Aspecte privind activitatea misionară a Episcopului Grigorie Leu în Basarabia și Transnistria în timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial
Aspects of Bishop Grigorie Leu’s Missionary Activity in Bessarabia and Transnistria During World War II

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents the personality of Grigorie Leu, bishop of Huși, during 1940-1949. The author emphasizes the bishop's missionary activity during the Second World War in Bessarabia and Transnistria, territories liberated in the summer of 1941 under Soviet occupation. An energetic personality, Grigorie Leu will undertake several trips in the Bessarabian region, for which he nurtured patriotic feelings during his directorship at Ismail (1918-1924). Immediately after its liberation, he visits Chisinau, then crosses the Dniester to Odessa, and offers religious assistance to the locals in regions heavily affected by the war. He will select young clerics from his diocese, forming several delegations of missionaries that will be periodically sent to the Transnistrian villages and cities that lack priests, where they will carry out significant pastoral work. He will inform both his superiors and the authorities in Bucharest, through periodic reports, about his missionary activity in the territory and about the situation of the Bessarabian population. Furthermore, he proposes viable solutions to economic and social problems, particularly those related to church life.

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