Abstract
Father Calinic Lupu was transferred from Sihăstria Monastery to Putna starting on January 1st, 1957, to offer spiritual support to the new monastic community formed following an initiative to renew the monastery taken by Metropolitan Sebastian Rusan of Moldavia in May 1956, when 15 monks were brought to Putna from Sihăstria and seven more from Slatina. Father Calinic Lupu was the abbot of Putna Monastery for 10 months, between November 1st, 1957 and August 31st, 1958, when Metropolitan Iustin Moisescu decided to replace him. He left Putna on July 31st, 1960, ousted by Decree 410/1959, through which the communist regime attempted to destroy Romanian monachism.
As abbot of the Putna Monastery, he continued the activity of former abbot Dosoftei Murariu, who had led the monastic community between 1956 and 1957, while being confronted with the specific problems of the epoch: continuous pressure of various types put by the communist regime on religious life – and especially on monastic life, material poverty and the volatility of monastic staff in the epoch.
Keywords
Archimandrite Dosoftei Murariu, communism, Metropolitan Iustin Moisescu, Protosyncellus Calinic Lupu, Putna Monastery
