A parish priest of Bucharest repeatedly imprisoned and tortured by the communist regime for his preaching, who died in 1975 from the effects of his imprisonment.
Feast Day
October 23
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Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
Constantine Sârbu (1905–1975) was a Romanian Orthodox parish priest who became one of the confessors of the faith under the communist regime. Known for his preaching, he was arrested and imprisoned in the 1950s, subjected to torture, and assigned forced residence; he died in Bucharest in 1975 from the lasting effects of his detention. The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church canonized him as a priest-martyr, proclaiming the act in February 2025, and his feast is kept on October 23.
Born into a poor peasant family and orphaned young, he rose through seminary and theological study to a long ministry that culminated at the Church of the Holy Wisdom in Bucharest. His witness is counted among the 20th-century Romanian confessors and spiritual fathers commemorated during the centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate.
Timeline 8 moments
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Jan 10, 1905Birth at CavadineștiBorn in Cavadinești, Galați County, into a poor peasant family. His mother died when he was about a year old, and after his father was incapacitated he was raised by his grandmother Ioana.
1919Admitted to seminaryAt age fifteen he entered the Theological Seminary in Galați as a scholarship student, reportedly ranking third among five hundred candidates. He later studied at the Faculty of Theology and the Academy of Music in Bucharest.
1938Transfer to BucharestAfter ministry connected with the Huși diocese—where he served as director of the Cantors' School and archpriest of Fălciu until November 1938—he transferred to Bucharest to the newly established Călărași Park parish.
1954Arrest and sentencingArrested by the Securitate in January 1954 for alleged anticommunist activity, he was sentenced on October 9, 1954, to eight years and three months for 'conspiracy against the social order.'
1954–1962Imprisonment and tortureHe was held at Jilava, Dej, and Gherla prisons and in the labor camps of Poarta Albă and Salcia. According to accounts of his life he was burned on the soles of his feet, had his beard torn out, and was beaten, yet did not deny Christ. He was released in January 1962.
1965Church of the Holy WisdomAfter a period of forced residence in the Bărăgan plain, Patriarch Justinian assigned him on June 1, 1965, to the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Sapienței) in Bucharest, which he restored.
Oct 23, 1975ReposeHe reposed in Bucharest at the age of seventy, his death attributed to the lasting effects of his imprisonment.
2024–2025CanonizationThe Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided his canonization in 2024 and proclaimed the Synodal Tomos on February 4, 2025, naming him a priest-martyr with a feast on October 23.
Contributions & Legacy
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Confessor under Communism
Father Constantine's imprisonment formed part of the broad repression of clergy in communist Romania. Arrested in 1954 and sentenced for 'conspiracy against the social order,' he passed through some of the regime's most notorious sites of detention, including Jilava, Dej, and Gherla prisons and the labor camps of Poarta Albă and Salcia.
Accounts of his life relate that during interrogation he was tortured—burned on the soles of his feet, his beard torn out, and beaten—but that he refused to renounce his faith. After his release in 1962 he was placed under mandatory residence in the Bărăgan plain before being permitted to resume parish ministry in Bucharest.
Relics & Shrines
His remains were uncovered on December 2, 2024, during a service at the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Sapienței) in Bucharest, the parish he had served. The relics were prepared for enshrinement in a silver reliquary crafted at the workshops of the Romanian Patriarchate, ahead of the formal proclamation of his canonization.
Canonization
Constantine Sârbu was among sixteen 20th-century Romanian confessors and spiritual fathers canonized by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Synodal Tomos was proclaimed on February 4, 2025, during celebrations marking the centennial of the Romanian Patriarchate, which was observed as a commemorative year of the confessors of the communist period. He is commemorated as a priest-martyr on October 23.
