The awards ceremony was held Nov. 20, 2009 at the Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C.   Archpriest Victor Potapov, rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was presented  the Calciu Foundation Award by the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Romania Adrian Vierita.

Priest Georghe Kalchu-Dumitreasa was an outstanding confessor of Orthodoxy, who for the faith suffered long prison terms (21 years), torture and death threats. He was released from prison after former president Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush, exerted strong pressure on the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Upon release from prison, Fr. Calciu was forced into exile abroad and  in 1985 lived in Northern Virginia, until his death in 2006. Since 1989 the confessor priest served in the parish of Holy Cross, where he came to be known as an outstanding spiritual leader and preacher of Christ-like love and mercy. The newly established Kalchu Foundation exists to preserve the legacy of Fr. Georghe Calciu and to carry out in his memory charitable projects in the United States and Romania.

Archpriest Victor Potapov was presented The Calciu Foundation Award for his radio broadcasts in the early 1980's in defense of Fr.Georghe Calciu on the Voice of America and in the journal "The Orthodox Monitor", which Fr. Victor edited as chairman of the Committee for the Defense of Persecuted Orthodox Christians. The Committee sought to enlighten the world about the plight of Christians in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and provided spiritual and material assistance to prisoners of conscience and their families.

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese

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