Martirii temniţelor comuniste între identitatea creştină şi cea politică
The martyrs of the communist prisons between their Christian identity and the political identity

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyse the particularities of the martyrdom in the communist prisons, evaluating both its Christian and its political components. Based on Ioan Ianolide`s carceral experience, the analysis will be focused on the activity of “the mystics` group” in the prison of Aiud (1941-1947), namely their hesychast effort of achieving “the prayer of the heart”. The extension of the communist repression offered the occasion for transferring the spiritual experience from the prison of Aiud to other political prisons. The intense spiritual phenomenon from the prison of Târgu Ocna, centred on Valeriu Gafencu and Ioan Ianolide, led to another political trial in 1959, condemning religious life under the pretext of political activism. The Aiud re-education phenomenon (1959-1964) was the climax of the repression against faith. The “mystic” prisoners’ victory in the re-education is certified by the prison administration, who acknowledged the mystics as the most dangerous enemies of the communist regime, because of their Christian faith which underlay their resistance.

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