Ilarion Felea

Felea was born in Valea Bradului, a village that today is incorporated into Brad city in Hunedoara County.

From 1920 to 1922, by which time his native Transylvania has united with Romania, he attended Moise Nicoară National College in Arad, taking his degree there.

[1] Felea remained at Șega for nine years, in charge of the church and small parish house; the parishioners were mainly workers at nearby factories.

His contributions appeared in Revista Teologică, Telegraful Român, Lumina satelor and Oastea Domnului (Sibiu), Biserica și Școala, Apărarea Națională, Aradul and Granița (Arad), Renașterea (Cluj), Viața ilustrată (Sibiu and Cluj) and Zărandul (Brad).

Felea's sermons, invariably well prepared and relevant, attracted a number of intellectuals, with whom he developed close relations.

[1] On March 3, 1945, days before the imposition of a Romanian Communist Party-led government, he was arrested together with a group of other religious figures and sent to the Caracal labor camp until that July.

[1] Although a full-fledged communist regime was set up in late 1947, Felea tended to ignore the new political reality, preaching the mission of the church and denouncing the abuses of the new authorities.

In September 1958, Felea was arrested by the Securitate secret police and transported to the Interior Ministry in Bucharest, where he was subjected to a harsh interrogation.