Fates of Roman Catholic Priests of the Diocese of Satu Mare Under the Survaillance of the Securitate

FATES OF ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF SATU MARE UNDER THE SURVAILLANCE OF THE SECURITATE Daniel GIURGIU*1 Abstract: During the communist regime, the Securitate services paid special attention to the clergy of the Diocese of Satu Mare. Labeled as “enemies of the regime” or “hostile vipers of the regime”, they were closely monitored in the files named “the Roman Catholic issue”, “tax evasion issue” or “the Hungarian national irredentist issue (Roman Catholic)”. This study aims to present the fate of two priests, Galambos Ferenc and Fehér István, who were closely surveilled by the Securitate at different times and for different reasons. Galambos Ferenc came to the attention of the Securitate starting in 1946 when he was the parish vicar in Petreşti. After 1948, he was closely monitored by the Securitate both for his loyalty to the diocesan leadership and for his pastoral activities, as he refused to accept a nationalized Roman Catholic Church. Especially in the 1980s, the increasing contacts between the clergy and the Western world became a sensitive point for the Securitate. Most of the parish priests came under surveil- lance due to their “suspicious relationships with foreign countries”. These rela- tionships were nothing more than their efforts, either to manage their parishes (securing funds from charitable organizations) or to ensure the smooth running of their pastoral lives (risking the acquisition of religious literature). One such case was that of Father Fángli Eduárd, the parish priest in Răteşti, who was monitored for more than a decade until his premature death at the age of 38.