At 95, after a life-time devoted to serving the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, Fr. Michael Kirila looks back at the pivotal events of his life, including his decades of work together with other Romanian Greek-Catholic Priests and lay faithful to push for the establishment of our Eparchy (March 26, 1987), his secret ordination to the priesthood in communist Romania soon after (May, 1987), and his 17 years of priestly ministry at St. John the Baptist Romanian Byzantine Catholic Parish in Detroit, MI.

FATHER MICHAEL, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?

I was born in Detroit, Michigan. My parents came to this country from Transylvania in the early 1900s. They originally went to Pennsylvania, where my sister, Julia, was born, and then moved to Detroit, where my brothers and I were born. I was baptized at St. John the Baptist. When I was 6 years old in 1930, my whole family moved back to Romania to Vezendiu, Salaj. My father had been sending money to his brother, who purchased property for us. When I was 13, I went to Oradea Normal Teachers School—the school that was connected to the Greek Catholic Seminary. Music was a required course and I served as the cantor at the seminary liturgies. I also studied violin, which I loved.

In 1946, after the Second World War, being a U.S. citizen, I returned to Detroit, where my two brothers had already returned. I also had two uncles there. Soon after that, I joined the U.S. Army and served for 18 months. After leaving the Army, I attended college under the GI Bill. I worked at a bank, where I met my wife. We were married in 1956. During this time, I always stayed close to the Romanian Catholic Church, teaching the choir and children’s catechism and the Romanian language. In 1960, our family moved closer to St Mary’s Romanian Catholic Church in Dearborn and we became members there. I became the choir director there for Father Julius Aron. Father Aron encouraged me to become a deacon to help him, because he was aging and needed help. So, I took classes at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and was ordained for the Byzantine Church by Cardinal Dearden, who received permission from Rome.

In 1986, my sister, Julia, who had been married to a Byzantine Catholic priest, came to the U.S. for a visit. Bishop Puscas told me to ask her if she could arrange for a bishop in Romania to ordain me to the priesthood. After a few months, she wrote to us, using a kind of code to tell us that my ordination was possible. In May 1987, my wife and I traveled to Romania

and were received graciously by Bishop Alexandru Todea. He ordained me to the priesthood in his home, where he was under house arrest. A priest who assisted at the ordination was Father Virgil Bercea, Bishop Todea’s nephew, now Bishop of Oradea Mare.

We returned to the U.S. and called Bishop Puscas. He told me not tell anyone until the ARCA Convention in June when he would announce my appointment at St. John’s.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE IN THE EARLY DAYS OF OUR ROMANIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES?

Our parishes were under the local Roman Catholic bishops, who pretty much left them alone. The parishioners were faithful and supported the parishes. In most cities the people lived near the church. When I returned to Detroit in 1946, St. John’s was a large, vibrant parish. The church was located in an area of Detroit that was getting old and the pastor, Father George Pop, and parishioners decided to move to a better neighorhood of the city, near the outskirts, near the suburbs. A lot was purchased and a new church and parish house were built. The old church can still be seen from Interstate 75.

HOW DID YOU SEE YOUR PARISH/CHURCH EVOLVE OVER TIME?

The parish got smaller, people moved away and stopped coming. Or they came only for funerals, weddings, or major holidays. The older parishioners were dying off and the next generations were not as committed to the Romanian Catholic Church as were their parents. As new generations grew up, a lot of the families sent their children to Roman Catholic schools and they began attending and joining Roman Catholic churches. Of course, many stopped going to church at all. We would have children and grandchildren coming back to get married in St. John’s because Grandma and Great-grandma wanted it. We would also see them for the baptism and chrismation of their children. Then they would come for Easter and Christmas, or for occasional banquets, to get the good Romanian food that they remembered from their childhood.

WHAT IS ARCA AND HOW DID EVERYTHING BEGIN?

The Association of Romanian Catholics of America (ARCA) was founded to bring Romanian Catholics together to lobby for rights being denied to our Romanian Catholic Church in Romania and to show that we did exist. The Communist government in Romania had closed our churches and tried to force our bishops, priests, and people to join the Orthodox Church.

In 1948, we started ARCA to carry out the goal of being a voice in the world for our Church. I think ARCA developed gradually, with the priests getting together occasionally and then regularly. Soon, lay people joined them and the organization had a yearly convention at one of the parishes; it would include a meeting, a dance, and a banquet, usually on the last weekend in June.

WHAT WAS THE JOURNEY LIKE FROM ESTABLISHING ARCA ALL THE WAY TO SEEING OUR FIRST ROMANIAN EXARCHATE?

Over the years, ARCA sent many petitions to Rome asking for our own Bishop. We also spoke to political representatives in this country, asking for recognition of the rights of our Church.

WHY DID THE ROMANIAN GREEK-CATHOLIC FAITHFUL DESIRE TO HAVE AN EPARCHY/DIOCESE OF THEIR OWN?

Having our own Bishop showed the world that the Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church exists even though she has been persecuted and denied existence. There were some people and even a few priests who were not so sure we needed a bishop. I definitely was in favor, as were most of the priests and people. We needed to have a voice and presence in the greater Church. I think at least one of our priests went to Rome with the purpose to petition for a bishop but with no success.

HOW DID YOU DISCERN YOUR PRIESTHOOD VOCATION? WHAT DREW YOU TOWARDS BECOMING A PRIEST LATER IN LIFE?

I was always close to the Church; I love my Romanian Greek Catholic Church. My brother-in-law was a Greek Catholic priest and I admired him greatly. I spent many summers with him and his family, and he had a good deal of influence on me. Over the years, people asked why did I not become a priest. The simple reason was because married men could not be ordained, and I always said it would not happen for me. However, when the opportunity arose, it felt right, it felt like it was meant to be. A bishop asked me to do it; my priest said I should; and my wife supported me.

HOW WERE YOU FORMED? WHO WERE YOUR MENTORS?

I would say my mentors were first of all my brother-in-law, Father Vasile Bosca; and, secondly, the priest, Father Lazar, who was my pastor in Vezendiu. I was also influenced by the many priests that I knew over the years. When Father Aron suggested that I become a deacon, I attended the Sacred Heart Seminary, taking classes at night for about five years. When my class was ready for ordination, Cardinal Dearden of the Archdiocese of Detroit was on a visit to Rome and applied for permission to ordain me for the Romanian Byzantine Church.

HOW WERE YOU ORDAINED A PRIEST?

The actual ordination had been arranged by my nephew, Valentin Bosca. He traveled to Reghin and met with Bishop Todea and was assured that it could be arranged. Bishop Todea was a beautiful man. I think he is a saint who was imprisoned by the Communist government for, I believe, 16 years. He told us that his work in the prison was to clean toilets. He was grateful for that because he heard many confessions there. At the liturgy as I was being ordained, and during the litanies, we prayed “for the persecutors of our Church.”

YOU WERE THE FIRST PRIEST, I BELIEVE, WHO WAS ORDAINED (MAY 16, 1987) AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ROMANIAN EPARCHY IN THE U.S. (MARCH 26, 1987). HOW DID YOU EXPERIENCE THINGS AFTER THE CREATION OF THE EPARCHY? WHAT HAS CHANGED? WHAT REMAINED THE SAME?

We were very happy to be given our own Bishop. It was wonderful to be recognized as an individual Romanian Catholic Church within the Catholic Church. Finally, we were acknowledged as a vital part of the Church. When Bishop Puscas was named as our first Bishop, he called to tell me the news. I am not ashamed to admit, I cried. When it came time to install Father Puscas as Bishop, he chose to celebrate that at St. John’s in Detroit, and I was asked to lead the choir for the liturgy. At the time, I was still a deacon at St. Mary’s in Dearborn. It was glorious!

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN DETROIT WAS YOUR HOME PARISH AND WHERE YOU WERE APPOINTED AS A PRIEST. WHAT ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THESE 17 YEARS?

I was able to bring the sacraments to my family and my friends. I was able to minister to them during illness and sadness. I performed funerals for them, married some of them, baptized their children. I baptized two of my own grandchildren. We started a Wednesday prayer group that met every week for most of that 17 years.

Of course, St John’s was the church where I was baptized, where my wife and I were married, where three of our children were baptized, so it was quite emotional for me to be assigned there.

During the time I was pastor there, we were able to install air conditioning in the church, and we restored the icons in the church. It took several weeks to repaint the inside of the church. We painted the basement hall and somewhat upgraded the hall kitchen.

ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE WHO ARE DISCERNING THEIR VOCATION?

Stay close to the Church, follow the teachings of your priests, and pray for guidance.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR GOD SAY TO YOU WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE PEARLY GATES? “Well done, good and faithful servant!”