"Golgotha" of a Confessing Hierarch: Metropolitan Sofronie Miclescu (1851-1861). Contributions on his Suspension and Will

"Golgotha" of a Confessing Hierarch: Metropolitan Sofronie Miclescu (1851-1861). Contributions on his Suspension and Will

16 January 2023

Sofronie Miclescu has been bishop of Huşi and metropolitan of Moldavia and played a very important role in the battles for the Union of the Principalities in 1859. Once the union is made, an even harder period will follow for the old metropolitan, marked by the protests regarding the church reforms. The state of conflict culminated with the suspension of Sofronie Miclescu by the royal decree issued on November 7/1860. In the present study are given details about the arrest, detention and inheritance of the metropolitan but also the conflicts caused by them. Although he is suspended on several charges, the documents of the time reflect a great interest of the authorities for the important incomes that Sofronie Miclescu claimed for his will. These conflicts represent expressions of the tumultuous times that Romanian society went through in the middle of the 19th century.