Ordinations and Final Vows in Romania
Last vows
On Friday, September 1, at 6 p.m., in the garden of the Manresa Center in Cluj, Fathers Claudiu Miklos, Iosif Șandoru and Vasile Tofană made their solemn vows in the Society of Jesus in the hands of Fr. Provincial Roberto Del Riccio. The festive mass was attended by their families and some companions from EUM, along with many young people and priest friends from all over Romania. The Greek-Catholic bishop of Cluj, Claudiu Pop, expressed his appreciation for the presence and dedication of Jesuits in serving the local church.
On behalf of all, Fr. Iosif Șandoru expressed a heartfelt thanks to God, the Society and to all the participants for the great gift of vocation lived in communion. “God is the One who holds, sustains and keeps us in the right trajectory of our vocations which are a path toward Him. Our faithfulness is weak and wavering, His is absolute and precise. To Him be the praise and greater glory forever!
Ordinations
On Saturday, 2 September 2023, in the Church of the Scolopians in Cluj Napoca, built by the Jesuits in the 18th century, the scholastic Ambrozie Mengheriș was ordained a priest by Mgr László Kerekes, auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Alba Iulia.
The ordination celebration was attended by many people who have accompanied Ambrozie over the years, including family members, relatives, Jesuit brothers and friends from different parts of the country and abroad. Next to him were people from his home village of Ciucani, from Bucharest, where he did a year of teaching, and from Satu Mare, where in recent years he worked with the Calvaria parish. Mass was followed by a banquet to celebrate this important event in his life with his loved ones. (Ambrozie Mengheriș)
On Sunday, 3 September 2023, the scholastic Roman Andrei was ordained a priest by Bishop Claudiu Lucian Pop, at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Cluj- Napoca, in the Greek-Catholic rite.
Three times around the altar, where the candidate kisses/worships each time the corners of the altar, the place where he is called to offer the bloodless sacrifice for the People of God. In these moments of sacred ‘dance’, the choir sings three hymns invoking the holy martyrs whose relics are placed in the altar itself, as a communion between the Church militant and the Church triumphant.
“For me it was the most uplifting moment: kissing the corners of the altar, being accompanied by my two confreres, Vasile Tofană and Iulian Budău, while the whole service prayed for me. Although it was only the introductory part of the rite itself, I confess that for me it was the strongest and most intense moments of the ordination Mass”. (Andrei Roman SJ, Paris, 16 September 2023)
