The Greek-Catholic Church or the Romanian Church
\nUnited with Rome was established around 1700 in Transylvania, Banat, Crisana
\nand Maramures, territories in the Hapsburg Empire inhabited by ethnic
\nRomanians. The church’s foundation marked the beginning of the process of
\nnational emancipation of the ethnic Romanian population. Great Romanian public
\nfigures belonged to the Greek-Catholic community, including the bishop Iuliu Hossu,
\nwho read out the resolution on the union of Transylvania with Romania in Alba
\nIulia, and the politician Iuliu Maniu. <\/p>\n
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Blaj, a small town in central Romania, was the heart
\nof Romanian Greek-Catholicism, being home to the Greek-Catholic bishopric and a
\ntheological academy. The Greek-Catholic priest Nicolae Lupea described the
\nspecial atmosphere in the Little Rome of the Romanians, as Blaj was called,
\nin an interview given in 2001 to Radio Romania’s Oral History Centre:<\/p>\n
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There was a genuine theological atmosphere and
\nstudents were preparing to serve their future mission as priests of the Church.
\nThe academy taught theology for four years and then graduates could sit the
\nexam to earn their theology diploma, but this was not obligatory. The atmosphere
\nhere was truly priestly, spiritual. Students were taught various theological
\nsubjects which they would need in fulfilling their priestly duty. They were
\nalso expected to lead a spiritual life, in a state of grace and union with
\nGod.<\/p>\n
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The Romanian Church United with Rome had good
\nrelations with all the other churches and denominations in the Romanian secular
\nspace. The first persecutions began, however, in the summer of 1940 in Northern
\nTransylvania, a territory that had come under Hungarian rule. Greek-Catholic
\npriests and believers were deported and some killed. <\/p>\n
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The second and much bigger wave of persecutions began
\nin 1948. The communist state banned the Church and the priests were forced to
\naccept the union with the Orthodox Church. Those who refused were sent to
\nprison, as was also the case with Nicolae Lupea:<\/p>\n
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They came after me and the then rector, Gheorghe
\nDanila, and took us to Aiud prison. He was in there for 7 months and I for 9
\nmonths and then they released us without a trial. There was a rumour they took
\nus because Petru Groza and some of his ministers had come to Blaj in 1946, and
\nthere was a clash between workers and students from the Academy. I mean, they
\nwanted to attack the Theological Academy, to get inside and start a fight with
\nour students, so the students barricaded themselves inside. In the meantime,
\nthe police intervened. Petru Groza came on May 15th, and
\ndemonstrations were held, with some cheering for the king and others for the
\ncommunist party.<\/p>\n
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As regards the moment prior to the banning of the
\nchurch, Nicolae Lupea had very clear memories of the visit that the communist
\nPrime Minister Petru Groza paid to Blaj in 1946 to attend the Divine Service:<\/p>\n
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It was raining heavily and Petru Groza came out of
\nthe Cathedral sooner than expected. And when our bishop came out, Petru Groza
\nknocked on the window and asked him to get inside his car. And, not long after,
\nout of the blue, the Orthodox metropolitan bishop appeared, Nicolae Balan, and
\nPetru Groza asked him to get in the car too. And when he was about to do that
\nthe Orthodox bishop slipped and our bishop reached out to help him stand up.
\nAnd then the former said: Look, Mr. Prime Minister, I caught his hand and I
\nwon’t let go of it. Let the brothers break out with Rome and join us! But our
\nbishop said: Your eminence, I reached out to help you stand. And then they
\nall headed for Campia Liberatatii [Field of Freedom] and there Balan made an
\nappeal to the Greek-Catholics, urging them to break ties with Rome and return
\nto the traditional mother church, which meant back to Orthodoxy. After that,
\nbishop Suciu wanted to speak, to protest, but they wouldn’t let him. <\/p>\n
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There followed cruel campaigns against the
\nGreek-Catholic priests and believers. Nicolae Lupea believes that the Orthodox
\nChurch itself contributed to the big injustice to which the communist regime
\nsubjected the Greek-Catholic church:<\/p>\n
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Then they started arresting priests and taking them
\nto the Securitate, where they were interrogated and asked to join the Orthodox
\nChurch. Some of them gave in, others didn’t, despite being threatened and told
\ntheir children would be thrown out of school, not only from normal school, but
\nfrom universities as well. I would like to insist a bit here on the fact that
\nthey say that the government banned our church. It did, but in collaboration
\nwith the heads of the Orthodox Church. Balan’s visit to Blaj, exactly when
\nPetru Groza came, was no coincidence. The Orthodox Church is no stranger to our
\nchurch being banned. Because that bishop, Balan, when he became metropolitan
\nbishop of Sibiu, gave a speech and said he would not rest until he saw the
\nGreek-Catholic Church banned. Which means dismantled, or as he said, returned
\nto the mother church. <\/p>\n
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One of the biggest acts of injustice in Romanian
\nhistory was undone on December 1989, when the Greek-Catholic Church came back
\nto life. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Greek-Catholic Church or the Romanian Church United with Rome was established around 1700 in Transylvania, Banat, Crisana and Maramures, territories in the Hapsburg Empire inhabited by ethnic Romanians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":130302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41141],"tags":[42758],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-130301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-history-show","tag-greek-catholic-church"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n