Bishop Alexander Chira was a bishop of the
Ruthenian Catholic Church Ruthenian Catholic Church may refer to:
* Ruthenian Uniate Church, a historical Eastern Catholic jurisdiction during the early modern period
* Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, representing modern branch of the Ruthenian Uniate Church, in Belarus
...
. His immediate predecessor was Bishop Theodore G. Romzha. He is designated as a
Confessor of the Faith
Confessor of the Faith is a title given by some Christian denominations.
Etymology
The word confessor is derived from the Latin ''confiteri'', to confess, to profess. Among the early church fathers, it was a title of honor, designating those in ...
.
Personal information
Chira was born January 17, 1897, in the village of Irhóc,
Máramaros County
Máramaros County (german: Komitat Maramuresch; hu, Máramaros vármegye; la, Comitatus Maramarosiensis; ro, Comitatul Maramureș; rue, Комітат Марамарош; uk, Kомітат Мармарош; ) was an administrative county (c ...
(Vilhivci/Vilʹkhivtsi/Olkhovtsy).
His death was in exile on May 26, 1983 in the city of
Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
Chira "was one of the many victims of the Soviet persecution of the Greek Catholic Church."
While in a
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
in 1956, Chira clandestinely was appointed a bishop.
See also
*
anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...
*
History of the Catholic Church
The history of the Catholic Church is the formation, events, and historical development of the Catholic Church through time.
The tradition of the Catholic Church claims the Catholic Church began with Jesus Christ and his teachings; the Catholi ...
*
Persecution of Christians
The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of ...
*
Roman Catholicism in Romania
The Roman Catholic Church in Romania ( ro, Biserica Romano-Catolică din România, hu, Romániai Római Katolikus Egyház, german: Römisch-katholische Kirche in Rumänien) is a Latin Rite Christian church, part of the worldwide Catholic Churc ...
*
Roman Catholicism in Ukraine
The Catholic Church in Ukraine ( la, Ecclesia Catholica in Ucraina; uk, Католицька церква в Україні) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The majority of Catholic ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chira, Alexander
Victims of anti-Catholic violence
Catholicism-related controversies
20th-century Eastern Catholic bishops
Bishops of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church
1897 births
1983 deaths
People from Zakarpattia Oblast