Romanian Greek Catholic Church

Coordinates: 46°10′25″N 23°55′15″E / 46.1735°N 23.9208°E / 46.1735; 23.9208
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Romanian Greek-Catholic Church
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See also: Catholic Church in Romania
Romanian Greek Catholic Church
Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică
United States of America and Canada
Possessions
Origin1698
Recognition1700
Priests
882
Places of worship413
Official websitebisericaromanaunita.ro
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The Romanian Greek Catholic Church

Major Archiepiscopal Churches
of the Catholic Church that are not distinguished with a patriarchal title.

Cardinal

Benedict XVI, with Lucian Mureșan becoming its first major archbishop. Mureşan was made a cardinal, at the consistory
of February 18, 2012.

Besides the

Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St George's in Canton, answering directly to the Major Archbishop and the Holy See, in the United States of America and Canada.[5]

According to data published in the 2016 Annuario Pontificio, the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church had 504,280 members, 8 bishops, 1,225 parishes, some 835 diocesan priests and 235 seminarians of its own rite at the end of 2012.[6] However, according to the 2011 Romanian government census, the number of its followers living in Romania was as low as 150,593, of which 124,563 are ethnic Romanians.[7] In 2022, the church estimated their numbers at 488,000, noting that many citizens whose ancestors were forced to covert during the Communist regime had rediscovered their roots and joined the Greek Catholic Church.[8]

The vast majority of the Romanian

diocesan priests in Romania are married.[9]

In addition, there are five other

Catholic dioceses in Romania, belonging to the Latin Church
, whose members are more numerous.

History

See also: Union of Uzhhorod and Counter-Reformation
Administrative map of the Greek-Catholic (Unified) Church in Romania
The Greek-Catholic Church in Mediaș, built by bishop Ioan Bob
Greek-Catholic Church in Sibiu, built by bishop Grigore Maior

Following the

Romanian Orthodox population to the Catholic Church (Rome's Church) newly created Greek Catholic Church, the former Orthodox Church of Romanians from Transylvania. [10]

By entering into the Union, Atanasie and the other bishops, along with their respective dioceses, accepted the supreme authority of the

Filioque clause; and the validity of the use of unleavened bread in the celebration of the Eucharist in the Latin Church
(Eastern Orthodox had contended that Latin Catholic use of unleavened bread was erroneous).

The step undertaken by Metropolitan Atanasie Anghel and his Holy Synod obtained for the ethnic Romanians of

Jesuits in Transylvania (second time), who attempted to align this province more closely with Western Europe. However, Orthodox Serbian authority and Protestant transylvanian nobility were not willing for the romanians orthodox convert,[11] and this in turn led to the formation of Romanian Orthodox movements that advocated for freedom of worship for the entire Transylvanian population – most notable the movements led by serbian monk Visarion Sarai, Nicolae Oprea Miclăuş, and the bosniac monk Sofronie of Cioara
, under the influence of the dominant Serbian Orthodox Church.

In 1721, the Bishop's Residence was moved from Alba Iulia to Făgăraș, and eventually to Blaj (1737). Following this change, Blaj became a center of learning and national awakening for all Romanians.[citation needed].[12]

In 1761,

Church Slavonic as the official liturgical language till 1863, the Romanian Church United with Rome has been using the Romanian vernacular ever since its inception. In the 19th century, during a time when the Hungarian government was pursuing a Magyarization policy in Transylvania, the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, with the aid of the Transylvanian School (Școala Ardeleană) and the Transylvanian Memorandum, played a prominent role in resisting ethnic assimilation attempts. Moreover, many leading figures of the Romanian emancipation movement in Transylvania, such as Simion Bărnuțiu and Iuliu Maniu
, began their careers as lay servants of the Greek-Catholic Church.

Additional Greek-Catholic Eparchies were eventually set up at Oradea (1777), as well as Gherla and Lugoj (1853); Blaj, under the title of Eparchy of Alba Iulia and Făgăraș, became the Metropolitan (i.e. Archiepiscopal) See. On December 16, 2005, the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church was elevated to the rank of

Major Archiepiscopal Church
.

Persecution under Communism

Main article:
Anti-religious campaign of Communist Romania

After assuming political power in 1948, the

Communist regime, rooted in Marxist–Leninist atheism, deposed all 12 bishops of the Greek-Catholic Church on Stalin's orders. Moreover, on October 21, 1948, the 250th anniversary of the Romanian Greek Catholic Union with the Catholic Church, the regime arranged for the "voluntary" and "spontaneous" transfer of all members of the Greek-Catholic Church (decree 358/1948), that numbered more than 1,500,000[13] at the time, to the Romanian Orthodox Church; furthermore, the property rights over many of the Greek-Catholic Church's possessions, including its four cathedrals, were transferred to the Romanian Orthodox Church, while the remainder of those properties were confiscated by the Romanian State.[14]

The Greek-Catholic bishops, along with many of their priests, were accused by the newly installed Communist authorities of "antidemocratic activity". After refusing to give up their ties with the "reactionary" Holy See, they were imprisoned. At about the same time, the Orthodox Church was being "purged" of priests hostile to the Communist regime. Following this purge, the Orthodox hierarchy enjoyed good and unforced relations with the Communist authorities for the remainder of the Communist Rule of Romania.

Greek-Catholics in historical Transylvania (1850 census)
Greek-Catholics in Banat, Crișana, Maramureș and Transylvania (1930 census)
Greek-Catholics in Romania (2002 census)
Greek-Catholic presence, according to the 2002 census[15]

cardinal. As Hossu was reluctant to leave Romania, the pope made him a cardinal only "in pectore", i.e. without publishing the fact, and this was only revealed on March 5, 1973, three years after Hossu's death.[16]

Another remarkable Romanian Greek-Catholic ecclesiastic of the time was

fall of the Communist regime, he was appointed Archbishop of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia, and was made a cardinal the following year.[17]

After more than 40 years of clandestine existence, the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic re-emerged publicly, in the wake of the

Romanian Revolution
. Normative act 9/31, passed on December 31, 1989, repealed Decree 358/1948 (that outlawed the Greek-Catholic Church) as repugnant and bringing grave prejudice upon the Romanian State.

Only after much struggle and considerable delays, some of the Church's properties, in particular the

crypto-Catholic, especially in northern Transylvania
where most Greek Catholics lived (as shown on the maps to the right). Other Greek Catholic Romanians switched to the Latin Church, and now account for the second-largest group in that denomination after Hungarians. The Romanian Church United with Rome is still undergoing a process of recovery from the wounds inflicted by the Communist rulers and the forced merger.

Property issues since the fall of Communism

Since the fall of Communism, Church leaders have claimed that the Romanian Greek-Catholic Community is facing a cultural and religious wipe-out: the Greek-Catholic churches are allegedly being destroyed by representatives of the

better source needed
]

Hierarchy

Ecclesiastical Province of Fagaras and Alba Iulia

Immediately subject to the Holy See

  • Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St George's in Canton

See also

Notes

  1. Latin
    : Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Romaniae

References

  1. ^ https://cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-eastcath-statistics/eastcatholic-stat17.pdf The Eastern Catholic Churches 2017]. cnewa.org
  2. ^ "Rezultate 2011 - Recensamantul Populatiei si Locuintelor".
  3. ^ "Eparchy of Saint George's in Canton, USA (Romanian Rite)".
  4. ^ "Romanian Church". Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  5. ^ "RomanianCatholic.org". Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  6. ^ Ronald Roberson. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2016" (PDF). Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Retrieved 29 November 2016. Information sourced from Annuario Pontificio 2012 edition
  7. ^ 2011 Romanian census official data.
  8. ^ US State Dept 2022 report
  9. ISBN 978-1-4443-3361-9
    .
  10. ^ The Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (New York: Harper Collins, 1995) 1132.
  11. ^ "Major dates from the history of the Transylvanian Unitarian Church". Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  12. ^ Harper-Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, 1132; James Niessen, "The Greek Catholic Church and the Romanian Nation in Transylvania," in John-Paul Himka, James T. Flynn, James Niessen, eds. Religious Compromise, Political Salvation: the Greek Catholic Church and Nation-building in Eastern Europe (Pittsburgh: Carl Beck Papers, 1993). (ordered via USMAI); received Wednesday, March 11, 2009): 49–51
  13. ^ Markham, Reuben (1950). Communists Crush Churches in Eastern Europe. Boston: Meador Publishing Co. p. 66.
  14. ^ Harper-Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, 1132; Niessen, "The Greek Catholic Church and the Romanian Nation", 59–60
  15. ^ "Recensământ 2002". Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
  16. ^ Niessen, "the Greek Catholic Church and the Romanian Nation," 60.
  17. ^ Niessen, "The Greek Catholic Church and the Romanian Nation," 60
  18. ^ "The Romanian Greek-Catholic Community is facing a cultural and religious wipe-out – letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton". Retrieved 10 January 2017.

External links

46°10′25″N 23°55′15″E / 46.1735°N 23.9208°E / 46.1735; 23.9208

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