Return To The United States
In 1964, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, the Secretary General of the Romanian Communist Party, declared a general amnesty for political prisoners, which set Ratiu free. The Communist authorities allowed him to leave Romania in 1970, and he returned to the United States in 1971, staying with his brother Grigore and his family. Raţiu met with Pope John Paul II in Rome and presented the situation of Greek-Catholic Church in Romania. He served in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois from 1974 until his retirement. Ratiu was an assistant priest at St. Mary Immaculate Church in Plainfield, Illinois (1975-1982).
Raţiu became a member of the Cardinal József Mindszenty Foundation in 1977, and for 25 years served on the Board of Directors, participating in the foundation's conferences in St. Louis, Kankakee and Chicago, where he gave many talks. An abridged edition of his book, Stolen Church, was a Christmas gift by the Foundation to its members.
Ratiu was generous in his friendship and financial support for countless persons in Romania seeking to emigrate to the United States. He helped establish a Romanian Greek-Catholic Mission of Saints Peter and Paul in Chicago in December 1994. He spoke eight languages fluently, and this aptitude for languages led him to learn Spanish to celebrate Mass for Mexican migrant workers.
In 1996, after Communism was faltering in Romania, Raţiu returned for a visit to witness the rebirth of the Greek Catholic Church. He preached to large crowds of the faithful as parishes reopened, and attended the consecration of several new bishops for the Byzantine Rite.
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