Anton Durcovici


Anton Durcovici
Bishop of Iași
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
DioceseIași
SeeIași
Appointed30 October 1947
Installed14 April 1948
Term ended10 December 1951
PredecessorMihai Robu
SuccessorPetru Gherghel
Previous post(s)Apostolic Administrator of București (1948–49)
Orders
Ordination24 September 1910
by Pietro Respighi
Consecration5 April 1948
by Gerald Patrick O'Hara
Personal details
Born
Anton Durcovici

(1888-05-17)17 May 1888
Died10 December 1951(1951-12-10) (aged 63)
Sighet Prison, Sighetu Marmației, Maramureș County, Romania
NationalityAustro-Hungarian-Romanian
Alma mater
MottoBeatus populus cuius Deus Dominus ("Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord")
Sainthood
Feast day20 December
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Beatified17 May 2014
Stadionul Emil Alexandrescu, Iași, Romania
by Cardinal Angelo Amato
AttributesEpiscopal attire
Patronage

Anton Durcovici (17 May 1888 – 10 December 1951) was a Romanian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and the Bishop of Iași from 1947 until his death. Durcovici was a victim of Romania's Communist regime, under which he was imprisoned; he died while in jail. He was known for being a zealous bishop who visited each parish within the confines of his diocese and known for his efforts in preaching the Gospel to all that he could. He likewise was known for his staunch commitment to the values of the Gospel and for his allegiance to the Church which led to his false arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the communist regime. Durcovici was a professor of seminarians and taught his students subjects such as canon law. His zeal as a priest led to his appointment in Bucharest as a rector for seminarians and his renown in Romania led to his episcopal appointment as a bishop.

The beatification process for the late bishop commenced in the 1990s and culminated in 2013 after Pope Francis approved his beatification; Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over the 2014 beatification on the pope's behalf in Durcovici's old diocese.