RELIGIOUS REPRESSION IN COMMUNISM. EXPRESSIONS OF THE DECOLONIZATION OF SOVIET MEMORY (THE CASE OF GHERASIM PĂDURARU)

Abstract

Religious Repression in Communism. Expressions of the Decolonization of Soviet Memory (the Case of Gherasim Păduraru).
This paper proposes a reflection on religious repression under communism, illustrated by the case of priest Gherasim Păduraru. The terrifying biography of this priest – relentlessly pursued by the Securitate, slandered, poisoned with drugs including by his wife, who had signed the pact with the Securitate – represents the content of a volume of memoirs, entitled Unmasking. The Secret of the Locked Gates. The priest’s recollections, the documents that accompany his testimonies constitute forms of decolonization of historical memory and represent proof of moral resistance and human dignity. The volume demonstrates that freedom of conscience is the “target” of totalitarian regimes. The communist system made the project of deindividualization and dehumanization of the human being a state program and only a strong will, a firm trust in moral principles and an ideologically unaltered religious conscience could constitute the barriers against the annihilation of the human being.