Early life Born in
Toplița to Gheorghe and Domnița Cristea, a peasant family, he studied at the
Saxon Evangelical Gymnasium of
Bistrița (1879–1883), at the
Greek-Catholic Lyceum of
Năsăud (1883–1887), at the Orthodox Seminary of
Sibiu (1887–1890), after which he became a teacher and principal at the Romanian Orthodox school of Orăștie (1890–1891). Cristea then studied
philosophy and modern
philology at the
University of Budapest (1891–1895), where he was awarded a
doctorate in 1895 – with a dissertation about the life and works of
Mihai Eminescu (given in
Hungarian). he became an archbishop in 1919. According to some historians, during the Serbian occupation of the Lugoj-Caransebeș Banat in 1918, Bishop Cristea mentioned King
Peter I of Serbia in church services instead of King Ferdinand I of Romania. , Cristea,
Iuliu Hossu,
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod,
Caius Brediceanu) that brought to Bucharest the Unification Act of Transylvania with Romania Towards the end of
World War I, on 18 October 1918, the Central National Romanian Central Council was formed, an organization which fought for the union of
Transylvania and Romania. On 21 November, Cristea, as archbishop of Caransebeș joined the organization and recognized it as the only ruling body of the Romanian nation in Transylvania. On 1 December, he was (with
Vasile Goldiș,
Iuliu Hossu, and
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod) a member of
Austro-Hungarian Romanian delegation that called for the unification of
Romania and
Transylvania. On 28 May 1919, the King and government of Romania went to the grave of
Michael the Brave in
Câmpia Turzii and Bishop Cristea lead the religious service of commemoration and held a nationalist speech in which he drew a parallel between King Ferdinand I and Michael the Brave and recommended the King to not stop at
Turda, but continuing all the way to the
Tisa River.
Metropolitan-Primate and Patriarch Because of his collaboration with the
German occupation troops, the Metropolitan-Primate
Conon Arămescu-Donici was forced to resign on 1 December 1919 As Metropolitan-Primate and later Patriarch, Cristea continued the tradition of his predecessors to support whatever government was in power. The church acted as an agency of the state, for instance, in 1920, Cristea asked the clergymen to aid the state financially by encouraging the faithful to buy government
bonds. Cristea's involvement in politics was, however, controversial, being criticised by journalists at
Epoca newspaper, who accused him of trying to play the role of
Rasputin and being a member of the palace
camarilla. This resulted in the issue being confiscated by the police, and
Epoca offices being vandalized by hooligans, allegedly incited by the government. A dispute arose with philosopher
Nae Ionescu after Ionescu attacked Cristea for hypocrisy in newspaper articles following a lavish dinner with Cristea during the
Nativity Fast at which they were served, amongst other things,
turkey. In retaliation, Cristea requested that the iconographer Belizarie paint Ionescu's face on a figure of the devil in the
Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest's Apocalypse-themed mural. In 1929, because of a serious illness (identified as
leucocythemia by his medics), Cristea retired for several months to a country house in
Dragoslavele,
Muscel County, but despite the bleak predictions about his health state, he was soon able to return to Bucharest. On 6 July 1930,
Carol II returned to Romania to assume power. On 7 July, Miron Cristea and
Constantin Sărățeanu resigned from the regency and the following day, the Parliament revoked the 1926 law which gave the throne to Mihai, Carol becoming King again. Cristea kept his loyalty to King Carol II throughout his rule. In March 1937, as the King attempted to suppress the influence of the
fascist movement known as the
Iron Guard, Cristea responded to the request sent by the Tătărescu government on limiting the relationship between the clergy and the Iron Guard. Cristea invoked a Holy Synod which banned clergy from joining the Legion and disallowed political demonstrations and symbols in the churches.
Prime Minister of Romania In a bid for political unity against the Iron Guard, which was gaining popularity, on 10 February 1938, Carol dismissed the government of Prime Minister
Octavian Goga and seized emergency powers. He suspended the constitution, suspended all political activity, and ruled by
decree. Cristea was named Prime Minister on 11 February 1938. He headed a government that included seven former prime ministers and members of all major parties except for Codreanu's Iron Guard and Goga's
Lăncieri, which had violently clashed.
Time magazine described him as a "puppet Premier" of Carol II, whereas historian Joseph Rothschild considered that it was Cristea's vice-prime-minister,
Armand Călinescu, who held the power in the Cristea government. In his
inaugural speech, Cristea denounced
liberal pluralism, arguing that "the monster with 29 electoral heads was destroyed" (referring to the 29 political parties which were to be banned) and claiming that the king shall bring salvation. The new government stopped the antisemitic violence that was unleashed under Goga's rule, but the
antisemitic legislation in place was not altered, as
Nichifor Crainic's racist, fascist ideology fit comfortably with the social views and
political theology of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The external politics of the Cristea government were based on seeking an alliance with the
United Kingdom and
France, away from the friendship with the Berlin-Rome
Axis supported by the Goga government. Among the policies Cristea introduced during his rule as Prime Minister was a crackdown on the
Protestant minority, by disallowing religious service to small congregations with less than 100 heads of families, basically banning the services in around 1500 small chapels belonging to various non-Orthodox Christian denominations. Four days later, on 24 February, the constitution was approved, with 99.87% of votes for, through a
plebiscite, described by a contemporary article in
The Manchester Guardian as a "farse" for its lack of vote secrecy and the lack of information given to rural voters . Upon the approval of the new constitution, Cristea's government resigned on 30 March. He formed a new government later that day. The new government banned all political parties, their activity being only suspended before that. In March 1938,
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the leader of the Iron Guard, attacked in a letter the politicians who supported Carol II, including Prime Minister Cristea and members of his government. Codreanu was arrested for slander against
Nicolae Iorga and killed "while attempting to escape". On 1 January 1939; Cristea's government visited the Royal Palace wearing uniforms. When they met Carol, Cristea and the ministers greeted him with the
Fascist salute.
Deteriorating health and death His health deteriorated in January 1939, suffering from two heart attacks, which prompted his doctors to recommend him to stay in a warmer place for a few months, in order to avoid the harsher Romanian winter. On 24 February 1939, Cristea arrived in
Cannes,
France, but contracted pneumonia while waiting for his niece in the
Nice railway station. He stayed in Cannes for treatment, but died two weeks later, on 6 March, of
bronchopneumonia complicated by heart disease. A week later, on 14 March, funeral services were held in Bucharest, Cristea being buried in the
Patriarchal Cathedral. ==Political positions and policies==