Father Otto Canisius Farrenkopf, SJ – a “fool for Christ” in the Romanian communist prisons
FABIAN DOBOŞABSTRACT. The present article is a special contribution to the discovery of the Catholic history in Romania. Similar to numerous members of clergy or laity that lived in the second half of the past century, Father Otto Canisius Farrenkopf, SJ (1888-1967) was and will remain an authentic role model in the fight against communism. Ecclesiastical Superior 2of the Greek-Catholic sisters of the Congregation of the Mother of God since 1942, the Jesuit Father was arrested several times by the Romanian Secret Services and ended up spending his old age in a psychiatric hospital, as his testimony of Christ instilled fear in the authorities: the fear that he will convert his cellmates and they would re(embrace) faith, by renouncing the communist ideology. Through his spiritual verticality, Father Farrenkopf can be considered a shining example for every Christian suffering persecution: a man who died as he lived, devoted to the Catholic Faith and to the Holy See.
Keywords: Otto Canisius Farrenkopf SJ; Vatican; Greek-Catholic Church; Congregation of the Mother of God; communism; Transylvania