Alexander Ratiu

Alexander Ratiu (Romanian: Rațiu; 4 May 1916 – 25 July 2002) was a Romanian-American priest of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, noted for his long imprisonment under the communist regime in Romania and for his later work as an author and pastor in the United States.

He was born in Scalp Level, Pennsylvania, to Romanian immigrant parents Elisabeta Chindriș and Grigore Rațiu, and in 1921 the family returned to their native village of Giurtelecu Șimleului in Transylvania, where he spent his childhood and early education.

Drawn to the priesthood, he pursued ecclesiastical studies in Rome at the Pio Romano Seminary and the Pontifical Urbaniana University, eventually earning a doctorate and preparing for ministry in the Romanian Greek-Catholic Diocese of Oradea Mare.

Alexander Ratiu was ordained a priest of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in Rome on 20 July 1941 by Bishop Alexander Evreinov and returned to Romania, where he served as a parish priest and educator during the turbulent years of the Second World War and its aftermath. 

After the communist authorities outlawed the Greek-Catholic Church in 1948, he refused to renounce his communion with Rome, an act of fidelity that led to his arrest, repeated interrogations, and eventual conviction on political and religious charges.

He spent many years in prisons and labor camps between 1948 and 1964, enduring harsh conditions, forced labor, and attempts at ideological re-education, experiences that later formed the core of his testimony about religious persecution.

Following a general amnesty that led to his release in the 1960s, he continued to live under surveillance in Romania, quietly exercising pastoral ministry where possible and maintaining contact with fellow clergy who had also suffered under the regime.

In time he was granted permission to emigrate and settled in the United States, where he became incardinated in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois and resumed open pastoral work among both Romanian and American Catholics.

From 1974 until his retirement he served in several parishes, notably as assistant priest at St. Mary Immaculate Church in Plainfield, Illinois from 1975 to 1982, and he became known for his dedication to parish life, catechesis, and sacramental ministry.

His prison experiences and concern for the fate of his suppressed church led him to write and lecture extensively about religious persecution in communist Romania, including the destruction and clandestine survival of the Greek-Catholic hierarchy.

He co-authored the book “Stolen Church” on the history and suffering of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, and he traveled to speak at conferences and ecclesial gatherings, raising awareness of human-rights abuses and advocating for religious freedom.

After the fall of communism, he visited Romania, supported the revival of the Greek-Catholic Church, and met Pope John Paul II in Rome to present firsthand information about the church’s situation and needs.

In Illinois, Alexander Ratiu also helped organize and support the Romanian Greek-Catholic Mission of Saints Peter and Paul in Chicago, reflecting his commitment to providing a spiritual home for Romanian Catholics in the diaspora.

Alexander Ratiu died on 25 July 2002 at his home in Plainfield, Illinois, at the age of 86, reportedly of heart failure. His funeral was celebrated at the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church of St. George in Aurora, Illinois, and he was buried in Plainfield, closing a life marked by steadfast loyalty to his church, personal suffering for the sake of religious freedom, and decades of pastoral service to Romanian and American Catholics alike.