Justin Moisescu Dies; Romanian Church Leader
The patriarch of Romania’s Orthodox Church, Justin Moisescu, has died at age 76.
The official Romanian news agency Agerpres did not give the date or cause of his death.
Moisescu was made patriarch in June, 1977, after the death of Patriarch Justinian.
In Romania, as in other Soviet Bloc countries, church leaders must declare allegiance to the Communist state in order to be approved by the government. The commission that voted Moisescu into office included both church and government officials.
Moisescu was the fourth patriarch of the Romanian church, which has 16 million followers. It did not receive independence from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until 1885.
Agerpres did not speculate on a successor to Moisescu, who had been a deputy in Romania’s Grand National Assembly, or parliament, since 1961.
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