsova. During the Nazi
occupation, he took part in resistance
efforts of the Orthodox Action
movement and hid many Jewish
families, prisoners of war, and other
people being hunted by the Nazis.
Jews came to Father Klepinin
asking for baptism certificates that
might prevent them from being
persecuted by the Nazis. Although
many of these Jews were not
converting to Christianity, and were
not actually being baptised, Father
Klepinin gave them the life-saving
pieces of paper.
In 1943 Klepinin was arrested by
the Nazis and interrogated by the
Gestapo. An officer asked him, ‘If
we let you go, will you promise not
to help the Jews any more?’. Father
Klepinin replied, ‘I cannot make such
a promise. I am a Christian and I must
do what I must’. Annoyed, the officer
shouted at him, ‘Jew-lover!’. Then
St. Dimitri Klepinin | 51
Dimitri calmly lifted up the crucifix he
wore around his neck and showed it
to the officer, saying quietly, ‘Do you
know this Jew?’. Infuriated, the officer
shouted, ‘You’ve pronounced your
own condemnation!’.
Together with Yuri Skobtsov, Sister
Maria’s son, Dimitri was deported to
Buchenwald concentration camp in
Germany and later to the camp at
Dora, where he died of pneumonia in
the winter of 1944, four days after Yuri
had also died.
The Russian Orthodox Church
celebrates him on 20 July.
Monica Zaharia
st. maria skoBtsova (1891- 1945)
member of the french resIstAnce movement; protector of refugees And of Jews persecuted by nAZIs
Maria Skobstova was a poet, a
nun and a member of the French
Resistance during the Second World
War. She gave shelter and help to
Russian refugees in France and to
Jews experiencing persecution
during the Nazi occupation.
She was born into a noble family
in Latvia (then in the Russian Empire)
and was baptised Elizaveta. Deeply
affected by the death of her father,
she questioned the meaning of life
and sought answers in the theories
of revolutionary socialism, without
finding anything that satisfied her.
She found more satisfying answers
in Christianity and decided to study
at the Theological Institute in St
Petersburg.
When the Bolshevik regime came
to power in Russia in 1917, Elizaveta
emigrated to France. There she
experienced the painful loss of one
of her three children. In 1930, she was
appointed secretary of the Russian
Christian Students’ Movement
and came into contact with large
numbers of Russian refugees in
France. In helping them, she laid the
foundations of a community in which
those in need could receive shelter,
care and also spiritual support.
Elizaveta became a nun in 1932
and took the name Sister Maria.
Instead of retiring to a convent, she
involved herself in society and a
profession of ‘monasticism in the
world’. She founded a guest house
with a dining room, a chapel and a
room for reading and discussions.
Guests outgrew the building, so the
hostel moved to the famous Rue de
Lourmel, with room for 100 people
to be fed and housed. Over time,
more buildings were rented, one for
families and one for single men, and
a farm in the country was converted
into a sanatorium.
Sister Maria House was not only
a home for the needy, but also an
ideal venue for discussions. Here
the elite of the Russian intellectuals
in Paris gathered to debate faith
and social problems of the day. In
St. Maria Skobtsova | 53
1935 these discussions led to the
Orthodox Action movement, aiming
to implement principles of the Gospel
in the life of society.
During the Nazi occupation of
Paris, Maria, together with her son
Yuri and with Dimitri Klepinin, priest
of the Rue de Lourmel chapel, took in
large numbers of Jews facing arrest
and transportation to concentration
camps. In July 1942, thousands of
Jews had been brought together
in a stadium from where they were
to be sent to different camps. Maria
and some garbage disposal men
succeeded in saving a number of
children by concealing them in
garbage bins. Sister Maria helped
Father Klepinin provide baptism
certificates to conceal Jewish
identities, insisting, ‘I believe that the
good Christ would give me this piece
of paper if I were in their position.
Therefore I must do the same. […] At
all times the Church has been a refuge
for all those who have fallen victim to
barbarism’.
In 1943 Sister Maria was arrested
by the Nazis and charged with being
a ‘Jew-lover’. After spending two years
in the Ravensbrück concentration
camp in Germany, she died in the gas
chambers, a few weeks before the
end of the war.
She is celebrated by the Russian
Orthodox Church on 20 July.
Monica Zaharia
dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945)
LutherAn pAstor And theoLogIAn; opponent of the nAZI regIme In germAny
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is highly
regarded as a martyr of modern
times. He was a theologian, a
Lutheran pastor and opponent of
the Nazi regime in Germany. While
hounded and imprisoned by the
Nazis, he wrote numerous books and
letters about authentic living-out of
the Christian faith that continue to
influence new generations. Although
Bonhoeffer could have kept silent or
gone into exile, he preferred to risk
his life by joining compatriots in the
struggle against Nazism.
Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau
in present-day Poland in 1906,
into the family of a well-known
psychiatrist and a highly educated,
devout mother. When Adolf Hitler
came to power in 1933, many in
Bonhoeffer’s family became activitists
on behalf of those marginalised
and oppressed by the Nazis, at a
time when most other Christians
acquiesced to increasingly terrifying
political realities. Bonhoeffer showed
his opposition openly by drawing
people’s attention to the dangers of
following an unrighteous leader. He
was part of the nucleus of a Christian
group known as Die Bekennende
Gemeinde (the Confessing Church),
which condemned Nazi doctrine and
practice. He stated in sermons and
public lectures that the way Jews
were being treated was an attack on
civil liberties. As a protest against the
injustice suffered by colleagues who
did not belong to the ‘Aryan race’, he
refused a position in a parish in Berlin
and chose rather to go to London,
where he served in a German-
speaking church giving assistance
to large numbers of Christian and
Jewish refugees.
Some of Bonhoeffer’s
contemporaries accused him of
giving up the fight against Nazism
by moving to England, but in fact
he carried on the struggle at an
international level. Speaking on the
subject of peace at an ecumenical
conference in Denmark, he startled
hearers by saying, ‘We must be daring
Dietrich Bonhoeffer | 55
in our pursuit of peace; now that’s the
great adventure!’.
He returned to Germany and
taught theology for two years at
Finkenwalde Seminary. When this
institution of the Die Bekennende
Gemeinde protesting Christians was
shut down, Bonhoeffer continued to
write and participate in the Resistance
movement, taking part in operations
to rescue groups of Jews.
In 1939 Bonhoeffer was invited
to teach at a theological seminary in
the United States. He accepted, but
returned to Germany after a short
time, stating he would rather endure
the sufferings of war alongside his
compatriots. He chose this despite
the fact that the Gestapo had, a year
earlier, banned him from Berlin. From
autumn 1940 onwards he was no
longer permitted to speak in public.
Although he held pacifist
convictions, Bonhoeffer came to
believe that it is more righteous to
take part in eliminating evil than
to stand by passively despite its
consequences. He became involved
in the 1943 plot, devised by a number
of members of the Abwehr (German
military intelligence) to assassinate
Hitler. This led to his arrest and
incarceration in Floessenburg Prison.
Bonhoeffer’s role in the plot had been
that of a courier and intermediary
between the plotters and the British
government.
Three weeks before the end of the
war, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged
on direct orders from Hitler himself.
Adina Petric
fr. dumitru sandu-matei (1913 – 1951)
romAn cAthoLIc prIest; AntIcommunIst mArtyr And ApostLe to the poor
The first half of the 20th century
was a time of great suffering,
particularly resulting from the two
world wars. Dumitru Sandu-Matei
was born at Sărata in Bacău county,
Romania, on 28 July 1913 into a family
of land workers. After graduating
from seminary in Iaşi, the chief city
of north-eastern Romania, he was
ordained priest in 1939. He worked at
the Catholic cathedral in Iaşi, and was
reported to be loved and esteemed
by all.
Father Matei became renowned
as ‘an apostle to the poor’. Other
members of his community said he
put all he possessed at the disposal
of the poor. His motive for such
generosity was that he saw Jesus in
the poor.
In the first years of the Second
World War, he offered spiritual help
to soldiers at the front. After the
war, he was appointed chaplain to
wounded soldiers in hospitals and
was responsible for handling and
distributing aid received from abroad
for the starving. He also set up a
students’ canteen in Iaşi.
He provided prisoners with
medicine, clothes and food. During
1946-1948 he helped a large number
of German prisoners to escape from
the camps and hospitals of Iaşi. Many
people were asked to take prisoners
into their homes. Mihai Gheorghiu of
Iaşi has stated that Father Matei more
than once asked him to host former
German prisoners in his own house.
Dr. Rozalia Iosub, also of Iaşi, similarly
testified that she hid a number of
fugitives in her house at Father Matei’s
request.
From 1939 to 1944, Father Matei
published a number of articles on
history, spirituality, and religious
knowledge. His reports from the front,
where he was providing spiritual
support to the wounded in military
hospitals, make moving reading. He
was convinced of the importance of
the press, of seminaries, of schools
and of voluntary associations in
the times in which he lived. He
Fr. Dumitru Sandu-Matei | 57
campaigned for extending the role
of elementary school teachers in the
education of young people and for
the development of schools.
When the communist regime
came to power in Romania, many
students organised themselves
against it. Father Dumitru became
their mentor. One student, Liviu-
Coca Mărgineanu, described the
priest as having become the central
figure of this group seeking for ways
and means of opposing communist
activities.
After being forced to hide from
authorities in various places, Father
Dumitru withdrew to Bucharest,
where he was arrested. He was
charged with the crime of high
treason and condemned to death.
Execution by firing squad was carried
out on 21 February 1951 in the prison
at Jilava.
Father Dumitru Sandu-Matei has
gone down in history as an apostle to
the poor and oppressed, but also as a
modern martyr who did not hesitate
to lay down his life for the sake of his
Lord and his brothers.
Marcelin Blaj
martin luther kinG, Jr. (1929 – 1968)
the mAn who hAd A dreAm; opponent of rAcIAL segregAtIon And LeAder of the AmerIcAn movement for cIvIL rIghts
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one
of the most significant opponents
of racial segregation in the United
States of America. He advocated
social change through direct but non-
violent action.
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia,
into a family of Baptist pastors. He
studied theology, and in 1955, after
marrying, he achieved a doctorate in
theology.
On 1st December 1955 a
significant incident took place in
Montgomery, Alabama, the town
where Dr. King was serving as a pastor,
a. A black seamstress, Rosa Parks, who
was sitting on a seat in the front row
of the a part of a bus reserved for
blacks, and refused to give up her
seat to a white man. This meant that
she was breaking the Alabama’s racial
segregation laws, she was arrested.
on racial segregation on buses, and
she was arrested. Although such
incidents were nothing unusual, but
on this occasion the members of the
black population decided to assert
their right to be treated with dignity,
and so the Montgomery Bus Boycott
was launched.
Martin Luther King was chosen
as the leader of the boycott and
succeeded in making a non-violent
protest. Even when his house was
set on fire and his family’s lives put in
peril, he had the strength to declare
to the fellow-members of his ethnic
community: ‘We will not be able to
resolve this problem if we respond
to violence with violence (…). We
will respond to violence with non-
violence. Think of the words of Jesus:
‘He who draws the sword will perish
by the sword’. Jesus calls to us now
across the centuries, ‘Love your
enemies!’ That is what we need to live
out’.
As a direct consequence of this
protest, the US Supreme Court
declared the Alabama’s law on racial
segregation to be unconstitutional
(December 1956), and the buses in
Montgomery were desegregated.
In the years that followed, Dr. King
Martin Luther King, Jr. | 59
was involved in starting the Southern
Christian Leaders’ Conference and
supported the Student Committee
for the Co-ordination of Non-
Violence. He was also involved in
the Albany Civil Rights movement
and organised a demonstration in
favour of black rights in Birmingham,
Alabama. This ended in clashes
between demonstrators and police,
and received publicity all around the
world. The numerous demonstrations
which followed, this one culminating
in the March on Washington in 1963,
at the end of which Dr. King delivered
his famous “‘I Have A Dream”’ speech
from the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial. This speech earned him a
place amongst the greatest orators in
US history.
Time magazine named King ‘Man
of the Year’ for in 1963, and his efforts
to change the world by peaceful
means brought him international
recognition in 1964, when he became
the youngest ever recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize.
From 1967 onwards, Dr. King was a
public critic of US military intervention
in Vietnam. He initiated the Campaign
for the Poor. On 3 April 3 1968, the day
before he was assassinated, Dr. King
took part in a strike by black workers
in Memphis. There, he made his last
speech, ‘I Have Been to the Top of the
Mountain’.
Cristian Zaharia
oscar romero (1917 – 1980)
‘the voIce of the voIceLess’; mArtyr of the struggLe for socIAL And poLItIcAL JustIce In eL sALvAdor
Oscar Romero was a 20th-century
Roman Catholic archbishop who
worked tirelessly for social justice and
in defence of human rights.
He was born on 15 March 1917
in Ciudad Barrios, a small town in El
Salvador. He grew up to become ‘the
voice of those who have no voice’.
El Salvador was a country in
turmoil. After coffee-growing was
introduced in 1828, peasants were
thoroughly exploited and their pay
was derisory. El Salvador increasingly
became a police state, in which
respect for human rights no longer
existed. An impoverished, suffering
population longed for justice – but
anyone who said anything about
justice was thrown into prison or
killed.
In this context, Oscar grew up
desiring to become a priest. He left his
hometown at age 14 and headed for
San Miguele, where he would have
opportunity to follow his vocation.
After some years, he was able to
attend the Gregorian Pontifical
University in Rome, where in 1943 he
gained his degree in theology.
Oscar became a priest and
returned to San Salvador. In February
1977, as El Salvador was in the grip of
social and political repression, Oscar
Romero became Archbishop of San
Salvador.
Nomination of Romero as
Archbishop of San Salvador caused
no anxiety amongst political
leadership, since it was believed that
he was a very reserved person. No
one imagined that he would be likely
to publicly criticise actions of the
government or the army.
Oscar carried on his work in the
accustomed way, like any pastor
of souls, until everything changed
overnight when his good friend
Father Rutilio Grande was killed. At a
liturgy being celebrated in front of the
cathedral before a crowd of 100,000,
Archbishop Romero denounced the
government, accusing El Salvador’s
leaders of injustice and of committing
crimes against the population. He
Oscar Romero | 61
likewise condemned all human rights
violations.
In a letter to the nation’s president,
Romero expressed his desire for
peace: ‘Peace is not a product of
terror and fear, it is not the silence of
the graveyard, it is not the quiet that
results from violent repression. Peace
is the generous, calm contribution of
all towards the common good. Peace
is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is
a right and a duty’.
Romero’s opposition to the
rampant murders in El Salvador and
his condemnation of the reign of terror
made him extremely vulnerable. On
24 March 1980, the archbishop was
assassinated as he celebrated Mass in
the cathedral in San Salvador.
Those fighting for human
dignity and for justice continue to
draw inspiration from Archbishop
Romero’s courageous life and from
his death. Although he has not been
canonised yet, he is popularly hailed
as ‘St. Romero of America’ on every
anniversary of his death.
Maricel Bulai
Bl. maica tereZa of calcutta (1910 – 1997)
founder of the order of the mIssIonArIes of chArIty; nobeL peAce prIZe LAureAte
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, later
known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta,
was born in Skopje, now in Macedonia
but at that time part of Albania, on 26
August 1910.
Mother Teresa is one of the best-
known and best-loved women of
all time, because of the way she
devoted her entire life to suffering
people. She was particularly drawn
to the sick (especially the dying and
lepers), abandoned children, unborn
children, and the poor.
Mother Teresa entered the
convent of Loreto at age 18, then
went to Calcutta in India, where she
devoted herself to the poorest of
the poor – the sick. She founded the
Order of the Missionaries of Charity,
which today cares for more than one
million sick people in its 200 centres.
More than 50,000 lepers are housed
and attended to in the order’s 50
leper settlements.
Barefoot or in sandals, Mother
Teresa wore her recognisable white
habit with its blue border stripe,
her face lined with wrinkles, as she
travelled the whole world in the
cause of suffering people. She first
demonstrated her love for the sick
and poor on the day she picked up
from the streets a woman who was at
the point of death with mice and ants
gnawing at her body.
Years later, an American journalist
who saw her washing a sick person
with terrible sores said to her: ‘I
wouldn’t do that for a million dollars’.
‘Neither would I’, replied Mother
Teresa. ‘For a million dollars, no, but
for the love of Christ, yes, and joyfully’.
Mother Teresa spoke vehemently
for pro-life causes. She strongly
opposed abortion and divorce laws
that sacrificed children’s interests to
adults’ follies, thus making herself
unpopular with many people.
In 1994 she declared in
Washington DC, in a gathering of
American dignitaries, that abortion
was the greatest problem of our day:
‘Don’t kill little children! I appeal to all
the mothers of the world: if you don’t
Bl. Maica Tereza of Calcutta | 63
want your child, give it to me… I want
it! That’s why I have adopted over
3,000 children in Calcutta’.
When she accepted the
Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on 10
December 1979, she said, ‘In this,
the International Year of the Child, I
address you in the name of unborn
children’. And when she spoke with
King Olaf VI of Norway, she cried out,
‘Your Majesty, I repeat, abortion is a
form of assassination!’.
Mother Teresa earned
innumerable awards for her activism,
especially in promotion of peace.
She died on 5 September 1997,
following a heart attack. On 19
October 2003 Mother Teresa was
beatified by Pope John Paul II and is
celebrated by the Catholic Church on
5 September.
Marcelin Blaj
richard wurmBrand (1909 – 2001)
LutherAn pAstor; defender of chrIstIAns persecuted by communIst regImes
Richard Wurmbrand earned the
name ‘the Apostle Paul of the Iron
Curtain’ as one of the most striking
preachers of the 20th century who
fought to defend the rights of
persecuted Christians.
Wurmbrand was born into a
Jewish family in Bucharest, capital
of Romania, in 1909. As a young
man he was attracted by the
communist movement, but soon
realised its promises eclipsed reality.
Wurmbrand’s life was transformed
after he met a carpenter who gave
him a Bible. His reading of Scripture
and the experience of meeting other
believers led to his conversion to the
Christian faith.
During the Second World War,
Wurmbrand undertook covert
missionary work and helped many
Jews to survive. He also preached in
numerous air raid shelters and was
arrested a number of times.
Wurmbrand continued his
missionary activities even after
communists came to power in
Romania, although he knew
authorities regarded what he was
doing as illegal. He was arrested by
communist authorities in February
1948. For eight years he was held in
solitary confinement under a false
name. At first authorities said he had
fled the country, but later a number
of agents posing as former detainees
suggested to his family that he had
died in prison. Wurmbrand was freed
in 1956, but two years later was
imprisoned again, this time for six
years.
Pastor Wurmbrand was finally
released in 1964 in a general amnesty
of prisoners and settled in the United
States with his family. While in
Philadelphia, he happened to pass a
public demonstration in support of
the communist regime in Vietnam.
The demonstration was suddenly
interrupted by an unknown person
who claimed to have a doctorate in
Communism. As he spoke, he showed
the crowd scars on his chest and back
as evidence of the torture to which
Richard Wurmbrand | 65
he had been subjected. Then the
stranger – no other than Wurmbrand
–exhorted those present to side with
the victims and not with the torturers.
Later, Wurmbrand gave evidence
before the US Senate Committee on
Internal Security. As a result, news
of the atrocities Christians were
suffering in communist countries
spread throughout the world.
While in America, Wurmbrand
founded Voice of the Martyrs, an
organisation documenting and
advocating against persecution of
Christians by communist and other
oppressive regimes anywhere in the
world.
Richard Wurmbrand died in 2001.
His legacy – alongside his Christian
testimony and his books – can be
summed up in his own words: ‘In all
that I have suffered alongside my
brethren in the faith, it is Jesus Christ
alone that I want to be seen. He is the
one who kept us in the faith and gave
us the power to be victorious’.
Adina Petric
desmond tutu (born 1931)
fIghter AgAInst ApArtheId In south AfrIcA; reconcILer of nAtIons
Desmond Tutu was born into
a poor family in South Africa. As a
result of the government’s policy of
apartheid (separateness), according
to which those with black skin were
considered inferior to other people
and therefore kept apart from the
rest of society, South Africa’s black
population were forced to live in
ghettoes under tight restrictions.
Their sole function under this
government was to provide cheap
labour.
Desmond became a teacher like his
father, but when a law passed setting
even lower standards of education for
the coloured population, he resigned
from his post and devoted himself to
theological studies. He was ordained
an Anglican priest in 1960. Some
years later, when he returned to his
native land after studying in England
on scholarship, South Africa faced
impending civil war, and Desmond
Tutu decided that the time for change
had come. He held increasingly
important positions in the Church – he
was Bishop of Lesotho, then the first
black Secretary-General of the South
African Council of Churches, and
finally Archbishop of Cape Town. By
position, and by his eloquent, resolute
opposition to apartheid, Archbishop
Tutu represented the cause of the
oppressed to the international
community and advocated change
through non-violent means.
Many people knew Archbishop
Tutu as a humble man of small
stature who, by his stance of faith and
courage, and armed only with a Bible,
opposed the forces of a repressive
government. He took the role of
peacemaker on the bloody streets
of South Africa and worked for ‘a
just, democratic society, free of racial
segregation’.
After a massacre carried out in a
Johannesburg township by security
forces, Archbishop Tutu stood alone
in the streets, ruined buildings all
around him, and encouraged people
with the words: ‘Do not hate; let us
choose the peaceful path to freedom’.
Desmond Tutu | 67
Although apartheid had been
recognised as a crime against
humanity as far back as 1973, it
was only brought down when the
international community imposed
economic and political sanctions on
South Africa in response to Archbishop
Tutu’s urgings. He thus earned the
nickname ‘Mr Sanctions’. In 1984 he
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
recognition of his involvement in the
non-violent campaign for the rights
of black people.
Desmond Tutu also played
an important role after the
dismantling of the apartheid system,
becoming Chairman of the Truth
and Reconciliation Commission
and bringing to it a Christian
understanding of making peace with
the past through confession and
forgiveness of wrongs: ‘We cannot
be superficial’, he said, ‘and bury the
past, because the past cannot be
buried but will always pursue us.
True reconciliation is never cheap,
because it is based on forgiveness,
which is costly. And forgiveness in its
turn is based on repentance, which
has to be founded on a recognition
of wrongs committed and thus
on open statement of the truth.
Something that is not known cannot
be forgiven…’.
Cristian Zaharia
afterword‘the Lord Looked And wAs dIspLeAsed thAt there wAs no JustIce. he sAw thAt there wAs no one, he wAs AppALLed thAt there wAs no one to Intervene’. IsAIAh 59:16
The MinisTry of JusTice
Have you ever been distressed
by an injustice you wished you could
fight? Have you longed to challenge
some form of darkness in your town,
or country or even another part of the
world? Have you seen evil triumph
over good, yet knew there was a
better way? Have you thought it was
possible that God, too, was grieved?
Have you considered that fighting for
justice, inspired by faith, might be a
ministry? For 2,000 years, Christians
have felt the same way, and inspired
by their love of God, changed their
world in some small or large way.
If you let yourself, you might be
inspired to do impossible things
to His glory. You could fight social
cruelties as an expression of your
faith. If you trust this stirring and do
not turn away, you will be equipped.
You will be given power and courage
and hope and vision to do impossible
things. The world is groaning for
people like you to say a simple but
transforming ‘Yes’.
As this book shows, two millennia
of Christians have believed and acted
– they challenged oppression and
triumphed over the odds. Since the
birth of our faith, Christians have
engaged in practical justice work
which changed societies. The work
is endless, as is the list of their heroic
accomplishments. To name a few
monumental efforts: defending the
‘underground’ church during times
of oppression throughout Eastern
Europe; ending the slave trade in
the 1800s; challenging child labour
in ‘sweat shop’ factories; establishing
hospitals and schools for the poor;
and fighting against tyranny.
Yet this is not just ancient history.
You are living in a transformational
time when people of faith are
increasingly engaging in human
rights and social reforms. Consider
these practical opportunities in your
own backyard or larger world:
• Petitioning and organising on
behalf of 27 million people,
Afterword | 69
including children and youths,
trapped in human trafficking,
which is modern-day slavery
involving extreme labour and
sexual exploitation.
• Aiding refugees and Internal
Displaced Persons (IDPs)
desperately escaping conflicts.
• Organising citizen voices for
better governance and services.
• Fighting corruption.
• Challenging practices such as
child begging rings and providing
alternatives for a better life.
• Giving disabled children
the right to attend school,
escaping oftentimes terrible
marginalisation and loneliness.
• Defending orphaned children.
The Bible says this is true
religion: setting free the oppressed
and captives, breaking the yoke,
and proclaiming freedom for the
prisoners.
Isaiah 58: 6: “Is this not the kind
of fasting I have chosen: To loose the
chains of injustice, and untie the cords
of the yoke, To set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?”
In the New Testament, Jesus states
in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is
on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for
the prisoners and recovery of sight for
the blind, to release the oppressed, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favou.”
Principled acts by individuals are
making a difference. Such people are
a living reminder that ‘true religion’
according to the Gospels is serving
the poorest amongst us and setting
the captives free. Numbers of activists
are growing while governments
across the globe are responding,
many genuinely changing policies
and practices. This is the ripest time
yet for challenging institutions of
injustice worldwide according to
the biblical admonition to ‘set the
captives free’.
If you desire to take the next steps,
first of all, pray for guidance. Second,
you are not limited by your age, young
or old. Allow yourself to start small,
where you are, and grow from there.
Consider studying law, social work,
or international development. Join
a secular or Christian organisation
doing good work. Become familiar
with several notable websites,
including the ones listed below. Read
books on Christian justice work such
as Good News About Injustice by Gary
Haugen. Talk to your church leader
about forming a youth group to help
the neediest people in your town.
Opportunities are limited only
by your imagination. Walk this path
knowing there is a way for you to
make a difference as an expression of
your faith in a troubled world.
suggesTed websiTes
• World Vision International,
Eastern Europe:
http://meero.worldvision.org
• International Justice Mission:
www.ijm.org
• Stop the Traffik:
www.stopthetraffik.org
• Human Rights Watch:
www.hrw.org
• Amnesty International:
www.amnesty.org
• International Crisis Group:
www.crisisgroup.org
Afterword | 71
for furTher sTudy
Reflect on Psalm 72: 12-14 “He
will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to
help. He will take pity on the weak
and the needy and save the needy
from death. He will rescue them from
oppression and violence, for precious
is their blood in his sight”.
• Think about the meaning of this
passage which states that God
is moved by compassion for the
weak and oppressed.
• Who are the oppressed and
needy in your town?
• What are some practical next
steps you could take?
Sharon Payt
© 2010 World Vision International. All rights reserved.Adoramus PublishersIași, Romaniawww.adoramus.ro
‘At the LAst Judgment, I wILL not be Asked whether I sAtIsfActorILy prActIced AscetIcIsm, or how mAny genufLectIons I hAve mAde before the dIvIne ALtAr. I wILL be Asked whether I fed the hungry, cLothed the nAked, vIsIted the sIck And the prIsoner In hIs JAIL. thAt Is ALL thAt wILL be Asked’.
st. mArIA skobtsovA