While recently reading a 1997 issue of "Inside the Vatican" magazine, I came across an article about the cardinals of Europe. Listed among these cardinals, along with brief bios for each, was one Alexandru Cardinal Todea from Romania. Does anyone know anything about him? Is he still a cardinal? Is he active in East-West ecumenical relations? Which Eastern Catholic Church is he part of ("Byzantine-Rite" seems pretty vague)? Thank you. Here is what the article wrote about the man (included was a nice picture of the man, in Latin cardinal robes):
"TODEA Alexandru
Born on June 5, 1912, in Teleac, Romania, and ordained on March 25, 1939, Cardinal Todea worked in various parishes until the Communist suppression of the Byzantine-Rite Catholic Church in his country in 1948. He was appointed Bishop of Cesaroploi on July 4, 1950, and consecrated secretly. In 1951, he was arrested, tried and condemned to life imprisonment; a 1964 amnesty, however, delivered him from his sentence. From that date he rigorously devoted himself to re-organizing the Greek-rite Catholic community. Promoted on March 14, 1990, to Archbishop of Fagaras and Alba Julia, he was made a cardinal by John Paul II during the Consistory of June 28, 1991. He retired on July 20, 1994."
