Archbishop Victorin (Ursache)
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Archbishop Victorin (Ursache) (1912-2001)
Victor may be spelt Viktor.
Victorin may be spelt Victorino, Victorinus, Viktorinos.
Early life of Victor Ursache
On 12 July, 1912, Victor Ursache was born to Dumitru and Natalia Ursache, in the village of Mănăstioara-Siret, Suceava, Romania. He was the eldest of 9 children, and his parents were farmers.
Victor, who was raised in the bosom of the Romanian Orthodox Church, was shown by the example of his devout parents how to live life as a Orthodox Christian. He showed an early sense that he was called to serve fully in the Church, and his parents deprived themselves in order to smoothe the way for him.
Victor received his primary education in his home village, after which he went to the gymnasium (high school) in Siret for his secondary education. He graduated in 1932.
Higher education
Then Victor entered the Theological Institute of the University of Cernăuți, Romania (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine). He graduated from this institute in 1936.
He later earned a degree in Biblical Studies from the Biblical Institute of Jerusalem.
In 1936, he worked as a professor of religion at the Orthodox high school in Cernăuţi, and in 1937 he worked as professor and vice-principal of the Seminary of Neamţ Monastery.
Monastic tonsure, 1937
Victor was tonsured to be a monk in 1937, and was given the name Victorin.
Ordinations, 1937
In 1937, the Monk Victorin (Ursache) was ordained to the Holy Diaconate, and then to the Holy Priesthood.
Pastoral service
The Hieromonk Victorin was given the blessing to begin teaching theology at the Monastery of the Ascension of our Lord in Neamţ, in Moldavia, Romania. He eventually became the abbot of the monastery.
In 1940, Hieromonk Victorin (Ursache) was elevated to the dignity of protosinghel.
In the autumn of 1940, Protosinghel Victorin was assigned to serve as priest of the Bucur Church in Bucharest ; and in December of the same year he was assigned to serve as the superior of the Romanian Mission in Jerusalem. However, because of various difficulties associated with World War II, he was unable to travel to his assignment until 1946. Until then, he remained in Neamţ.
In 1942, the Protosinghel Victorin (Ursache) was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.
Service in Jerusalem, 1946
In 1946, Archimandrite Victorin (Ursache) arrived in the Holy Land, where he began to serve as the abbot of the Romanian Monastery there, under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. This involved an official transfer on the basis of an "on loan" status.
Transfer to North America, 1956
In 1956, Archimandrite Victorin was transferred, and he was sent to the USA as the superior of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s Mission in the United States of America. He served in the parishes of the Romanian Missionary Episcopate of that time.
Because of his outstanding theological education, and the fact that he spoke several languages, including English, French, German, Greek and Arabic, in addition to his other work, Archimandrite Victorin (Ursache) was assigned to serve as a professor at Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary in South Canaan, Pennsylvania (he had arrived in the USA just after the repose of Saint Nikolaj (Velimirovič) at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery). He then taught Dogmatic, Moral and Pastoral Theology in the seminary.
After the repose in Christ of Bishop Andrei (Moldovan) in 1963, a Congress of the Missionary Episcopate was finally assembled on 23 April, 1966, at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Detroit (Troy), Michigan, in order to choose a successor. The 2 proposed candidates were Archimandrite Victorin Ursache and Archdeacon Bartolomeu (Anania). After Archdeacon Bartolomeu declined the nomination, the Electoral Congress unanimously elected Archimandrite Victorin to become the bishop of the episcopate. The election remained to be confirmed by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
On 6 June, 1966, the Canonical-Judiciary Committee, having determined that canonical and statutory requirements were fulfilled, proposed that the Holy Synod approve the ordination of Archimandrite Victorin to be bishop. Archimandrite Victorin was chosen and elected by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church to succeed Bishop Andrei (Moldovan) as bishop in the USA. No bishops from Romania were able to travel to the USA for his ordination to the Holy Episcopate, because of the very difficult political situation in Romania at the time.
Episcopal ordination, 1966
With the blessing of Patriarch Justinian (Marina) and the Holy Synod of Romania, Archbishop Iakovos (Coucouzis) of the Greek Archdiocese, together with Archbishop Epiphanios (Papavasileiou) of Philadelphia and Archbishop Aristoboulos (Musikidis or Bouzikas) of Kyriakoupolis, archbishops from Jerusalem (all of them well-known to Archimandrite Victorin), were asked to accomplish the ordination. Archimandrite Nicolae (Mladin) was present as a representative of the Patriarchate of Romania.
On 7 August, 1966, Archimandrite Victorin (Ursache) was ordained to the Holy Episcopate in Saint George Cathedral, Windsor, Ontario. This happened also at a time when the diocese could easily have collapsed.
Episcopal service
The enthronement of Bishop Victorin (Ursache) took place at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Detroit, Michigan on 21 August, 1966, in the presence of Metropolitan Nicolae (Corneanu). He was archbishop of Timișoara and Caransebeș, and Metropolitan of Banat in Romania.
Bishop Victorin arrived in Detroit, Michigan, to take up his responsibility as the Bishop of the parishes of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of North and South America.
Bishop Victorin
Even while he was overseeing the parishes of the diocese for many years, and hoping for reunification of its 2 divided parts in North America, he never varied from living the humble, dedicated life of a monk which he first had taken up in 1937 in his native Romania. One parishioner reported :
He would sleep in our house here, and he would spend all night praying and praying. He was dedicated to living a very strict monastic life.
During the course of his many years of service, he was a much-beloved pastor. He travelled everywhere on the continent by bus. Indeed, he travelled to his parishes in the USA and Canada from coast to coast, and as far north as Edmonton and Boian, Alberta. He was very self-sufficient and independent throughout his life, as befits a monk.
On 11 June, 1973, Bishop Victorin (Ursache) was elevated to the dignity of archbishop.
On 12 December, 1974, the Missionary Episcopate was elevated to the status and dignity of an archdiocese by the Holy Synod of the Church of Romania (decision no. 14079). The archdiocese was given an autonomous status.
Archbishop Victorin was very actively involved in inter-Orthodox services and conversations, and also in the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). The main characteristic of his life, besides his love and prayer, was his pastoral devotion. One of the ways in which he managed to keep a balance of his interior life of prayer and his pastoral service was, in fact, by his taking the bus everywhere he went. By so doing, he encountered many people as he witnessed for Christ by his mere presence amongst so many who otherwise would never have a contact with Christ or the Orthodox Christian Church. At the same time, such trips allowed for large portions of time in which he would be able to pray in silence. In fact, for a serious monk, there can never be enough time to be in silent communion with the Lord (we recall the Apostle Paul's exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray unceasingly).
Archbishop Victorin, 1980, Troy, Michigan
During the 1990s, the SCOBA initiated the assemblies which eventually became the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA. He was a participant in the 1994 Ligonier Meeting which laid the foundation.
Archbishop Victorin at the Ligonier Meeting
In 2001, the "Credinţa" ("The Faith") diocesan almanac reported the situation of the diocese as follows : USA : 16 parishes and a hermitage ; Canada : 20 parishes ; South America : one parish ; priests : 35 ; deacons : 2 ; 2 associations : the Ladies’ Association (AROLA) and the Youth Association (ROYA).
Retirement, 2001
In February, 2001, Archbishop Victorin was feeling quite unwell, and he asked for retirement. He was blessed to retire from active service.
Repose, 2001
On Monday, 16 July, 2001, at the Saint John Hospital in Detroit, Archbishop Victorin (Ursache) reposed in the Lord after suffering from a case of pneumonia related to heart failure.
After the Funeral Services for the Burial of a Hierarch, his body was flown back to Romania and was interred in the cemetery of the Dormition Monastery in Putna, Suceava, Bukovina, which is part of the of Moldavia. Metropolitanate of Moldavia.
— Bishop of Detroit and the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of North and South America 1966-1973. Preceded by : Bishop Andrei (Moldovan).
— Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America 1973-2001. Succeeded by : Archbishop Nicolae (Condrea) (as Archbishop of Chicago).
Grave of Archbishop Victorin (Ursache) at Putna Dormition Monastery
Reflections
After his repose, Archbishop Demetrios (Trakatellis) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and chairman of SCOBA at that time, wrote about Archbishop Victorin :
His Eminence was a much admired and highly respected spiritual presence at all our Orthodox celebrations and gatherings. His deep commitment to Orthodox cooperation on this continent was obvious in his regular participation in our biannual SCOBA meetings. Wherever and whenever there was an opportunity to offer a unified Orthodox witness, Archbishop Victorin was present. As recently as May of this year, though he had retired in February from active service, he managed to be present for the historic SCOBA gathering in Washington, DC, of 34 canonical Orthodox Bishops. This SCOBA meeting produced a 'Statement on Unity'.
An article was written about Archbishop Victorin by Monk Jeremiah (Aries) : 'Archbishop Victorin Ursache of America (1912–2001)' in "Analelse Putnei", no. IX (2013), 1, pp. 269–340. A summary is given in the introduction :
Bishop Victorin Ursache, buried in the cemetery of the Putna Monastery, was for almost 35 years the canonical (arch)bishop of the Romanians in North America. In this capacity he was a brilliant ambassador of Romanian Orthodoxy, respected and honored both by all the hierarchs of the other sister Orthodox Churches and by the political authorities on the North American continent. This remarkable personality of the Romanian exile was insufficiently and, in some places, inadequately studied. The present study, the first dedicated to him, uses two consistent archives - the correspondence with Metropolitan Visarion Puiu between 1955 and 1963 and the personal file, SIE 2869, from the CNSAS archive - to bring to light new data and aspects of his life and activity, but also to correct certain characterisations that were made about him.
In the history of the metropolitanate, the following summary is provided about the pastoral activity of Archbishop Victorin :
His Eminence Victorin’s entire pastoral activity was directed primarily toward spiritual issues. First of all, he distinguished himself by his exemplary life as a monk and the atmosphere of holiness he embodied. The complex personality of the Archbishop displayed a simplicity of life that was evident to all and an untiring missionary spirit. Archbishop Victorin’s administrative activity was distinguished in two main directions. One was the interior consolidation of the diocese through its elevation to the rank of archdiocese and the strengthening of its administrative autonomy ; the other was his special care in preserving the privileged link with the Mother Church. In both of these areas His Eminence Victorin counted on the reliable help of his collaborators, among whom the closest were the then Archimandrites Bartolomeu (Anania) and Vasile (Vasilachi). The former was in charge of archdiocesan publications, which he raised to the high level of modern publications of the time. He was also the right hand of His Eminence Victorin in his work of reorganising the parishes. Archimandrite Bartolomeu was also the archdiocesan representative on the working committees of the Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas, along with Archbishop Victorin.
References
Bugea, Eleanor, “Romanians in Canada” (Michigan : Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, 2009). ISBN : 978-1-929200-14-6.
Tarasar, Constance J, ed., "Orthodox America 1794-1976 : Development of The Orthodox Church in America" (Syosset, NY : The Orthodox Church in America Department of History and Archives, 1975). ASIN : B000ZLZAUE
Documentary made by Dorina Zdroba with Archpriest George Chisca : "Memories of Archbishop Victorin Ursache" (in Romanian)
Additional information :
Orthodox Institute article : “Statement on the Death of Archbishop Victorin”
Wikipedia biography (in Romanian)
Article about Archbishop Victorin (in Romanian)
Romanian obituary (in Romanian)
The Orthodox Church of Romania web-site
Orthodoxwiki article on the Orthodox Church of Romania
Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada
Archbishop Iakovos (Coucouzis)
Archbishop Demetrios (Trakatellis)
Metropolitan Bartolomeu (Anania)
Metropolitan Nicolae (Condrea)
Orthodoxwiki article on the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Romanian Who's Who about Archbishop Victorin (in Romanian)
‘Archbishop Victorin Ursache’ in “Crai Nou” (magazine) (1 August, 2019)