STĂNILOAE, DUMITRU

Romanian Orthodox priest, theologian, spiritual father, professor; b. Vlădeni, Transylvania, Nov. 15, 1903;d. Bucharest, Romania, Oct. 5, 1993. Stăniloae, who single–handedly transformed Romanian Orthodox theological thinking in the post–war period, is widely recognized as one of the most important orthodox theologians of the twentieth century. His work is characterized by a return to the patristic sources, a close relationship between theology and spirituality, and an effort to help his church adjust to conditions imposed by the communist government that ruled Romania from 1947 to 1989.

Stăniloae began studies in the faculty of theology at the University of Cernăuţi, Bukovina, in 1922 and received his doctorate in 1928. He was ordained a priest in 1932 while serving on the faculty of the Sibiu Theological Academy (1929–1947). He published a study of the life and teachings of Gregory Palamas in 1938 that is credited with heralding the modern revival in palamite studies, and in 1943 he finished a seminal work in Christology.

In 1947 he moved to Bucharest, where he served as a member of the faculty of the Bucharest Theological Institute until his retirement in 1973. Although a married priest with two children, Stăniloae was the prime instigator of the hesychastic renewal of monastic life in Romania in the mid–1950s. He published a series of Romanian translations of the Philokalia, which by the time of his death had reached twelve volumes. In 1958, as part of a crackdown on the monastic renewal, he was imprisoned by the communist authorities.

After his release from prison in 1964, Stăniloae rejoined the faculty of the Bucharest Theological Institute and focused his energies in three main areas. First, he set out to develop a contemporary Orthodox theology that takes ecumenical concerns into account. This included a re–articulation of patristic doctrines in language accessible to the laity, as well as the development of the notion of "open sobornicity," an understanding of the catholicity of the Church open to the insights of other Christian confessions. Secondly, he elaborated an Orthodox theology of the transfiguration of creation and the consequent need for the Church to be open to the world. Thirdly, he attempted to draw out the cultural and social implications of Christian faith by showing the link between faith and love and by proposing the Trinity as the supreme model for human relations.

Stăniloae's most important work was his three–volume Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, published in 1978. Translations of sections of it have since appeared in several languages. Here he provides a majestic synthesis of all the main themes in Christian theology and their relationship to one another. Other major works include Orthodox Spirituality (1981), Spirituality and Communion (1986), and a new Christological opus, The Immortal Image of God (1987).

After the fall of the Ceauşescu regime in December 1989, Stăniloae joined the "Reflection Group for the Renewal of the Church," which sought to facilitate the Romanian Orthodox Church's transition to a post–communist society. Under the new conditions Stăniloae's achievement could be officially recognized: he was named a member of the prestigious Romanian Academy in 1990.

See Also: romania, the catholic church in.

Bibliography: Persoană şl comuniune: Prinos de cinstire Părintelui Professor Academician Dumitru Stăniloae la împlinirea vârstei de 90 de ani (Sibiu 1993). m.–a. costa de beauregard, Dumitru Staniloae: Ose comprendre que je t’aime (Paris 1983). d. stĂniloae, Theology and the Church, trans. r. barringer (Crestwood, NY 1980). The first part of Stăniloae's Orthodox Dogmatic Theology has appeared in English as The Experience of God (Brookline, MA 1994). d. ciobotea, "Une dogmatique pour l'homme d'aujourd'hui," Irénikon 54 (1981) 472–484.