sentences:  He served as a prelate during a tumultuous period that included World War II and the emergence of a communist regime in Romania.He was even meant to become a cardinal but refused the honor when he learnt that another Romanian prelate would not be elevated into the cardinalate with him.The organization Yad Vashem honored him on 27 December 1999 as a "Righteous Among the Nations" for his efforts to stop the deportation of Romanian and Hungarian Jews during the course of World War II.