The lively and protracted trial included "abuse and threats against [the witnesses], deposition changes, excommunications of priests, abusive arrests, assassination attempts and threats of suicide."
An actress and a homemaker were called in to testify whether they were the Metropolitan's mistresses, while Chiricescu produced as evidence a letter in which Atanasie appeared to be asking for antivenereal medicine.
Of those who retracted their testimony in a more visible way was Nifon Niculescu, who, as Bishop of the Lower Danube, also held a seat on the Synod itself.
The press claimed that his change of heart was induced by a government sponsorship.
On June 20, 1911, the Synod offered the parties a final chance to withdraw their accusations; both refused.
The Synod also offered both bishops a chance to sign in their resignation and vacate their seats simultaneously.
Prompted by Chiricescu, Safirin refused—he feared that Arion was setting a trap for him.

On June 24, the Synod deposed Safirin for the slanderous accusations he had brought against Metropolitan Atanasie.
This outcome was impatiently expected, but largely predictable—days earlier, speculations on this topic had surfaced in Dimineața daily; the left-wing Facla discussed the trial as "a travesty".
Nonetheless, a few days after, the Metropolitan handed in his resignation.
Although he claimed to have acted on his distress with the scandal, speculation arose that he had pushed into it—either by the swinging political consensus or, more specifically, by Arion's resentment.
By October, the laws on the election of bishops were rewritten in a non-controversial way: "metropolitans could be elected only from bishops, while bishops could be elected from any member of the Romanian clergy. [...]
the conflict started by Bishop Gherasim Saffirin [...] indicated that there were people within the church unsatisfied with its role in society."

Initially, Safirin accepted the verdict against him, and withdrew to Roman, waiting for a replacement.
His attitude changed, with Theodorian-Carada and Cernăianu insisting that he should put up passive resistance—the plan was that a sympathetic third-party, the Conservative-Democrats, would form government and restore him to his position.
The deposed bishop then issued a statement against the Synod, noting that it had no authority to depose him without also anathematizing him.
He also argued that, by virtue of Romanian laws, he was irremovable from his Senate seat, and therefore also from his bishop's seat.
He sent a letter of protest to King Carol I, and made his position public in several brochures and collections of documents, some of which were still in print in 1912.

According to various accounts, the police was called in for a raid on his bishopric palace, and he was escorted out of Roman under armed guard.
Theodorian-Carada claims that Safirin remained a bishop "for as long as he wanted", and only left by his own will, "because he was tired."
According to a detailed account by the memoirist Constantin Bacalbașa, the prosecutor Anton Arion actually ordered Safirin to vacate the building, and negotiated with him over several hours, until the bishop conceded defeat.
At roughly the same time, Chiricescu was sacked from his teachers' job, his denunciation deemed an act of blackmail.

In summer 1912, Safirin expatriated himself to Austria-Hungary, and lived at Brașov.
His episcopal seat was taken by Calist Ialomițeanul (or Botoșăneanul), rumored to have been a client of the Conservative Party and a keeper of concubines.
According to Cernăianu, Safirin was left without an income, "hungry and homeless", but, in 1913, was granted a pension under the fictive assumption that he had resigned his post willingly.
Also in 1913, the Conservative-Democrat Take Ionescu, and a simple majority of the governing coalition, proposed to assign him the coveted Bishopric of Râmnic, but the entire Synod threatened to resign in protest.
For his part, Safirin refused an offer coming from King Carol, to take over as Starets of a model monastery.

In early May 1914, Sa
The lively and protracted trial included "abuse and threats against [the witnesses], deposition changes, excommunications of priests, abusive arrests, assassination attempts and threats of suicide." An actress and a homemaker were called in to testify whether they were the Metropolitan's mistresses, while Chiricescu produced as evidence a letter in which Atanasie appeared to be asking for antivenereal medicine. Of those who retracted their testimony in a more visible way was Nifon Niculescu, who, as Bishop of the Lower Danube, also held a seat on the Synod itself. The press claimed that his change of heart was induced by a government sponsorship. On June 20, 1911, the Synod offered the parties a final chance to withdraw their accusations; both refused. The Synod also offered both bishops a chance to sign in their resignation and vacate their seats simultaneously. Prompted by Chiricescu, Safirin refused—he feared that Arion was setting a trap for him.
On June 24, the Synod deposed Safirin for the slanderous accusations he had brought against Metropolitan Atanasie. This outcome was impatiently expected, but largely predictable—days earlier, speculations on this topic had surfaced in Dimineața daily; the left-wing Facla discussed the trial as "a travesty". Nonetheless, a few days after, the Metropolitan handed in his resignation. Although he claimed to have acted on his distress with the scandal, speculation arose that he had pushed into it—either by the swinging political consensus or, more specifically, by Arion's resentment. By October, the laws on the election of bishops were rewritten in a non-controversial way: "metropolitans could be elected only from bishops, while bishops could be elected from any member of the Romanian clergy. [...] the conflict started by Bishop Gherasim Saffirin [...] indicated that there were people within the church unsatisfied with its role in society."
Initially, Safirin accepted the verdict against him, and withdrew to Roman, waiting for a replacement. His attitude changed, with Theodorian-Carada and Cernăianu insisting that he should put up passive resistance—the plan was that a sympathetic third-party, the Conservative-Democrats, would form government and restore him to his position. The deposed bishop then issued a statement against the Synod, noting that it had no authority to depose him without also anathematizing him. He also argued that, by virtue of Romanian laws, he was irremovable from his Senate seat, and therefore also from his bishop's seat. He sent a letter of protest to King Carol I, and made his position public in several brochures and collections of documents, some of which were still in print in 1912.
According to various accounts, the police was called in for a raid on his bishopric palace, and he was escorted out of Roman under armed guard. Theodorian-Carada claims that Safirin remained a bishop "for as long as he wanted", and only left by his own will, "because he was tired." According to a detailed account by the memoirist Constantin Bacalbașa, the prosecutor Anton Arion actually ordered Safirin to vacate the building, and negotiated with him over several hours, until the bishop conceded defeat. At roughly the same time, Chiricescu was sacked from his teachers' job, his denunciation deemed an act of blackmail.
In summer 1912, Safirin expatriated himself to Austria-Hungary, and lived at Brașov. His episcopal seat was taken by Calist Ialomițeanul (or Botoșăneanul), rumored to have been a client of the Conservative Party and a keeper of concubines. According to Cernăianu, Safirin was left without an income, "hungry and homeless", but, in 1913, was granted a pension under the fictive assumption that he had resigned his post willingly. Also in 1913, the Conservative-Democrat Take Ionescu, and a simple majority of the governing coalition, proposed to assign him the coveted Bishopric of Râmnic, but the entire Synod threatened to resign in protest. For his part, Safirin refused an offer coming from King Carol, to take over as Starets of a model monastery.
In early May 1914, Sa
Gherasim Safirin