Dumitru Stăniloae

Dumitru Stăniloae (Romanian: [duˈmitru stəniˈlo̯aje]; 29 November [O.S. 16 November] 1903 – 4 October 1993) was a Romanian Orthodox Christian priest, theologian and professor. He worked for over 45 years on a comprehensive Romanian translation of the Greek Philokalia, a collection of writings on prayer by the Church Fathers, together with the hieromonk, Arsenie Boca, who brought manuscripts from Mount Athos. His book, The Dogmatic Orthodox Theology (1978), made him one of the best-known Christian theologians of the second half of the 20th century. He also produced commentaries on earlier Christian thinkers, such as St Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Maximus the Confessor, and St Athanasius of Alexandria. He is also remembered as editor in chief of the regional orthodox newspaper Telegraful Român (1934–1945) where he imposed a nationalist and antisemitic editorial line.^[1][2][3]

Biography

Dumitru Stăniloae was born on 16 November 1903, in

He married on 4 October 1930, and his wife gave birth to twins in 1931, named Dumitru and Maria. He and his wife had another daughter, Lidia, on 8 October of the following year; and that year he met and befriended ultra-right ideologist Nichifor Crainic.

In January 1934, Stăniloae took over as editor in chief of the Transylvanian bi-weekly church newspaper Telegraful român (The Romanian Telegraph). He would hold the position until May 1945. Under the previous editor in chief, George Proca, Telegraful român had published ambivalent articles about the Jewish minority. Under Stăniloae, the editorial line became aggressively antisemitic. It published eulogies of legionaries Ion Moța and Vasile Marin, far-right politician A. C. Cuza, Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu and even Adolf Hitler. As antisemitic legislation was adopted by the successive Romanian governments Telegraful supported the legislation. Deportations of Roma and Jews were also encouraged. Some editorials (including a 1942 article suggestively titled Au să dispară din Europa, i.e., They will disappear from Europe) go as far as advocating the Final Solution.^[1]

Stăniloae was ordained a deacon on 8 October 1931 and was ordained priest on 25 September 1932. In June 1936 he became rector of the Theological Academy in Sibiu. In 1940, at the initiative of poet Sandu Tudor, the Rugul aprins (Burning Bush) group was founded. It was composed of priest-monk Ivan Kulighin (confessor of Russian Metropolitan bishop of Rostov, refugee at Cernica Monastery), priest-monk Benedict Ghius, priest-monk Sofian Boghiu, Prof. Alex. Mironescu, poet Vasile Voiculescu, architect Constantin Joja, Father Andrei Scrima and Ion Marin Sadoveanu. The group gathered regularly at the Cernica and Antim monasteries, maintaining Christian life in Bucharest.

In 1946 he was asked by metropolitan bishop Nicolae Bălan, under pressure from

Because of political unrest in Romania in 1958, following a split in the Romanian Communist Party, Father Dumitru was arrested by the Securitate on 5 September. While he was in Aiud Prison as a political prisoner, his only surviving child, Lidia, gave birth to his grandchild, Dumitru Horia. Lidia was asked to leave the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Physics because of the arrest of her father.

He was freed from prison in January 1963, and then began work as a clerk at the Holy

He received

Father Dumitru Stăniloae was proposed for canonization in 2025 when the Romanian Orthodox Church will celebrate 140 years of autocephaly and 100 years since obtaining the status of a patriarchate.^[7]

See also

• Lucian Turcescu
• Vladimir Lossky

Works

• Catholicism after the War, Sibiu, 1932
• Life and teachings of Gregory Palamas, Sibiu, 1938
• Orthodoxy and Romanianism, Sibiu, 1939
• The standing of Mr. Lucian Blaga on Christianity and Orthodoxism, Sibiu, 1942
• Jesus Christ or man's restoration, Sibiu, 1943
• Philokalia (translation); vol. 1: Sibiu, 1946; vol. 2: Sibiu, 1947; vol. 3: Sibiu, 1948; vol. 4: Sibiu, 1948; vol. 5: Bucharest, 1976; vol. 6: Bucharest, 1977; vol. 7: Bucharest, 1978; vol. 8: Bucharest, 1979; vol. 9: Bucharest, 1980.
• Uniatism in Transylvania, an attempt to dismember the Romanian people, Bucharest, 1973
• Treaty of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Bucharest, 1978
• Dieu est Amour, Geneva, 1980
• Theology and the Church, New York City, 1980
• Praying, freedom, holiness, Athens, 1980
• Prière de Jésus et experience de Saint Esprit, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1981 (
  OCLC 300381429
  )
• Orthodox Spirituality, Bucharest, 1981
• Moral Orthodox Theology, vol. 2, Bucharest, 1981
• St. Gregory of Nyssa – Writings (translation), Bucharest, 1982
• Orthodoxe Dogmatik, 1985
• Le genie de l'orthodoxie, Paris, 1985
• Spirituality a communion in Orthodox lithurgy, Craiova, 1986.
• God's eternal face, Craiova, 1987
• St. Athanasius the Great – Writings (translation), Bucharest, 1987
• Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Studies (Christology of
  St. Maximus the Confessor, Man and God, St. Symeon The New Theologian
  , Hymns of God's love), Craiova, 1991
• St. Cyril of Alexandria – Writings (translation), Bucharest, 1991

In English Translation:

• The Victory of the Cross: A Talk on Suffering, Fairacres Publications, Oxford, 1970 (
  ISBN 978-0728300491
  )
• Theology and the Church, SVS Press, Crestwood, 1980 (
  ISBN 978-0913836699
  )
• Liturgy of the Community and the Liturgy of the Heart: From the Viewpoint of the Philokalia, Fairacres Publications, Oxford, 1980 (
  ISBN 978-0948108037
  )
• Prayer and Holiness: The Icon of God Renewed in Man, Fairacres Publications, Oxford, 1982 (
  ISBN 978-0728300934
  )
• Eternity and Time, Fairacres Publications, Oxford, 2001 (
  ISBN 978-0728301535
  )
• Orthodox Spirituality: A Practical Guide for the Faithful and a Definitive Manual for the Scholar, STS Press, South Canaan, 2002 (translation of Orthodox Spirituality, Bucharest, 1981) (
  ISBN 978-1878997661
  )
• The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. Holy Cross Orthodox Press
  • Vol. 1, Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God (Brookline, 2005) (
    ISBN 978-0917651700
    ).
  • Vol. 2, The World: Creation and Deification (Brookline, 2005) (
    ISBN 978-1885652416
    ).
  • Vol. 3, The Person of Jesus Christ as God and Savior (Brookline, 2011) (
    ISBN 978-1935317180
    ).
  • Vol. 4, The Church: Communion in the Holy Spirit (Brookline, 2012) (
    ISBN 978-1935317265
    ).
  • Vol. 5, The Sanctifying Mysteries (Brookline, 2012) (
    ISBN 978-1935317296
    ).
  • Vol. 6, The Fulfillment of Creation (Brookline, 2013) (
    ISBN 978-1-935317-34-0
    ).
• The Holy Trinity: In the Beginning There Was Love, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, 2012) (
  ISBN 978-1935317319
  )

Further reading

• ISBN 978-606-29-0537-8
  . This anthology compiles 20 articles exploring Stăniloae's theological insights, reflecting his influence on contemporary Christian theology and practice.
• Kevin M. Berger, Towards a Theological Gnoseology: The Synthesis of Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae Vol's 1-2 (2003. UMI, Ann Arbor) Catholic University of America, Doctoral Dissertation
• Radu Bordeianu, Dumitru Stăniloae: An Ecumenical Ecclesiology (2011. T&T Clark, Bloomsbury)
  ISBN 978-0567334817
• Andrew Louth, 'The Orthodox Dogmatic Theology of Dumitru Staniloae', in Modern Theology; 2 (1997), p. 253-266
• Charles Miller, The Gift of the World – An introduction to the theology of Dumitru Stăniloae (2000)
• Mihail Neamțu, 'Between the Gospel And the Nation: Dumitru Stăniloae's Ethno-Theology', in ARCHAEUS. Studies in History of Religions; 10:3 (2006)'[1]
• Ivana Noble, 'Doctrine of Creation within the Theological Project of Dumitru Stăniloae', [2], in Communio Viatorum; 49:2 (2007), pp. 185–209.
• S.-L. Toma, Η πατερική παράδοσις εις το έργον του π. Δημητρίου Στανιλοάε και ο σύγχρονος κόσμος (2007. Θεσσαλονίκη: Πουρναράς).
• Lucian Turcescu, 'Dumitru Stăniloae', Commentary and Original Source materials in English translation, in The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature, edd. J. Witte and F. Alexander (2 vols. 2005. Columbia University Press, New York), 1:685–711 and 2:537–558. [The two volumes received the Choice Outstanding Academic Titles Award for 2006.]
• ISBN 973-9432-29-8
• Mircea Ițu (2006), "Îndumnezeirea omului in viziunea lui Dumitru Stăniloae" ("Inner godliness of the human being in Dumitru Stăniloae's vision"), in Lumină lină, number 4, New York, pp. 15–23. ISSN 1086-2366

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dumitru Stăniloae.

• (in Romanian) Dumitru Stăniloae article in Dictionary of Romanian Theologians [3] Archived 24 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• (in Romanian) Freely downloadable interviews (audio and video) can be found at www.sfaturiortodoxe.ro and www.ortodox.tv
• (in Romanian) From East to West, interview with Sorin Dumitrescu on Eastern vs. Western spirituality [4]
• (in Romanian) Dacă n-ar fi iubirea Tatălui și a Duhului, n-ar fi nici Hristos, interview [5]
• (in Romanian) Teologie Dogmatică Ortodoxă freely downloadable at Bilioteca Teologică Digitală (Digital Theologic Library)
• (in Romanian) Scurtă interpretare teologică a națiunii by Dumitru Stăniloae
• (in Romanian) Învierea Domnului și importanța ei universală by Dumitru Stăniloae
• (in German) Liviu Jitianu: Christologische Symphonie von Mensch und Welt. Grundzüge einer neupatristischen orthodoxen Theologie im Werk von Dumitru Staniloae. Dissertation, Freiburg University, Freiburg 2006 ("Christological symphony of man and world. Outlines of a neo-patristic orthodox theology in the works of Dumitru Staniloae"; online version)