The beatification process to raise to the honours of the altar Romanian priest Dumitru Matei “will be long and difficult”, said Mgr. Iosif Păuleț, Bishop of the Diocese of Iași, Romania. The diocesan phase of Fr Matei’s beatification cause was opened on Sunday, 30 January, with a Mass at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Iași, followed by the first public session. The Bishop of Iași introduced the members of the ecclesiastical tribunal set up for the cause, who swore an oath “of fidelity to the historical and theological truth”. “Let us pray to God that our brother priest may also be raised to the honours of the altar”, said Mgr. Păuleț, expressing his joy at “the historic moment we are living” and encouraging the faithful to know better this martyred priest. “Fr Dumitru Matei was a disturbing prophet because he spoke in the name of God. He was a witness of charity, who spread true love around him,” Fr Isidor Iacovici, postulator of the cause, said in his homily. Even if the martyred priest died in the territory of the Archdiocese of Bucharest, with the consent of the Archbishop of Bucharest, Mgr. Aurel Percă, the cause was introduced by the Diocese of Iași, where Fr Matei was not only born, but also ordained a priest, and where he carried out his pastoral ministry. Fr Matei, who has been known as “the apostle of the poor” since the beginning of his pastoral service, was arrested by the communist regime, sentenced to death and shot dead on 21 February 1951, at the age of 37.