| Romanian Greek Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| Biserica Română Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică | |
 | |
| Type | Particular church (sui iuris) |
| Classification | Christian |
| Orientation | Eastern Catholic |
| Scripture | Bible |
| Theology | Catholic theology |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Major Archbishop | Claudiu-Lucian Pop |
| Bishops | 7 |
| Eparchies | 7 |
| Vicariates | 3 |
| Parishes | 1,240 |
| Deaneries | 75 |
| Language | Romanian |
| Liturgy | Byzantine Rite |
| Headquarters | Holy Trinity Cathedral,Blaj |
| Territory | Romania,United States of America andCanada |
| Possessions | |
| Origin | 1698 |
| Recognition | 1700 |
| Separated from | Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (1698) |
| Members | 480,000 throughout the world (recent Catholic estimate),[1] 150,593 in the 2011 Romanian census,[2] 115,364 in the 2021 Romanian census[3] 6,000 in North America in 2020,[4] 1,000 in Germany,[1] 1,000 in Austria[1] |
| Priests | 882 |
| Places of worship | 413 |
| Official website | bisericaromanaunita |
TheRomanian Greek Catholic Church[a] orRomanian Church United with Rome is asui iurisEastern Catholic Church, in full union with theCatholic Church. It has the rank of aMajor Archiepiscopal Church and it uses theByzantine liturgical rite in theRomanian language. It is part of theMajor Archiepiscopal Churches of the Catholic Church that are not distinguished with a patriarchal title.
CardinalLucian Mureșan, Archbishop ofFăgăraș and Alba Iulia, served as the head of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church from 1994 until his death in September of 2025.[5] On December 16, 2005, as theRomanian Church United with Rome, the Greek-Catholic church was elevated to the rank of a Major Archiepiscopal Church by PopeBenedict XVI, with Lucian Mureșan becoming its firstmajor archbishop. Mureşan was made a cardinal, at theconsistory of February 18, 2012.
Besides theArcheparchy of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia, there are five more Greek-Catholic eparchies in Romania (Eparchy of Oradea Mare,Eparchy of Cluj-Gherla,Eparchy of Lugoj,Eparchy of Maramureș, andEparchy of Saint Basil the Great of Bucharest),[6] as well as one eparchy overseas, theRomanian Catholic Eparchy of St George's in Canton, answering directly to the Major Archbishop and the Holy See, in theUnited States of America andCanada.[7]
According to data published in the 2016Annuario 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.[8] However, according to the 2011 Romanian government census, the number of its followers living in Romania was as low as 150,593, of whom 124,563 are ethnic Romanians.[9] By 2022, however, the church estimated their numbers have grown to 488,000, as many citizens whose ancestors had converted to Orthodoxy or embracedMarxist-Leninist atheism under the communist regime have chosen to rejoin the Greek Catholic Church.[10]
The vast majority of the Romaniandiocesan priests in Romania aremarried.[11]
In addition, there are five otherCatholic dioceses inRomania, belonging to theLatin Church, whose members are more numerous.
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Following theHabsburg conquest of Transylvania in 1687, MetropolitanAtanasie Anghel entered into fullcommunion with theSee of Rome by the Act of Union of 1698, that was formalized by a synod of bishops on September 4, 1700. This was part of the process the unification of theRomanian Orthodox population to the Catholic Church (Rome's Church) newly created Greek Catholic Church, the former Orthodox Church of Romanians fromTransylvania.[12]
By entering into the Union, Atanasie and the other bishops, along with their respective dioceses, accepted the supreme authority of thePope, while at the same time being granted the right to keep their ownGreekByzantine liturgical rite. A diploma issued by theEmperor Leopold I declared that Transylvania's Romanian Orthodox Church is one with the Catholic Church andHoly See. Transylvanian Romanians were therefore encouraged to convert to Catholicism and join to the Romanian Unified Church (Greek-Catholic Church), while being able to retain the Byzantine rite, if at the same time they accepted four doctrinal points promulgated by theCouncil of Florence (1431 and 1445): the supreme authority of thePope over the entire church; the existence ofPurgatory; theFilioque clause; and the validity of the use of unleavened bread in the celebration of theEucharist in theLatin 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 ofTransylvania (then part of theHabsburg monarchy) equal rights with those of the other Transylvanian nations, which were part of theUnio Trium Nationum: theHungarian nobility, theTransylvanian Saxons, and theSzékely. This event coincided with the arrival of theJesuits 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 to accept Romanians Orthodox converts,[13] 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 monkSofronie of Cioara, under the influence of the dominant Serbian Orthodox Church.
In 1721, the Bishop's Residence was moved fromAlba Iulia toFăgăraș, and eventually toBlaj (1737). Following this change, Blaj became a center of learning and national awakening for all Romanians.[citation needed].[14]
In 1761,Petru Pavel Aron (1709–1764), the Bishop of Făgăraș and head of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, translatedBiblia Vulgata into Romanian. While the Romanian Orthodox keptChurch 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 aMagyarization policy in Transylvania, the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, with the aid of theTransylvanian School(Școala Ardeleană) and theTransylvanian Memorandum, played a prominent role in resisting ethnicassimilation attempts. Moreover, many leading figures of the Romanian emancipation movement in Transylvania, such asSimion Bărnuțiu andIuliu 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 ofmajor archiepiscopal church.
After assuming political power in 1948, theCommunist regime, rooted inMarxist–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[15] at the time, to theRomanian Orthodox Church; furthermore, the property rights over many of the Greek-Catholic Church's possessions, including its four cathedrals, were transferred to theRomanian Orthodox Church, while the remainder of those properties were confiscated by the Romanian State.[16]
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, theOrthodox hierarchy enjoyed good and unforced relations with the communist authorities for the remainder of theCommunist Rule of Romania.
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Iuliu Hossu,Bishop of Cluj, turned down a proposal of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarch,Iustinian Marina, to convert toOrthodoxy and be named Orthodox Archbishop ofIaşi and metropolitan ofMoldavia, and thereby become the official successor of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarch himself. Consequently, Hossu remained under house arrest. Year after year, he sent Memorandums to the President of the Republic, requesting that the country's laws and international agreements be observed with regard to the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church. In 1969,Pope Paul VI asked Hossu to allow himself to be made acardinal. 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.[18]
Another remarkable Romanian Greek-Catholic ecclesiastic of the time wasAlexandru Todea (1912–2002). Secretly consecrated abishop on November 19, 1950, he was arrested and the following year he was sentenced to life in prison. He was granted amnesty in 1964. On March 14, 1990, after thefall of the Communist regime, he was appointed Archbishop of Făgăraș and Alba Iulia, and was made a cardinal the following year.[19]
After more than 40 years of clandestine existence, the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic re-emerged publicly, in the wake of theRomanian 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 thecathedrals of Cluj, Blaj, Lugoj, and Oradea, were restored to their rightful owner. However, much of the original property remains in Romanian Orthodox or government hands, as the persecution started in 1948 has led to a marked reduction in the numbers of Romanian Greek Catholic faithful. After 40 years of Communist rule and forced assimilation into the regime-approved Orthodox Church, numerous Romanian cradle Greek-Catholics remained in the Romanian Orthodox Church, at least on paper, and it is unclear how many of these nominal Orthodox members remaincrypto-Catholic, especially in northernTransylvania 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.
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 theRomanian Orthodox Church, whose actions allegedly enjoy not only the acceptance, but also the support of the Romanian authorities.[20][better source needed]
Ecclesiastical Province of Fagaras and Alba Iulia
Immediately subject to the Holy See
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46°10′25″N23°55′15″E / 46.1735°N 23.9208°E /46.1735; 23.9208
