Alexandru Theodor Cisar (21 October 1880 – 7 January 1954) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n cleric, bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași The Diocese of Iași (or lat, Dioecesis Iassiensis, ro, Episcopia Romano-Catolică de Iași, hu, Jászvásári Egyházmegye, pl, Diecezja Jassy) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Romanian Western ...

and archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest is the Latin Metropolitan archdiocese in Romania. Its cathedral episcopal see is Bucharest. Ioan Robu was the archbishop from 1990 until his retirement on 21 November 2019. He previously Apostolic Admi ...

. Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, he entered that city's seminary in 1892. Sent to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1899, he was ordained a priest in 1903 at the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

. Upon his return to Romania, he was named secretary to Archbishop and dean of students at the seminary. After a short time as parish priest at the

Bucharest Bărăția Bărăția is one of the Roman Catholic churches in Bucharest, Romania. It is located in central Bucharest, on the I. C. Brătianu Boulevard, next to Piața Unirii. Name Its name, used in antiquated Romanian for several Catholic churches, is deriv ...

and at the

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

parish, he was named head of a school in Bucharest in 1918. In 1920, he was consecrated bishop at Saint Joseph's Cathedral and was installed in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

. He reopened the seminary there that had shut down due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1921, the parishes of

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

, recently united with Romania, were incorporated into his diocese. Following the retirement of Archbishop in 1924, he was named Archbishop of Bucharest. He was also interim

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Iași until 1925, when

Mihai Robu Mihai Robu (10 April 1884 – 27 September 1944) was a Romanian cleric, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași. Born in Săbăoani, Neamț County, He entered the Roman Catholic Theological Institute of Iași in 1894, being ordained deacon ...

was named bishop. He remained in office until retiring in 1948 and being named

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Nicopolis. During 1949–1953, the new communist regime forced him to live at the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastery in

Orăștie Orăștie (; german: link=no, Broos, hu, Szászváros, la, Saxopolis) is a city in Hunedoara County, south-western Transylvania, central Romania. History 7th–9th century – On the site of an old swamp was a human settlement, now ...

. Twice, with the authorities' approval, he was able to go to Alba Iulia to ordain priests. He was allowed to return to Bucharest in late 1953. He died soon after, and was buried in the Catholic chapel at Bellu Cemetery.Ep. Alexandru Theodor Cisar
at the Iași Roman Catholic Diocese site; accessed May 15, 2012

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cisar, Alexandru 1880 births 1954 deaths Clergy from Bucharest 20th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Romania Romanian anti-communist clergy Burials at Bellu Cemetery