Author: Raluca Avram
December 22, 2008
From http://www.bihoreanul.ro; (Excerpts from the Romanian article and unofficial translation)
… Casian Fetea was 55 years of age… He was “a handsome man”, with graying hair, imposing… Born in Brusturi, he completed Seminary in Caransebes, and then the Theological Institute of Bucharest. He was ordained into the priesthood in 1976 by the Bishop of Oradia, Vasile Coman, and served as a priest in the Alesd area until 1986, when he emigrated to America. Some priests say that he was helped in this by a cousin who worked for the Securitate and was responsible for the ministry of Cults. … When he left he was married, but after a few years his wife died in America, remembers a priest who knew him…
… From 1986, Casian served the Nativity of the Ever Virgin Mary Church in Elmhurst, New York. In the summer of 2007, 20 years after having settled in America, Father Casian Fetea arrived in Romania to participate in the enthronement of his good friend (see photo) Patriarch Daniel, who told him that he would be named Bishop in New York. He died on December 28, 2007, having suffered a heart attack in the Church where he served as priest.