Gurie_Grosu
Gurie Grosu
Moldovan bishop
Gurie Grosu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡuri.e ˈɡrosu]; 1 January 1877 – 14 November 1943) was a Bessarabian priest and the first holder of the Basarabian Metropolitan Church after 100 years of Russian occupation. His Christian name was Gheorghe, and he took the name of Gurie when became a monk. Gurie was an extremely devout man and one of the promoters of Romanianism in Bessarabia.
When King Carol II paid a visit to Bessarabia in 1930, Metropolitan Gurie prevented him from entering the altar through the royal gates, telling him that a king can only do it with a crown on his head and with his wife Princess Elena of Greece, criticizing his extra-marital relations. The king has never forgiven this; he has created a campaign against Gurie, exaggerating what has happened before. He was accused of abuses and lack of management, being investigated by the Cassation Court, who never conducted the investigation to the end. At the press of the king, on 11 November 1936, the Holy Synod, led by Patriarch Miron Cristea, suspended him not taking into account the letter sent by him. Only the Legionnaires and a high prelate were in his defense.