Alexandru Rusu

Alexandru Rusu (22 November 1884 – 9 May 1963) was a Romanian bishop of the Greek-Catholic Church.

After the church's leadership fell vacant in 1941, he was chosen its new head (Major Archbishop of Fagaraş and Alba Iulia) in 1946, a decision approved by the Holy See but not by the Communist-dominated Petru Groza government.

In 1957, a military tribunal found him guilty of "instigation and high treason".

Rusu was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment and he ended up at Gherla prison, where he died of illness.

[1] On 19 March 2019, Pope Francis approved the beatification of Rusu and six other Greek-Catholic bishops who died while serving as political prisoners under the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.