Cardinal Iuliu Hossu, honored at the Vatican
The Sistine Chapel hosted a special event dedicated to the Eastern-Catholic Cardinal Iuliu Hossu
Ştefan Stoica, 03.06.2025, 13:50
Cardinal Iuliu Hossu, a bishop of the Romanian Eastern-Catholic Church, who on December 1, 1918, read the proclamation of the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania, was commemorated in Italy through a series of public diplomacy events organized by the Romanian Embassy at the Vatican. On Sunday, June 1, in St. Peter’s Basilica, a religious service was celebrated in Romanian. And on Monday, June 2, in the Sistine Chapel, a solemn event took place, organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania, honoring the memory of Cardinal Hossu in a year devoted to his personality. It also marked the start of the process of his recognition as Righteous among Nations, for his actions to save Jews during the Holocaust. Blessed Hossu’s motto, “Our faith is our life”, could become the motto of each of us, and what he did for the Jews of Romania makes him an example of a free, courageous and generous man who made the ultimate sacrifice, Pope Leo XIV said during the commemoration of Iuliu Hossu.
In the spring of 1944, while the ghettoization of the Jews was being prepared in Cluj-Napoca and other Transylvanian cities, Cardinal Hossu mobilized the clergy and the Eastern-Catholic faithful, issuing a Pastoral Letter in which he asked them to help the Jewish community in danger. According to the testimony of Moshe Carmilly-Weinberger, a former chief rabbi of the Jewish Community of Cluj-Napoca, Cardinal Hossu helped save thousands of Jews from northern Transylvania between 1940 and 1944.
During the event at the Sistine Chapel, Romanian violinist Alexandru Tomescu gave a concert, and a relative of Blessed Iuliu Hossu read excerpts from the memoirs of the Romanian cardinal, which recalled his faith, the power of forgiveness and his inner freedom despite the persecutions of the Romanian communist regime. George Bologan, Romania’s ambassador to the Holy See:
“Iuliu Hossu is part of the Romanian Pantheon. He offered a model of conscience that could not be crushed. It is crucial to cultivate historical memory. Historical memory is, in fact, the conscience of our society. Bishop Hossu was a bridge between East and West, between reason and revelation, between truth and beauty”.
Shortly after the communists came to power, the Eastern-Catholic Church was outlawed and its assets were divided between the state and the Orthodox Church, and Iuliu Hossu was arrested. Long years of imprisonment followed, and then he was placed under house arrest under the supervision of the Securitate, the political police, until his death in 1970. Although he could have left Romania, especially after becoming a cardinal, Iuliu Hossu refused to leave his country. He was beatified along with six other bishops by Pope Francis during the Pontiff’s 2019 visit to Romania. (VP)
