Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa
Gheorghe Calciu-Dumitreasa (1925–2006) was a Romanian priest and dissident. He served 21 years in prison during the Communist regime. He was first imprisoned in 1948, but his 1978 imprisonment he claimed was harsher. He had criticized Nicolae Ceauşescu's repressions and became seen as an "enemy of the state". Reportedly he suffered beatings and harassment in prison. He was released from prison in part due to pressure from supporters like Ronald Reagan. He spent his years in exile in Virginia and ultimately settled there permanently.[1]
He had been a priest of the Orthodox Church of America, being defrocked by the Romanian Orthodox Church. He remained critical of certain of the Romanian Orthodox Bishops to his last day, whom he claimed were former secret police (Securitate) infiltrators.
