Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church
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The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic (in Romanian: Biserica Romānă Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică) is a Catholic Church of Eastern Rite.
Since 1994, the Most Reverend Lucian Mureşan, Archbishop of Alba-Iulia and Fǎgǎraş, is Metropolitan of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic. The Church has four other dioceses in Romania (Oradea, Cluj-Gherla, Lugoj and Maramureş),[1] (http://www.catholica.ro/biserica/brui.asp) and one, directly subject to the Holy See, in the United States of America (Saint George's in Canton).[2] (http://www.romaniancatholic.org/)
In 2002, there were 191,000 Romanian Greek Catholics.
The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic (its official name) is an Eastern Rite or Greek-Catholic Church that uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Romanian language. Romania also has another five dioceses for Latin Rite Catholics, who are more numerous.
History
In Transylvania in 1698, part of the Romanian Orthodox Church accepted the ecclesiastical authority of the Pope, while retaining its Byzantine rite. This was done to obtain for the Romanians of Transylvania (then part of the Habsburg Empire) the same rights as the other nationalities of the Unio Trium Nationum. The event coincided with the arrival of the Jesuits, who attempted to align Transylvania more closely with Western Europe.
In 1948, the Communist government officially suppressed the Greek-Catholic Church, confiscated its churches and gave them to the Orthodox Church. It arrested the bishops for "undemocratic activity", a fate shared by many Greek-Catholic priests. The Orthodox Church "reaccepted" the Romanian Greek Catholics in 1950. The Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic survived only in secrecy and illegally; and only after the 1989 Romanian Revolution was it able to appear again in public and reclaim its churches and other property.
External links
- "Biserica Romānă Unită cu Roma, Greco-Catolică" (in Romanian) (http://www.bru.ro/)
- Another informative site (in Romanian) (http://www.greco-catolic.ro/)
- "Chiesa Romena Unita con Roma, Greco-Cattolica" (in Italian) (http://www.catholica.ro/biserica/indexi.asp)
- St George Romanian Byzantine Catholic Diocese (in English) (http://www.romaniancatholic.org/)